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macOS Local Voice

Local STT and TTS on macOS using native Apple capabilities. Speech-to-text via yap (Apple Speech.framework), text-to-speech via say + ffmpeg. Fully offline, no API keys required. Includes voice quality detection and smart voice selection.

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Install

openclaw skills install macos-local-voice

macOS Local Voice

Fully local speech-to-text (STT) and text-to-speech (TTS) on macOS. No API keys, no network, no cloud. All processing happens on-device.

Requirements

  • macOS (Apple Silicon recommended, Intel works too)
  • yap CLI in PATH — install via brew install finnvoor/tools/yap
  • ffmpeg in PATH (optional, needed for ogg/opus output) — brew install ffmpeg
  • say and osascript are macOS built-in

Speech-to-Text (STT)

Transcribe an audio file to text using Apple's on-device speech recognition.

node {baseDir}/scripts/stt.mjs <audio_file> [locale]
  • audio_file: path to audio (ogg, m4a, mp3, wav, etc.)
  • locale: optional, e.g. zh_CN, en_US, ja_JP. If omitted, uses system default.
  • Outputs transcribed text to stdout.

Supported STT locales

Use node {baseDir}/scripts/stt.mjs --locales to list all supported locales.

Key locales: en_US, en_GB, zh_CN, zh_TW, zh_HK, ja_JP, ko_KR, fr_FR, de_DE, es_ES, pt_BR, ru_RU, vi_VN, th_TH.

Language detection tips

  • If the user's recent messages are in Chinese → use zh_CN
  • If in English → use en_US
  • If mixed or unclear → try without locale (system default)

Text-to-Speech (TTS)

Convert text to an audio file using macOS native TTS.

node {baseDir}/scripts/tts.mjs "<text>" [voice_name] [output_path]
  • text: the text to speak
  • voice_name: optional, e.g. Yue (Premium), Tingting, Ava (Premium). If omitted, auto-selects the best available voice based on text language.
  • output_path: optional, defaults to a timestamped file in ~/.openclaw/media/outbound/
  • Outputs the generated audio file path to stdout.
  • If ffmpeg is available, output is ogg/opus (ideal for messaging platforms). Otherwise aiff.

Sending as voice note

After generating the audio file, send it using the message tool:

message action=send media=<path_from_tts.sh> asVoice=true

Voice Management

List available voices, check readiness, or find the best voice for a language:

node {baseDir}/scripts/voices.mjs list [locale]     # List voices, optionally filter by locale
node {baseDir}/scripts/voices.mjs check "<name>"     # Check if a specific voice is downloaded and ready
node {baseDir}/scripts/voices.mjs best <locale>       # Get the highest quality voice for a locale

Quality levels

  • 1 = compact (low quality, always available)
  • 2 = enhanced (mid quality, may need download)
  • 3 = premium (highest quality, needs download from System Settings)

If a voice is not available

Tell the user: "Voice X is not downloaded. Go to System Settings → Accessibility → Spoken Content → System Voice → Manage Voices to download it."

Notes

  • The say command silently falls back to a default voice if the requested voice is not available (exit code 0, no error). Always use voices.mjs check before calling tts.mjs with a specific voice name.
  • Premium voices (e.g. Yue (Premium), Ava (Premium)) sound significantly better but must be manually downloaded by the user.
  • Siri voices are not accessible via the speech synthesis API.