Voice Memo

Send native iMessage voice bubbles with ElevenLabs TTS via BlueBubbles. Use when: user asks to send a voice message, wants something spoken aloud, storytelling or summaries requested, or voice delivery would be more engaging than text. Requires ElevenLabs API key and BlueBubbles.

Send native iMessage voice bubbles (not file attachments) using ElevenLabs TTS and BlueBubbles.

Quick Start

Run the script with text and recipient:

bash

scripts/send-voice-memo.sh "Your message here" [phone]

This will:

1. Generate TTS audio via ElevenLabs (Rachel voice by default)
2. Convert to Opus CAF @ 24kHz (iMessage native format)
3. Send as native voice bubble via BlueBubbles

Requirements

• BlueBubbles running locally with Private API enabled
• ElevenLabs API key (for TTS)
• macOS (for afconvert audio conversion)
• Environment variables in ~/.openclaw/.env:

  bash

  ELEVENLABS_API_KEY=your-key-here
  BLUEBUBBLES_PASSWORD=your-password-here
  # Optional overrides:
  ELEVENLABS_VOICE_ID=21m00Tcm4TlvDq8ikWAM  # Rachel (default)
  ELEVENLABS_MODEL_ID=eleven_turbo_v2_5      # Turbo v2.5 (default)
  

The Working Formula

Critical parameters discovered 2026-02-19:

Parameter	Value	Why
chatGuid	any;-;+PHONE	NOT iMessage;-; (causes timeouts)
method	private-api	Required for native bubble
isAudioMessage	true	Required
Audio format	Opus @ 24kHz in CAF	iMessage native format
Pre-convert	Yes	Don't let BlueBubbles convert (wrong codec)

Voice Options

Default voice: Rachel (ElevenLabs)

• Voice ID: 21m00Tcm4TlvDq8ikWAM
• Model: eleven_turbo_v2_5 (fast, natural)
• Cost: ~$0.04 per 30s message

Expressive tags:

• [laughs] — natural laughter
• [sighs] — expressive sigh
• [excited] — energetic delivery

Example: "[excited] Oh my god, it worked!"

For full voice list and IDs, see VOICES.md.

Bidirectional Voice Memos

Sending (Amz → Amy): Use this skill. Native voice bubbles appear with waveform UI.

Receiving (Amy → Amz): BlueBubbles auto-converts incoming voice memos to MP3. OpenClaw transcribes via Whisper. Transcribed text flows into conversation context automatically.

Memory note: Incoming voice memo transcriptions flow into conversation context like any text message. They are NOT automatically persisted to memory or files — the agent must explicitly choose to store them, same as any conversation content. If you want to prevent transcriptions from being retained, instruct the agent not to record voice memo content in memory.

Troubleshooting

Voice bubble arrives as file attachment:

• Check method=private-api is set
• Verify chatGuid uses any;-; prefix (not iMessage;-;)
• Check response has "isAudioMessage": true

API times out:

• Use any;-;+PHONE format for chatGuid
• Verify BlueBubbles Private API is enabled
• Restart BlueBubbles if consistently slow

Audio is 0 seconds / unplayable:

• Ensure pre-conversion to Opus @ 24kHz
• Don't let BlueBubbles convert (uses wrong codec)
• Verify with: afinfo output.caf (should show opus @ 24000 Hz)