Piper TTS — Local Voice Messages

Generate voice messages using Piper, a fast local TTS engine. Zero cloud calls, zero cost, zero API keys.

Setup

If Piper is not installed, run the setup script:

scripts/setup-piper.sh

This installs piper-tts via pip and downloads a default voice (en_US-kusal-medium).

Generating Voice Messages

Use scripts/piper-speak.sh to generate and deliver voice:

scripts/piper-speak.sh "<text>" [voice]

• text: The text to speak (required)
• voice: Piper voice name (default: en_US-kusal-medium)

The script outputs an MP3 path. Include it in your reply as:

[[audio_as_voice]]
MEDIA:<path-to-mp3>

This delivers the audio as a native voice message on supported channels (Telegram, Discord, etc.).

Example Workflow

1. User asks: "Tell me a joke as audio"
2. Run: scripts/piper-speak.sh "Why do programmers prefer dark mode? Because light attracts bugs!"
3. Get MP3 path from output
4. Reply with [[audio_as_voice]] + MEDIA:<path>

Available Voices

After setup, download additional voices:

scripts/setup-piper.sh --voice en_US-ryan-high
scripts/setup-piper.sh --voice en_GB-northern_english_male-medium

Popular voices:

• en_US-kusal-medium — Clear male voice (default, recommended)
• en_US-ryan-high — High quality US male
• en_US-hfc_male-medium — US male
• en_GB-northern_english_male-medium — British male
• Browse all: https://huggingface.co/rhasspy/piper-voices

Important Notes

• Speed: Local generation is ~0.5-1s. Much faster than cloud TTS.
• No API keys: Works completely offline after setup.
• Platform: macOS (Apple Silicon + Intel), Linux. Requires Python 3.9+.
• Do NOT set messages.tts.auto: "always" in OpenClaw config — it makes every response slow. Keep TTS on-demand.