tomevault-io LocalKin Audio
Local voice AI platform for Speech-to-Text (STT) and Text-to-Speech (TTS). All processing runs locally on the user's machine — no cloud API keys required.
When to use this skill
Use this skill when the user wants to:
- Transcribe an audio file to text (speech-to-text)
- Synthesize speech from text (text-to-speech)
- Listen in real-time from a microphone with optional LLM conversation
- Manage models — list, download, remove, or benchmark STT/TTS models
- Check system status — hardware detection, installed engines, cache info
Quick reference
Transcribe audio to text
kin audio transcribe <audio_file>
kin audio transcribe recording.wav --model whisper-cpp:base --language en
kin audio transcribe interview.mp3 --format srt --timestamps --output subtitles.srt
kin audio transcribe meeting.wav --format json --output transcript.json
Options:
| Flag | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
--model, -m |
STT model (engine:variant) | whisper-cpp:base |
--language, -l |
Language code (auto-detect if omitted) | auto |
--output, -o |
Output file (stdout if omitted) | stdout |
--format, -f |
Output format: text, json, srt, vtt |
text |
--timestamps |
Include timestamps | off |
--device |
auto, cpu, cuda, mps |
auto |
--verbose, -v |
Verbose output | off |
Synthesize speech (TTS)
kin audio tts "Hello, world!"
kin audio tts "Welcome to LocalKin" --voice af_heart --output welcome.wav
kin audio tts "你好世界" --model kokoro --voice zf_xiaobei
kin audio tts "Bonjour" --speed 0.8 --no-play --output bonjour.wav
Options:
| Flag | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
--model, -m |
TTS model | kokoro |
--voice, -v |
Voice ID | model default |
--output, -o |
Output file (plays directly if omitted) | play |
--speed, -s |
Speed multiplier | 1.0 |
--play/--no-play |
Play audio after synthesis | --play |
--list-voices |
List available voices and exit | — |
--device |
auto, cpu, cuda, mps |
auto |
Kokoro voice IDs follow a pattern: first letter = language (a/b=English, e=Spanish, f=French, h=Hindi, i=Italian, j=Japanese, p=Portuguese, z=Chinese), second letter = gender (f=female, m=male). Examples: af_heart (English female), zm_yunyang (Chinese male), jf_alpha (Japanese female).
To list all available voices: kin audio tts --list-voices
Real-time listening
kin audio listen
kin audio listen --tts --tts-voice af_heart
kin audio listen --llm ollama --llm-model qwen3:14b --tts --stream
Options:
| Flag | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
--model, -m |
STT model | whisper-cpp:base |
--tts/--no-tts |
Enable TTS responses | off |
--tts-model |
TTS model for responses | native |
--tts-voice |
Voice for TTS | — |
--llm |
LLM backend (e.g. ollama) |
off |
--llm-model |
LLM model name | qwen3:14b |
--stream/--no-stream |
Stream LLM responses | off |
--language, -l |
Language code | auto |
--silence-threshold |
Silence threshold 0.0–1.0 | 0.01 |
--silence-duration |
Seconds of silence before processing | 1.5 |
Model management
# List all available models
kin audio models
# Filter models
kin audio models --type stt
kin audio models --type tts --language zh
kin audio models --engine kokoro
kin audio models --search "chinese"
# Download a model
kin audio pull whisper-cpp:base
kin audio pull kokoro
# Remove a model
kin audio rm whisper-cpp:base
# Get hardware-based recommendations
kin audio recommend
kin audio recommend --verbose
Benchmark models
kin audio benchmark test.wav
kin audio benchmark test.wav --models whisper-cpp:tiny whisper-cpp:base faster-whisper:base
kin audio benchmark test.wav --iterations 3 --output results.json
System and configuration
# Check system status (installed engines, libraries, cache)
kin audio status
# View configuration
kin audio config
kin audio config --path
kin audio config --models
# Set configuration
kin audio config set default_stt_model whisper-cpp:base
kin audio config set default_tts_model kokoro
kin audio config set default_device mps
# Cache management
kin audio cache info
kin audio cache clear
kin audio cache clear whisper-cpp:base
# Show running servers
kin audio ps
API server
# Start the API server
kin audio serve
kin audio serve --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8000
kin audio serve whisper-cpp:base # pre-load a model
# Start web UI
kin web
kin web --port 8080
Add custom models
# List available templates
kin audio list-templates
# Add from template
kin audio add-model --template whisper-gguf --name my-whisper --repo user/model
# Add from Hugging Face
kin audio add-model --name my-tts --repo user/tts-model --type tts --size-mb 200
Important notes
- Model format: Models are specified as
engine:variant(e.g.,whisper-cpp:base,faster-whisper:large-v3). Some models likekokorohave no variant. - First run: Models are downloaded on first use. Use
kin audio pull <model>to pre-download. - Device selection: Use
--device mpson Apple Silicon Macs for GPU acceleration. The defaultautousually picks the best option. - Output files: When
--outputis omitted, transcriptions print to stdout and TTS plays audio directly. - Supported audio formats: WAV, MP3, FLAC, OGG, M4A, and other formats supported by ffmpeg.
Scripted usage
For scripted/automated use, helper scripts are available at {baseDir}/scripts/:
{baseDir}/scripts/transcribe.sh <audio_file> [options]— transcribe wrapper{baseDir}/scripts/tts.sh "<text>" [options]— TTS wrapper{baseDir}/scripts/status.sh— quick status check
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