Play Sound

Audio Feedback System

This skill provides cross-platform audio feedback for Claude Code events, helping users stay aware of task progress and interaction points without constantly watching the screen.

Purpose

Audio cues enhance the development workflow by:

• Signaling task completion: Know when long-running tasks finish without monitoring
• Alerting to prompts: Be notified when user input is required
• Maintaining flow: Stay focused on other work while background tasks complete
• Reducing context switching: Less need to check status updates manually

Sound Types

Success Sound

• Event: Task completed successfully
• macOS: Hero.aiff (triumphant sound)
• Linux: complete.oga or similar system sound
• Windows: 1000Hz beep for 100ms

Prompt Sound

• Event: User input or decision required
• macOS: Blow.aiff (blowing sound)
• Linux: dialog-warning.oga or bell sound
• Windows: 800Hz beep for 150ms

Implementation

The audio system is implemented in scripts/play-sound.py, a Python script that:

1. Detects the platform (macOS, Linux, Windows)
2. Uses native system sounds when available
3. Falls back gracefully if sounds unavailable
4. Fails silently to avoid interrupting workflow
5. Requires no external dependencies (uses only Python stdlib)

macOS Implementation

Uses afplay command with system sounds from /System/Library/Sounds/:

• Hero.aiff for success
• Blow.aiff for prompts
• Falls back to osascript -e 'beep' if needed

Linux Implementation

Searches common sound directories:

• /usr/share/sounds/freedesktop/stereo/
• /usr/share/sounds/ubuntu/stereo/
• /usr/share/sounds/gnome/default/alerts/

Tries multiple tools in order:

1. paplay (PulseAudio)
2. aplay (ALSA)
3. beep command
4. Terminal bell (\a)

Windows Implementation

Uses winsound module from Python standard library:

• Different frequencies for different events
• MessageBeep as fallback
• Terminal bell as last resort

Hook Configuration

Hooks are configured in the plugin's settings.json:

{
  "hooks": {
    "SubagentStop": [
      {
        "matcher": "*",
        "hooks": [
          {
            "type": "command",
            "command": "python3 ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/play-sound/scripts/play-sound.py success"
          }
        ]
      }
    ],
    "Notification": [
      {
        "matcher": "*",
        "hooks": [
          {
            "type": "command",
            "command": "python3 ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/play-sound/scripts/play-sound.py prompt"
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

Customization

Users can customize the audio feedback by:

1. Modifying sound files: Edit the sound file paths in play-sound.py
2. Adjusting frequencies: Change the Hz and duration values for Windows
3. Adding new sound types: Extend the sound_map dictionaries
4. Disabling hooks: Remove or comment out hooks in settings.json

Cross-Platform Compatibility

The script is designed to work on:

• macOS: 10.12+ (all versions with modern system sounds)
• Linux: All major distributions (Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian, Arch, etc.)
• Windows: Windows 7+ (any version with Python 3.x)

All implementations use sounds/capabilities available by default on the latest OS versions, requiring no additional software installation.

Silent Failure Philosophy

The audio system fails silently by design:

• If sounds can't be played, workflow continues uninterrupted
• No error messages displayed to the user
• Prevents audio issues from blocking development work
• Graceful degradation through multiple fallback options

Performance

• Non-blocking: Sound playback runs asynchronously
• Minimal overhead: Subprocess call takes ~10-50ms
• No dependencies: Uses only Python standard library
• Small footprint: Script is lightweight and fast

Testing

Test the sound system manually:

# Test success sound
python3 ./scripts/play-sound.py success

# Test prompt sound
python3 ./scripts/play-sound.py prompt

# Test default (prompt)
python3 ./scripts/play-sound.py

Related Files

• scripts/play-sound.py: Main implementation
• settings.json: Hook configuration
• Plugin enabled by default in user's Claude Code settings