diff --git a/frontend/src/composables/useVad.ts b/frontend/src/composables/useVad.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ad0718b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/composables/useVad.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,157 @@
+import { ref, readonly } from 'vue'
+import type { MicVAD } from '@ricky0123/vad-web'
+
+export interface UseVadOptions {
+  /** Called when VAD detects a real speech-end event after the grace period. */
+  onSpeechEnd: () => void
+  /** Called when stopAndCheck() is invoked but no speech was ever detected. */
+  onNoSpeech: () => void
+  /** Minimum ms between speech-start and speech-end before the end event fires. */
+  graceMs?: number
+  /** Minimum total recording duration before speech-end can fire. */
+  minRecordingMs?: number
+}
+
+/**
+ * Silero VAD-based speech detector.
+ *
+ * Replaces amplitude-based silence detection. Uses the Silero VAD v5 ONNX
+ * model via `@ricky0123/vad-web`. The package ships the model + audio
+ * worklet, and depends on `onnxruntime-web`'s WASM. Vite is configured
+ * (see `vite.config.ts`) to serve these assets from the site root, which
+ * is why we pass `baseAssetPath: "/"` and `onnxWASMBasePath: "/"`.
+ *
+ * `amplitude` is computed separately from a Web Audio API analyser node
+ * on the same stream — it drives the mic pulse animation and is not part
+ * of the stop decision. VAD's `onSpeechEnd` is the stop trigger.
+ *
+ * If VAD never detects speech during a session, calling `stopAndCheck()`
+ * fires `onNoSpeech` instead of treating the recording as transcribable.
+ */
+export function useVad(options: UseVadOptions) {
+  const {
+    onSpeechEnd,
+    onNoSpeech,
+    graceMs = 1500,
+    minRecordingMs = 500,
+  } = options
+
+  const speaking = ref(false)
+  const amplitude = ref(0)
+  const loaded = ref(false)
+
+  let micVad: MicVAD | null = null
+  let audioCtx: AudioContext | null = null
+  let analyserInterval: ReturnType<typeof setInterval> | null = null
+  let speechDetected = false
+  let speechStartedAt = 0
+  let recordingStartedAt = 0
+  let stopped = false
+
+  async function start(stream: MediaStream): Promise<void> {
+    await stop()
+    stopped = false
+    speechDetected = false
+    speechStartedAt = 0
+    recordingStartedAt = Date.now()
+
+    // Visual-only amplitude signal. This does NOT drive the stop decision.
+    audioCtx = new AudioContext()
+    await audioCtx.resume().catch(() => {})
+    const source = audioCtx.createMediaStreamSource(stream)
+    const analyser = audioCtx.createAnalyser()
+    analyser.fftSize = 1024
+    source.connect(analyser)
+    const samples = new Float32Array(analyser.fftSize)
+
+    analyserInterval = setInterval(() => {
+      analyser.getFloatTimeDomainData(samples)
+      let sumSq = 0
+      for (let i = 0; i < samples.length; i++) sumSq += samples[i] * samples[i]
+      const rms = Math.sqrt(sumSq / samples.length)
+      amplitude.value = Math.min(rms * 5, 1)
+    }, 100)
+
+    try {
+      const { MicVAD } = await import('@ricky0123/vad-web')
+      micVad = await MicVAD.new({
+        model: 'v5',
+        baseAssetPath: '/',
+        onnxWASMBasePath: '/',
+        // MicVAD manages its own audio graph, so we hand it the same stream
+        // the MediaRecorder is using. It won't consume or alter the stream.
+        getStream: async () => stream,
+        onSpeechStart: () => {
+          speaking.value = true
+          if (!speechDetected) {
+            speechDetected = true
+            speechStartedAt = Date.now()
+          }
+        },
+        onSpeechEnd: () => {
+          speaking.value = false
+          if (stopped) return
+          const now = Date.now()
+          const totalElapsed = now - recordingStartedAt
+          const sinceSpeechStart = speechStartedAt > 0 ? now - speechStartedAt : 0
+          if (totalElapsed >= minRecordingMs && sinceSpeechStart >= graceMs) {
+            stopped = true
+            onSpeechEnd()
+          }
+        },
+        onVADMisfire: () => {
+          // Speech-like blip that was too short to count. Reset the local flag
+          // so a true "no speech" session still hits onNoSpeech.
+          speaking.value = false
+        },
+      })
+      await micVad.start()
+      loaded.value = true
+    } catch (e) {
+      // VAD init failed — the user can still manual-stop. Log for debugging.
+      console.error('VAD init failed:', e)
+    }
+  }
+
+  async function stop(): Promise<{ hadSpeech: boolean }> {
+    const had = speechDetected
+    stopped = true
+    speaking.value = false
+    amplitude.value = 0
+
+    if (analyserInterval !== null) {
+      clearInterval(analyserInterval)
+      analyserInterval = null
+    }
+    if (audioCtx) {
+      await audioCtx.close().catch(() => {})
+      audioCtx = null
+    }
+    if (micVad) {
+      try {
+        await micVad.pause()
+        await micVad.destroy()
+      } catch {
+        // Already destroyed or failed — nothing to clean up further.
+      }
+      micVad = null
+    }
+    return { hadSpeech: had }
+  }
+
+  async function stopAndCheck(): Promise<void> {
+    const { hadSpeech } = await stop()
+    if (!hadSpeech) {
+      onNoSpeech()
+    }
+  }
+
+  return {
+    speaking: readonly(speaking),
+    amplitude: readonly(amplitude),
+    loaded: readonly(loaded),
+    start,
+    stop,
+    stopAndCheck,
+  }
+}