Fix Browser Whisper: Use ES module worker with CDN library

Issue: transformers.js is an ES module package and cannot be loaded
with importScripts() in classic workers.

Solution:
- Changed to module worker (type: 'module')
- Import transformers.js from CDN as ES module
- Models (42MB) still served from local server at /models/

Trade-off:
- Library (900KB): Loads from cdn.jsdelivr.net once, cached
- Models (42MB): Self-hosted, served from /models/ (no CDN)

This is necessary because:
1. @xenova/transformers is ES module-only (package.json: "type": "module")
2. ES modules cannot use importScripts()
3. Module workers require HTTPS for imports
4. CDN is HTTPS and cacheable

If CDN is blocked:
- Use Web Speech API (with privacy warnings)
- OR use Server Transcription (Vertex AI/AWS)

Models remain self-hosted as they're 40MB+ and contain the AI.

Dockerfile

@@ -13,7 +13,8 @@ COPY . .
 
 RUN mkdir -p /app/data/logs
 
-# Download Browser Whisper models (self-hosted, no CDN dependency)
+# Download Browser Whisper models (self-hosted)
+# Library (900KB) loads from CDN, models (40MB+) served from our server
 RUN mkdir -p /app/public/models/Xenova/whisper-tiny.en/onnx && \
     cd /app/public/models/Xenova/whisper-tiny.en && \
     echo "Downloading Whisper model files..." && \
@@ -23,9 +24,7 @@ RUN mkdir -p /app/public/models/Xenova/whisper-tiny.en/onnx && \
     curl -sL -o generation_config.json https://huggingface.co/Xenova/whisper-tiny.en/resolve/main/generation_config.json && \
     curl -sL -o onnx/encoder_model_quantized.onnx https://huggingface.co/Xenova/whisper-tiny.en/resolve/main/onnx/encoder_model_quantized.onnx && \
     curl -sL -o onnx/decoder_model_merged_quantized.onnx https://huggingface.co/Xenova/whisper-tiny.en/resolve/main/onnx/decoder_model_merged_quantized.onnx && \
-    cd /app/public/models && \
+    echo "Whisper models downloaded successfully (models: 42MB)"
-    curl -sL -o transformers.min.js https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@xenova/transformers@2.17.2/dist/transformers.min.js && \
-    echo "Whisper models downloaded successfully"
 
 EXPOSE 3000
 

public/js/browserWhisper.js

@@ -91,7 +91,8 @@
     _loading = true;
     _modelLoaded = model;
 
-    _worker = new Worker('/js/whisperWorker.js');
+    // Use module worker to support ES modules
+    _worker = new Worker('/js/whisperWorker.js', { type: 'module' });
 
     _worker.addEventListener('message', function(e) {
       var d = e.data;

public/js/whisperWorker.js

@@ -1,39 +1,22 @@
 // ============================================================
 // WHISPER WORKER — runs @xenova/transformers in a Web Worker
 // Audio never leaves the device. Model cached in IndexedDB.
+// Uses ES module worker (type: 'module')
 // ============================================================
 
+import { pipeline, env } from 'https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@xenova/transformers@2.17.2';
+
 console.log('[WhisperWorker] Starting worker initialization');
-console.log('[WhisperWorker] Loading transformers from local server...');
-
-try {
-  // Load transformers.js from our own server (no CDN dependency!)
-  importScripts('/models/transformers.min.js');
-  console.log('[WhisperWorker] Transformers library loaded successfully');
-} catch (err) {
-  console.error('[WhisperWorker] Failed to load transformers library:', err);
-  self.postMessage({
-    type: 'error',
-    message: 'Failed to load transformers library: ' + err.message
-  });
-  throw err;
-}
-
-var T = self.transformers || transformers;
-if (!T) {
-  console.error('[WhisperWorker] Transformers object not found after import');
-  throw new Error('Transformers library did not initialize');
-}
 
 // Configure transformers.js to load models from our local server
-T.env.allowLocalModels = false;
+env.allowLocalModels = false;
-T.env.useBrowserCache = true;
+env.useBrowserCache = true;
-T.env.allowRemoteModels = false; // Force local-only
+env.allowRemoteModels = false; // Force local-only
-T.env.localModelPath = '/models/'; // Our bundled models
+env.localModelPath = '/models/'; // Our bundled models (40MB+)
 console.log('[WhisperWorker] Transformers configured for local models at /models/');
 
-var _pipe = null;
+let _pipe = null;
-var _loadedModel = null;
+let _loadedModel = null;
 
 async function load(modelName) {
   if (_pipe && _loadedModel === modelName) {
@@ -44,8 +27,8 @@ async function load(modelName) {
   self.postMessage({ type: 'loading', model: modelName });
 
   try {
-    _pipe = await T.pipeline('automatic-speech-recognition', modelName, {
+    _pipe = await pipeline('automatic-speech-recognition', modelName, {
-      progress_callback: function(p) {
+      progress_callback: (p) => {
         console.log('[WhisperWorker] Progress:', p.status, p.file, p.progress);
         if (p.status === 'downloading' || p.status === 'progress') {
           self.postMessage({ type: 'progress', file: p.file || '', progress: Math.round(p.progress || 0) });
@@ -64,8 +47,8 @@ async function load(modelName) {
   }
 }
 
-self.addEventListener('message', async function(e) {
+self.addEventListener('message', async (e) => {
-  var d = e.data;
+  const d = e.data;
   console.log('[WhisperWorker] Message received:', d.type);
 
   if (d.type === 'load') {
@@ -82,7 +65,7 @@ self.addEventListener('message', async function(e) {
     try {
       await load(d.model || 'Xenova/whisper-tiny.en');
       console.log('[WhisperWorker] Starting transcription...');
-      var result = await _pipe(d.audio, {
+      const result = await _pipe(d.audio, {
         language: 'english',
         task: 'transcribe',
         chunk_length_s: 30,
@@ -98,5 +81,4 @@ self.addEventListener('message', async function(e) {
   }
 });
 
-// Log worker startup
 console.log('[WhisperWorker] Worker initialized');