Claude Speak

Vocalize text using high-quality text-to-speech. British male voice (bm_george) by default.

When to Use

Invoke when user:

• Asks to "say this out loud" or "speak this"
• Wants narration or audio feedback
• Uses /speak command
• Requests vocalization of content

Core Command

~/Projects/claude-speak/.venv/bin/claude-speak-client "Text to speak"

That's it. The daemon runs in background via launchd - instant response.

IMPORTANT: When using the Bash tool, set timeout: 300000 (5 min) to avoid Claude Code's default 2-minute timeout on longer text.

Options

# Different voice
~/Projects/claude-speak/.venv/bin/claude-speak-client -v af_heart "Warm female voice"

# Adjust speed (default 1.0)
~/Projects/claude-speak/.venv/bin/claude-speak-client -s 1.2 "Speaking faster"

# Quiet mode (suppress errors)
~/Projects/claude-speak/.venv/bin/claude-speak-client -q "Silent on success"

# Custom timeout (default: 300s / 5 min)
~/Projects/claude-speak/.venv/bin/claude-speak-client -t 600 "Very long text..."

Long Text (3+ sentences)

For longer content, either:

1. Set longer timeout: Use timeout: 300000 in Bash tool call
2. Run in background: Use run_in_background: true to avoid blocking

# Background mode - Claude continues while audio plays
~/Projects/claude-speak/.venv/bin/claude-speak-client "Your longer text here..."

Background mode is cleaner for paragraphs and avoids timeout issues entirely.

Available Voices

Troubleshooting

If "Daemon not running" error:

~/Projects/claude-speak/.venv/bin/claude-speak-daemon start

Best Practices

• Keep utterances concise (1-2 sentences)
• Use for key points, not entire responses
• Check daemon status if issues arise