Tools

Text-to-speech quickstart

Quick start

Pick a provider

OpenAI and ElevenLabs are the most reliable hosted options. Microsoft and Local CLI work without an API key. See the provider matrix for the full list.

Set the API key

Export the env var for your provider (for example OPENAI_API_KEY, ELEVENLABS_API_KEY). Microsoft and Local CLI need no key.

Enable in config

Set tts.auto: "always" and tts.provider:

json5

{  tts: {    auto: "always",    provider: "elevenlabs",  },}

Try it in chat

/tts status shows the current state. /tts audio Hello from OpenClaw sends a one-off audio reply.

Supported providers

Provider	Auth	Notes
Azure Speech	`AZURE_SPEECH_KEY` + `AZURE_SPEECH_REGION` (also `AZURE_SPEECH_API_KEY`, `SPEECH_KEY`, `SPEECH_REGION`)	Native Ogg/Opus voice-note output and telephony.
DeepInfra	`DEEPINFRA_API_KEY`	OpenAI-compatible TTS. Defaults to `hexgrad/Kokoro-82M`.
ElevenLabs	`ELEVENLABS_API_KEY` or `XI_API_KEY`	Voice cloning, multilingual, deterministic via `seed`; streamed for Discord voice playback.
Fish Audio	`FISH_API_KEY` or `FISH_AUDIO_API_KEY`	S2.1 hosted TTS, expressive tags, voice discovery, streaming, and telephony.
Google Gemini	`GEMINI_API_KEY` or `GOOGLE_API_KEY`	Gemini API batch TTS; persona-aware via `promptTemplate: "audio-profile-v1"`.
Gradium	`GRADIUM_API_KEY`	Voice-note and telephony output.
Inworld	`INWORLD_API_KEY`	Streaming TTS API. Native Opus voice-note and PCM telephony.
Local CLI	none	Runs a configured local TTS command.
Microsoft	none	Public Edge neural TTS via `node-edge-tts`. Best-effort, no SLA.
MiniMax	`MINIMAX_API_KEY` (or Token Plan: `MINIMAX_OAUTH_TOKEN`, `MINIMAX_CODE_PLAN_KEY`, `MINIMAX_CODING_API_KEY`)	T2A v2 API. Defaults to `speech-2.8-hd`.
OpenAI	`OPENAI_API_KEY`	Also used for auto-summary; supports persona `instructions`.
OpenRouter	`OPENROUTER_API_KEY` (can reuse `models.providers.openrouter.apiKey`)	Default model `hexgrad/kokoro-82m`.
Volcengine	`VOLCENGINE_TTS_API_KEY` or `BYTEPLUS_SEED_SPEECH_API_KEY` (legacy AppID/token: `VOLCENGINE_TTS_APPID`/`_TOKEN`)	BytePlus Seed Speech HTTP API.
Vydra	`VYDRA_API_KEY`	Shared image, video, and speech provider.
xAI	`XAI_API_KEY`	xAI batch TTS. Native Opus voice-note is not supported.
Xiaomi MiMo	`XIAOMI_API_KEY`	MiMo TTS through Xiaomi chat completions.

If multiple providers are configured, the selected one is used first and the others are fallback options. Auto-summary uses summaryModel (or agents.defaults.model.primary), so that provider must also be authenticated if you keep summaries enabled.

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