1 files changed, 18 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/converter/tts.py b/converter/tts.py
index afb0655..142cf6d 100644
--- a/converter/tts.py
+++ b/converter/tts.py
@@ -179,6 +179,24 @@ def transcribe_reference_audio(audio_path: str, model_name: str = "base") -> Opt
     return None
 
 
+def whisper_backend_available() -> Optional[str]:
+    """Return the name of an importable Whisper backend, or None.
+
+    Checks faster_whisper first (preferred), then the openai-whisper
+    package, without importing the heavy model code: a bare import probe
+    is enough to tell whether the package is installed in the current
+    environment. Used by the make_audiocpp_server_json tool to warn when
+    neither is present (e.g. the wrong conda environment is active).
+    """
+    for backend in ("faster_whisper", "whisper"):
+        try:
+            __import__(backend)
+        except ImportError:
+            continue
+        return backend
+    return None
+
+
 # Duration sanity check: a response whose audio is far shorter than its
 # word count implies is treated as silently truncated, fails the request,
 # and goes through the normal retry logic. 150 wpm is a typical spoken