# Tts

> Read text aloud using text-to-speech. Use when the user says "speak to me", "read to me", "read this aloud", "say this", "speak the summary", or asks to hear something spoken.

- Skill: `drn/tts` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add drn/tts`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/drn/tts/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: drn (https://skillmd.com/u/drn)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/drn/tts

---


# Text-to-Speech

Read content aloud using the `tts` CLI (Kokoro TTS locally, or OpenAI with `--remote`).

## Arguments

- `$ARGUMENTS` - Optional text or reference to read aloud (e.g., "read the summary to me")

## Instructions

### Step 1: Determine Content

Figure out what to speak from the user's message and conversation context:

- If the user said "speak to me" or "read to me" with no specific content, summarize the most recent output or finding in 1-2 sentences and speak that. **Prefix with project name** (see Step 2).
- If the user referenced specific content ("read the summary", "say the plan"), speak a concise version of that content. **Prefix with project name**.
- If the user provided literal text ("say hello world"), speak exactly that. **Do NOT add the project-name prefix** — verbatim means verbatim.

### Step 2: Speak

For summaries/derived content, prefix the spoken text with the current project name followed by ` - `, e.g. `dots - completed task`. Resolve the project name from the git remote URL, falling back to the git toplevel basename, then the cwd basename. Sanitize to `[A-Za-z0-9._-]` before interpolating so an unusual remote name can't reach the shell:

```bash
PROJECT=$(basename -s .git "$(git remote get-url origin 2>/dev/null)" 2>/dev/null)
if [ -z "$PROJECT" ]; then PROJECT=$(basename "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null)" 2>/dev/null); fi
if [ -z "$PROJECT" ]; then PROJECT=$(basename "$PWD"); fi
PROJECT=$(printf '%s' "$PROJECT" | tr -cd 'A-Za-z0-9._-')
tts -s 1.4 "$PROJECT - Your text here"
```

- **Speed**: Use `-s 1.4` by default
- **Voice**: heart (default) — user can request others with `-v`: alloy, nova, bella, sky, echo, onyx, or any Kokoro voice ID (af_heart, am_adam, etc.). Voices are auto-cached on first use (brief download delay).
- **Remote**: Add `--remote` to use OpenAI TTS API instead of local Kokoro
- **Daemon**: A persistent daemon auto-starts on first use to keep the model warm (~3s vs ~6.5s cold start). Use `tts serve` / `tts stop` to manage manually.
- **Length**: Keep spoken text concise. For long content, summarize to key points rather than reading verbatim.

### Step 3: Confirm

After speaking, briefly confirm what was read (e.g., "Spoke the deployment summary."). Do not repeat the full text in chat.