Allow hiding the dictation mic button while keeping Cmd/Ctrl+I

src/vs/sessions/contrib/chat/browser/newChatInput.ts

@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ import { AGENT_SESSIONS_SCOPED_INPUT_HISTORY_SETTING } from './sessionsChatHisto
 import { IChatStatusItemService } from '../../../../workbench/contrib/chat/browser/chatStatus/chatStatusItemService.js';
 import { handleTerminalCommandPaste, isTerminalCommandInput } from '../../../../workbench/contrib/chat/browser/chatTerminalCommandPaste.js';
 import { getChatSessionType } from '../../../../workbench/contrib/chat/common/model/chatUri.js';
-import { ChatSpeechToTextState, IChatSpeechToTextService } from '../../../../workbench/contrib/chat/browser/speechToText/chatSpeechToTextService.js';
+import { ChatSpeechToTextState, DictationSettingId, IChatSpeechToTextService } from '../../../../workbench/contrib/chat/browser/speechToText/chatSpeechToTextService.js';
 import { setupDictationMicGlow } from '../../../../workbench/contrib/chat/browser/speechToText/dictationMicGlow.js';
 import { IDictationOnboardingService } from '../../../../workbench/contrib/chat/browser/speechToText/dictationOnboarding.js';
 import { ChatVoiceInputModeAction, VoiceInputModeActionViewItem } from '../../../../workbench/contrib/chat/browser/voiceInputMode/voiceInputModeActionViewItem.js';
@@ -982,7 +982,10 @@ export class NewChatInputWidget extends Disposable implements IHistoryNavigation
 			// keys off `isConnected` only, not the connecting phase.
 			const sessionActive = this.voiceSessionController.isConnected.get();
 			const pillActive = (dict && voice) || (voice && !dict && !handsFree && sessionActive);
-			button.classList.toggle('hidden', !sttService.isConfigured || voiceActive || pillActive);
+			// Honor the shared `dictation.showButton` visibility toggle: hiding the
+			// button still leaves Cmd/Ctrl+I working (its keybinding is independent).
+			const buttonShown = this.configurationService.getValue<boolean>(DictationSettingId.ShowButton) !== false;
+			button.classList.toggle('hidden', !sttService.isConfigured || voiceActive || pillActive || !buttonShown);
 		};
 		updateVisibility();
 		this._register(autorun(reader => {
@@ -999,7 +1002,7 @@ export class NewChatInputWidget extends Disposable implements IHistoryNavigation
 			// Both the enable kill-switch and the model selection can change
 			// availability (e.g. an unsupported on-device platform becomes
 			// configured when switching to the cloud backend).
-			if (e.affectsConfiguration('dictation.enabled') || e.affectsConfiguration('dictation.model')) {
+			if (e.affectsConfiguration('dictation.enabled') || e.affectsConfiguration('dictation.model') || e.affectsConfiguration(DictationSettingId.ShowButton)) {
 				updateVisibility();
 			}
 		}));

src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/browser/actions/chatSpeechToTextActions.ts

@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ import { ChatContextKeys } from '../../common/actions/chatContextKeys.js';
 import { CHAT_CATEGORY } from './chatActions.js';
 import { IChatExecuteActionContext } from './chatExecuteActions.js';
 import { IChatWidgetService } from '../chat.js';
-import { ChatSpeechToTextState, IChatSpeechToTextService } from '../speechToText/chatSpeechToTextService.js';
+import { ChatSpeechToTextState, DictationSettingId, IChatSpeechToTextService } from '../speechToText/chatSpeechToTextService.js';
 import { buildMicrophoneOptions, IDictationOnboardingService, RESET_DICTATION_ONBOARDING_COMMAND, SHOW_DICTATION_ONBOARDING_COMMAND } from '../speechToText/dictationOnboarding.js';
 import { cancelDictation, isDictating, startDictation, stopDictation } from '../speechToText/dictationSession.js';
 
@@ -37,6 +37,13 @@ export const ChatSpeechToTextConfigured = ContextKeyExpr.and(ChatContextKeys.ena
 /** True while the selected dictation backend is preparing. */
 export const ChatSpeechToTextPreparing = ContextKeyExpr.has(ChatContextKeys.speechToTextPreparing.key);
 const ChatSpeechToTextMaiBackend = ContextKeyExpr.equals('config.dictation.model', 'mai');
+/**
+ * True unless the user has hidden the chat-input dictation microphone button via
+ * {@link DictationSettingId.ShowButton}. Gates only the toolbar button; the
+ * Cmd/Ctrl+I dictation shortcut stays available so dictation can still be
+ * launched when the button is hidden.
+ */
+const ChatSpeechToTextButtonShown = ContextKeyExpr.notEquals(`config.${DictationSettingId.ShowButton}`, false);
 
 /** Releases shorter than this are treated as an accidental tap and discarded. */
 const HOLD_TO_TALK_THRESHOLD_MS = 500;
@@ -144,7 +151,7 @@ export class ToggleChatSpeechToTextAction extends Action2 {
 			menu: [{
 				id: MenuId.ChatExecute,
 				order: -11,
-				when: ContextKeyExpr.and(ChatSpeechToTextConfigured, ChatSpeechToTextPreparing.negate(), AGENTS_VOICE_CONNECTED.negate(), SegmentedVoiceInputModePillInactive),
+				when: ContextKeyExpr.and(ChatSpeechToTextConfigured, ChatSpeechToTextButtonShown, ChatSpeechToTextPreparing.negate(), AGENTS_VOICE_CONNECTED.negate(), SegmentedVoiceInputModePillInactive),
 				group: 'navigation',
 			}],
 			keybinding: {
@@ -200,7 +207,7 @@ export class ChatSpeechToTextPreparingAction extends Action2 {
 			menu: [{
 				id: MenuId.ChatExecute,
 				order: -11,
-				when: ContextKeyExpr.and(ChatSpeechToTextConfigured, ChatSpeechToTextPreparing, ChatSpeechToTextMaiBackend.negate(), AGENTS_VOICE_CONNECTED.negate(), SegmentedVoiceInputModePillInactive),
+				when: ContextKeyExpr.and(ChatSpeechToTextConfigured, ChatSpeechToTextButtonShown, ChatSpeechToTextPreparing, ChatSpeechToTextMaiBackend.negate(), AGENTS_VOICE_CONNECTED.negate(), SegmentedVoiceInputModePillInactive),
 				group: 'navigation',
 			}],
 		});
@@ -228,7 +235,7 @@ export class ChatSpeechToTextConnectingAction extends Action2 {
 			menu: [{
 				id: MenuId.ChatExecute,
 				order: -11,
-				when: ContextKeyExpr.and(ChatSpeechToTextConfigured, ChatSpeechToTextPreparing, ChatSpeechToTextMaiBackend, AGENTS_VOICE_CONNECTED.negate(), SegmentedVoiceInputModePillInactive),
+				when: ContextKeyExpr.and(ChatSpeechToTextConfigured, ChatSpeechToTextButtonShown, ChatSpeechToTextPreparing, ChatSpeechToTextMaiBackend, AGENTS_VOICE_CONNECTED.negate(), SegmentedVoiceInputModePillInactive),
 				group: 'navigation',
 			}],
 		});

src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/browser/chat.shared.contribution.ts

@@ -305,6 +305,12 @@ configurationRegistry.registerConfiguration({
 			default: true,
 			tags: ['experimental']
 		},
+		[DictationSettingId.ShowButton]: {
+			type: 'boolean',
+			markdownDescription: nls.localize('dictation.showButton', "Controls whether the dictation microphone button is shown in the chat input. When hidden, dictation can still be started with its keyboard shortcut."),
+			default: true,
+			tags: ['experimental']
+		},
 		'dictation.experimental.llmCleanup': {
 			type: 'boolean',
 			markdownDescription: nls.localize('dictation.experimental.llmCleanup', "Experimental: when dictation ends, the final transcript is passed through a small language model to restore punctuation, capitalization, paragraphs, and lists. Requires Copilot to be enabled; the transcript is sent to the language model for cleanup. Falls back to the raw transcript when no model is available. Use [dictation instructions](command:{0}) to customize terminology and formatting.", CONFIGURE_DICTATION_INSTRUCTIONS_ACTION_ID),

src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/browser/speechToText/chatSpeechToTextService.ts

@@ -101,6 +101,7 @@ export const DICTATION_MODEL_SETTING = 'dictation.model';
 
 export const enum DictationSettingId {
 	ShowTranscript = 'dictation.showTranscript',
+	ShowButton = 'dictation.showButton',
 }
 
 /** `dictation.model` sentinel selecting the cloud voice backend used by Voice Mode. */

src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/browser/speechToText/micButtonMenuActions.ts

@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import { IConfigurationService } from '../../../../../platform/configuration/com
 import { IContextMenuService } from '../../../../../platform/contextview/browser/contextView.js';
 import { IKeybindingService } from '../../../../../platform/keybinding/common/keybinding.js';
 import { CONFIGURE_DICTATION_INSTRUCTIONS_ACTION_ID, CONFIGURE_VOICE_INSTRUCTIONS_ACTION_ID } from '../actions/configureVoiceInstructionsAction.js';
+import { DictationSettingId } from './chatSpeechToTextService.js';
 import { SHOW_DICTATION_ONBOARDING_COMMAND } from './dictationOnboarding.js';
 
 /** Command that opens the microphone picker shared by dictation and Voice Mode. */
@@ -71,6 +72,22 @@ function createShowDictationOnboardingAction(commandService: ICommandService): I
 	});
 }
 
+/**
+ * Checkable "Microphone Button" entry mirroring the action bar visibility toggles:
+ * checked while the button is shown, unchecking it hides the button. Hiding only
+ * removes the toolbar affordance — dictation can still be launched with its
+ * Cmd/Ctrl+I shortcut, and the button can be restored from Settings.
+ */
+function createToggleDictationButtonAction(configurationService: IConfigurationService): IAction {
+	const shown = configurationService.getValue<boolean>(DictationSettingId.ShowButton) !== false;
+	return toAction({
+		id: 'chat.dictation.toggleButton',
+		label: localize('dictation.microphoneButton', "Microphone Button"),
+		checked: shown,
+		run: () => configurationService.updateValue(DictationSettingId.ShowButton, !shown),
+	});
+}
+
 /**
  * "Disable" entry for Voice Mode. Tears down any active session first so disabling
  * the setting doesn't leave the microphone capturing while the toolbar
@@ -95,6 +112,7 @@ export function getDictationContextMenuActions(commandService: ICommandService,
 	return Separator.join(
 		[
 			createConfigureKeybindingAction(commandService, keybindingService, keybindingCommandId),
+			createToggleDictationButtonAction(configurationService),
 			createDisableDictationAction(commandService, configurationService),
 		],
 		[

src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/test/browser/micButtonMenuActions.test.ts

@@ -34,10 +34,12 @@ suite('Mic button menu actions', () => {
 	});
 
 	test('groups and shortens dictation actions', () => {
+		const configurationService = upcastPartial<IConfigurationService>({ getValue: () => true, updateValue: async () => { } });
 		const actions = getDictationContextMenuActions(commandService, configurationService, keybindingService, 'dictation.start');
 
 		assert.deepStrictEqual(actions.map(action => action.label), [
 			'Configure Keybinding',
+			'Microphone Button',
 			'Disable',
 			'',
 			'Open Settings',
@@ -46,4 +48,18 @@ suite('Mic button menu actions', () => {
 			'Select Microphone',
 		]);
 	});
+
+	test('dictation "Microphone Button" toggle reflects and flips the visibility setting', async () => {
+		const updated: [string, unknown][] = [];
+		const configurationService = upcastPartial<IConfigurationService>({
+			getValue: () => false,
+			updateValue: async (key: string, value: unknown) => { updated.push([key, value]); },
+		});
+		const actions = getDictationContextMenuActions(commandService, configurationService, keybindingService, 'dictation.start');
+		const toggle = actions.find(action => action.label === 'Microphone Button')!;
+
+		assert.strictEqual(toggle.checked, false);
+		await toggle.run();
+		assert.deepStrictEqual(updated, [['dictation.showButton', true]]);
+	});
 });