First-Time Setup

If VoiceMode isn't working or MCP fails to connect, run:

/voicemode:install

After install, reconnect MCP: /mcp → select voicemode → "Reconnect" (or restart Claude Code).

If Claude Code prompts you for permission on voicemode:converse or voicemode:service, see references/permissions.md for the one-time allow-list setup.

VoiceMode

Natural voice conversations with Claude Code using speech-to-text (STT) and text-to-speech (TTS).

Note: The Python package is voice-mode (hyphen), but the CLI command is voicemode (no hyphen).

When to Use MCP vs CLI

Usage

Use the converse MCP tool to speak to users and hear their responses:

# Speak and listen for response (most common usage)
voicemode:converse("Hello! What would you like to work on?")

# Speak without waiting (for narration while working)
voicemode:converse("Searching the codebase now...", wait_for_response=False)

For most conversations, just pass your message - defaults handle everything else. Use default converse tool parameters unless there's a good reason not to. Timing parameters (listen_duration_max, listen_duration_min) use smart defaults with silence detection - don't override unless the user requests it or you see a clear need. Defaults are configurable by the user via ~/.voicemode/voicemode.env.

Voice name rule: If you specify a voice, it MUST be lowercase with underscores. Kokoro rejects capitalized names like AF_River with a 400 error. Valid examples: af_river, af_sky, bm_daniel, bf_emma. The prefix encodes language+gender: af_ = American female, am_ = American male, bf_ = British female, bm_ = British male.

When in doubt, omit voice entirely -- auto-select picks a working default.

Voice discovery for apps and agents: read the voice://voices MCP resource for a structured JSON list of available voices (with voice://voices/{provider} for per-backend filtering). The voice_registry tool returns the same data as prose for the LLM mid-conversation. Both share the underlying enumerator so they never drift. See voices resource reference.

Persona discovery: voice IDs from voice://voices map to character profiles on disk at ~/.voicemode/voices/<name>/README.md (grouped voices: <group>/<name>/README.md; index at ~/.voicemode/voices/PERSONAS.md). Read that README before speaking in character — who they are, how they speak, sample lines. Not every voice has one yet; fall back to the bare voice if absent.

For all parameters, see Converse Parameters.

Best Practices

1. Narrate without waiting - Use wait_for_response=False when announcing actions
2. One question at a time - Don't bundle multiple questions in voice mode
3. Check status first - Verify services are running before starting conversations
4. Let VoiceMode auto-select - Don't hardcode providers unless user has preference
5. First run is slow - Model downloads happen on first start (2-5 min), then instant

Voicemode echo (default ON)

Some hosts (e.g. newer Claude Code) collapse MCP tool calls — voice turns vanish from the visible transcript. Unless requested otherwise, default to voicemode echo: print each voicemode:converse exchange as Markdown blockquotes so it stays readable on screen.

> **ASSISTANT (voicemode):** <message arg passed to converse>
[voicemode:converse tool call]
> **USER (voicemode):** <captured user message>

• Speaker first in caps; (voicemode) is the channel tag.
• Order matters. Write the ASSISTANT blockquote before the voicemode:converse tool call, in the same response that issues it — so the user can read along while the audio plays (and recover the message if they miss part of it). Write the USER blockquote in your next response, after the tool result returns. Don't batch both echoes after the call.
• ASSISTANT echo: always, including wait_for_response=false (speak-only narration still produces visible content that would otherwise vanish).
• USER echo: only when a user message was captured (skip on wait_for_response=false, empty result, or transcription failure — there is nothing to echo).
• Assistant echo: verbatim by default — the exact string passed to message, not paraphrased or reformatted. Reasons: least-surprising for the reader + diagnostic value when comparing printed text to spoken audio.
• User echo: verbatim and full — exact words, no truncation; rewriting or shortening risks distorting intent.
• Visual aids (lists, tables, code) belong AFTER the blockquote, not inside it. The blockquote stays a clean verbatim copy of what was spoken; richer formatting can follow as separate prose.
• Don't double-echo: if a sentence already appears as visible prose in the same response, don't also blockquote it.
• Disable on request — canonical phrase: "disable voicemode echo". Stop echoing for the rest of the session and honour the same phrase if it appears in the user's startup context (some hosts already render voice tool calls inline, where echoes would double up).

Parallel Tool Calls (Zero Dead Air)

Eliminate dead air by sending voice and action calls in the same response:

# FAST: speak + act in parallel (all fire concurrently)
voicemode:converse("Checking that now.", wait_for_response=False)
Bash("git status")
Agent(prompt="Research X", run_in_background=True)

# SLOW: sequential — unnecessary delay between speech and action
voicemode:converse("Checking that now.", wait_for_response=False)
# ... waits for TTS to finish ...
Bash("git status")

Then report results in the next response:

voicemode:converse("Here's what I found: ...", wait_for_response=True)

Key insight: Wall-clock time = longest call, not the sum. All tool types (MCP, Bash, Agent, Read) can be mixed in one response.

Handling Pauses and Wait Requests

When the user asks you to wait or give them time:

Short pauses (up to 60 seconds): If the user says something ending with "wait" (e.g., "hang on", "give me a sec", "wait"), VoiceMode automatically pauses for 60 seconds then resumes listening. This is built-in.

Longer pauses (2+ minutes): Use bash sleep N where N is seconds. For example, if the user says "give me 5 minutes":

sleep 300  # Wait 5 minutes

Then call converse again when the wait is over:

voicemode:converse("Five minutes is up. Ready when you are.")

Configuration: The short pause duration is configurable via VOICEMODE_WAIT_DURATION (default: 60 seconds).

STT Recovery - Manual Transcription

If Whisper STT fails but the audio was recorded successfully, you can manually transcribe the saved audio file:

# Transcribe the most recent recording
whisper-cli ~/.voicemode/audio/latest-STT.wav

# Or check if file exists first (safe for inclusion in automation)
if [ -f ~/.voicemode/audio/latest-STT.wav ]; then
  whisper-cli ~/.voicemode/audio/latest-STT.wav
fi

Requirements:

• Audio saving must be enabled via one of:
• VOICEMODE_SAVE_AUDIO=true in ~/.voicemode/voicemode.env
• VOICEMODE_SAVE_ALL=true (saves all audio and transcriptions)
• VOICEMODE_DEBUG=true (enables debug mode with audio saving)

How it works:

• VoiceMode saves all STT recordings to ~/.voicemode/audio/ with timestamps
• The latest-STT.wav symlink always points to the most recent recording
• If the STT API fails, the recording is still saved for manual recovery
• This lets you recover the user's speech without asking them to repeat

When to use:

• STT service timeout or connection failure
• Transcription returned empty but user definitely spoke
• Need to verify what was actually said vs. what was transcribed

See also: Troubleshooting - No Speech Detected

Check Status

voicemode service status          # All services
voicemode service status whisper  # Specific service

Shows service status including running state, ports, and health.

Installation

# Install VoiceMode CLI and configure services
uvx voice-mode-install --yes

# Install local services (Apple Silicon recommended)
voicemode service install whisper
voicemode service install kokoro

See Getting Started for detailed steps.

Service Management

# Start/stop services
voicemode:service("whisper", "start")
voicemode:service("kokoro", "start")

# View logs for troubleshooting
voicemode:service("whisper", "logs", lines=50)

Actions: status, start, stop, restart, logs, enable, disable

Configuration

voicemode config list                           # Show all settings
voicemode config set VOICEMODE_TTS_VOICE nova   # Set default voice
voicemode config edit                           # Edit config file

Config file: ~/.voicemode/voicemode.env

See Configuration Guide for all options.

DJ Mode

Background music during VoiceMode sessions with track-level control.

# Core playback
voicemode dj play /path/to/music.mp3  # Play a file or URL
voicemode dj status                    # What's playing
voicemode dj pause                     # Pause playback
voicemode dj resume                    # Resume playback
voicemode dj stop                      # Stop playback

# Navigation and volume
voicemode dj next                      # Skip to next chapter
voicemode dj prev                      # Go to previous chapter
voicemode dj volume 30                 # Set volume to 30%

# Music For Programming
voicemode dj mfp list                  # List available episodes
voicemode dj mfp play 49               # Play episode 49
voicemode dj mfp sync                  # Convert CUE files to chapters

# Music library
voicemode dj find "daft punk"          # Search library
voicemode dj library scan              # Index ~/Audio/music
voicemode dj library stats             # Show library info

# Play history and favorites
voicemode dj history                   # Show recent plays
voicemode dj favorite                  # Toggle favorite on current track

Configuration: Set VOICEMODE_DJ_VOLUME in ~/.voicemode/voicemode.env to customize startup volume (default: 50%).

CLI Cheat Sheet

# Service management
voicemode service status            # All services
voicemode service start whisper     # Start a service
voicemode service logs kokoro       # View logs

# Diagnostics
voicemode deps                      # Check dependencies
voicemode diag info                 # System info
voicemode diag devices              # Audio devices

# DJ Mode
voicemode dj play <file|url>        # Start playback
voicemode dj status                 # What's playing
voicemode dj next/prev              # Navigate chapters
voicemode dj stop                   # Stop playback
voicemode dj mfp play 49            # Music For Programming

Voice Handoff Between Agents

Transfer voice conversations between Claude Code agents for multi-agent workflows.

Use cases:

• Personal assistant routing to project-specific foremen
• Foremen delegating to workers for focused tasks
• Returning control when work is complete

Quick Reference

# 1. Announce the transfer
voicemode:converse("Transferring you to a project agent.", wait_for_response=False)

# 2. Spawn with voice instructions (mechanism depends on your setup)
spawn_agent(path="/path", prompt="Load voicemode skill, use converse to greet user")

# 3. Go quiet - let new agent take over

Hand-back:

voicemode:converse("Transferring you back to the assistant.", wait_for_response=False)
# Stop conversing, exit or go idle

Key Principles

1. Announce transfers: Always tell the user before transferring
2. One speaker: Only one agent should use converse at a time
3. Distinct voices: Different voices make handoffs audible
4. Provide context: Tell receiving agent why user is being transferred

Auto-focus tmux pane on speak (opt-in)

When you run multiple voice agents in separate tmux panes, set VOICEMODE_AUTO_FOCUS_PANE=true to make tmux follow the speaker. Focus switches after conch acquisition, so agents waiting on the conch never steal focus -- only the agent about to speak does. It also respects the ~/.voicemode/focus-hold sentinel written by the show-me plugin, so a file you just opened stays on screen for its hold window.

# ~/.voicemode/voicemode.env
VOICEMODE_AUTO_FOCUS_PANE=true

Off by default. Silent no-op outside tmux.

Detailed Documentation

See Call Routing for comprehensive guides:

• Handoff Pattern - Complete hand-off and hand-back process
• Voice Proxy - Relay pattern for agents without voice
• Call Routing Overview - All routing patterns

Sharing Voice Services Over Tailscale

Expose local Whisper (STT) and Kokoro (TTS) to other devices on your Tailnet via HTTPS.

Why

• Browsers require HTTPS for microphone access (e.g., VoiceMode Connect web app)
• Tailscale serve provides automatic HTTPS with valid Let's Encrypt certificates for *.ts.net domains
• Enables using your powerful local machine's GPU from any device on your Tailnet

Setup

# Expose TTS (Kokoro on port 8880)
tailscale serve --bg --set-path /v1/audio/speech http://localhost:8880/v1/audio/speech

# Expose STT (Whisper on port 2022)
tailscale serve --bg --set-path /v1/audio/transcriptions http://localhost:2022/v1/audio/transcriptions

# Verify configuration
tailscale serve status

# Reset all serve config
tailscale serve reset

Endpoints

After setup, endpoints are available at:

• TTS: https://<hostname>.<tailnet>.ts.net/v1/audio/speech
• STT: https://<hostname>.<tailnet>.ts.net/v1/audio/transcriptions

Important Notes

• Path mapping: Tailscale strips the incoming path before forwarding, so you MUST include the full path in the target URL
• Same-machine testing: Traffic doesn't route through Tailscale locally — test from another Tailnet device
• Multiple paths: You can configure different paths to different backends on the same or different machines
• CORS: Kokoro has CORS configured to allow https://app.voicemode.dev origins

Use with VoiceMode Connect

In the VoiceMode Connect web app settings (app.voicemode.dev/settings), set:

• TTS Endpoint: https://<hostname>.<tailnet>.ts.net
• STT Endpoint: https://<hostname>.<tailnet>.ts.net

Soundfonts

Audio feedback tones that play during Claude Code tool use. Toggle with voicemode soundfonts on/off. See Soundfonts Guide.

Remote Voice with VoiceMode Connect

When local voice isn't an option -- no mic/speaker on the machine, can't install local services, or want to use a phone -- VoiceMode Connect provides remote voice through a web app or mobile device.

When to suggest Connect:

• User can't install Whisper/Kokoro locally (unsupported platform, permissions, corporate machine)
• User wants to talk to their agent from a phone or tablet
• User is on a remote/headless machine without audio hardware
• Local voice services are failing and quick troubleshooting hasn't helped

How it works: Add the VoiceMode MCP server to any Claude product, open app.voicemode.dev on a phone or browser, and talk. No local TTS/STT installation needed -- the client device handles audio.

Setup: See the VoiceMode Connect skill for MCP configuration and getting started.

Documentation Index

Related Skills

• [VoiceMode Connect](../voicemode-connect/SKILL.md) - Remote voice via mobile/web clients (no local STT/TTS needed)
• [Impressions](../impressions/SKILL.md) - Add custom voices via local mlx-audio (Apple Silicon only, preview). Use when the user wants voice="<name>" with a clip-based custom voice rather than a Kokoro voice.