AutoVol (Tray)

AutoVol is a zero-config Windows tray app that learns when you turn volume down and then automatically ducks volume when the system audio gets louder than your learned “too loud” levels.

It’s designed to be:

• Zero-touch: run it and forget it
• Self-healing: tries multiple ways to measure system loudness (loopback audio → peak meter fallbacks)
• Non-destructive: stores its data in your local profile folder, not in system locations

What it does

• Monitors “how loud the system output is” (best effort loopback capture; fallback peak meters).
• When you manually turn volume down, AutoVol records the loudness level at that moment.
• Later, if it detects loudness above your learned threshold, it gently reduces volume.
• Optional speech gating (if available) can reduce ducking during speech-like audio.

Requirements

• Windows 10/11 (Windows 11 recommended)
• No admin required (for normal use)

Install / Run (Release)

AutoVol is typically shipped as a folder (PyInstaller onedir build).

1. Download the release zip.
2. Extract it anywhere (ex: C:\Apps\AutoVol\).
3. Run: AutoVol.exe
4. Look for the tray icon (system tray / “hidden icons” area).

Important: If the release contains a folder like AutoVol\AutoVol.exe, you must keep the whole folder together. Do not move only the .exe out by itself.

Tray Menu

Right-click the tray icon for:

• Observe only (no changes) — AutoVol will monitor/learn but won’t set volume
• Pause / Resume — stops AutoVol from making adjustments (can restore to your resting volume)
• Reset learning — clears learned “turn-down” history
• Open data folder — opens the app’s local data folder
• Quit — exits cleanly

Data / Logs Location

AutoVol stores its runtime data under:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\AutoVol

You’ll typically see:

• autovol.log — rotating logs
• autovol_learn.json — learned “turn-down” samples
• autovol_events.jsonl — event stream (volume changes, sampler changes, etc.)
• autovol_crash.txt — created only if a crash occurs

Command-line Options

You can run the exe with options (useful for debugging):

• --observe Start in observe-only mode (no volume changes).

• --force-dryvol Don’t touch system volume (debug mode; logs/stats still run).

• --reset Reset learning before starting.

• --no-autoinstall Disable auto-install of missing Python dependencies (mostly relevant when running from source).

Example:

AutoVol.exe --observe

Building from Source (Developer)

Basic steps (example):

1. Create/activate a venv
2. Install requirements
3. Run:

python autovol_tray.py

If you package with PyInstaller, you’ll usually distribute the onedir output: dist\AutoVol\

Troubleshooting

• No tray icon: Check the Windows tray “hidden icons” area.
• No loudness detection / stuck on fallback: Some machines/drivers don’t support loopback capture; AutoVol will fall back to peak meters. Check %LOCALAPPDATA%\AutoVol\autovol.log.
• It’s too aggressive: Use Observe only while it learns more “turn-down” events, or reset learning and re-train.

License

MIT License.