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Voice Bridge

Local multi-engine text-to-speech for AI coding assistants, with MCP controls and free engines that need no API key.

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Install Voice Bridge

Pick your client, then add it in one click or paste the config.

STDIONode.js
~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
claude_desktop_config.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "voice-bridge": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "ai-voice-bridge"
      ],
      "env": {
        "VOICE_BRIDGE_HOME": "YOUR_VALUE_HERE",
        "ELEVENLABS_API_KEY": "YOUR_VALUE_HERE",
        "VOICE_BRIDGE_MODE": "YOUR_VALUE_HERE",
        "VOICE_BRIDGE_ENGINE": "YOUR_VALUE_HERE",
        "VOICE_BRIDGE_EDGE_VOICE": "YOUR_VALUE_HERE",
        "VOICE_BRIDGE_EDGE_RATE": "YOUR_VALUE_HERE",
        "VOICE_BRIDGE_ELEVENLABS_SPEED": "YOUR_VALUE_HERE",
        "VOICE_BRIDGE_KOKORO_VOICE": "YOUR_VALUE_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Settings → Developer → Edit Config, merge this into mcpServers, then fully quit and reopen Claude Desktop.

Values are written into the snippet above so you can paste it as is. They never leave your browser.

We couldn’t confirm it starts correctly

We ran the install command but it didn't respond within our test window — this can mean a slow first-time install rather than a real problem.

npx -y ai-voice-bridge

Process exited before answering initialize.

This is an experimental automated check and can have false negatives — missing environment variables, a slow cold install, etc. It doesn’t necessarily mean something’s wrong. Last checked 2d ago.

Overview

Voice Bridge MCP server gives AI coding assistants MCP tools for speaking text, changing the active text-to-speech engine, checking status, and discovering voices. It runs as a Python package and plays audio through the local computer's speakers or headphones. Five engines are supported: edge-tts, ElevenLabs, Kokoro, macOS say, and espeak-ng, with edge-tts providing a free default path without an API key. Reach for it when an assistant needs spoken responses on a computer with local audio output, rather than in a headless or remote environment.

Use cases

  • Speak AI coding assistant responses aloud
  • Switch between local and cloud TTS engines
  • Preview and select voices by locale or gender
  • Enable automatic speech for Claude Code responses

Key features

  • MCP tools for speech, engine selection, status, and voice discovery
  • Five TTS engines with automatic selection
  • Local audio playback on macOS, Linux, and Windows
  • Text filtering for code, secrets, paths, URLs, and markdown
  • Claude Code plugin with Stop hook and always-on mode
  • Voice filtering and preview from the CLI

Tools4

What Voice Bridge lets your agent do. Expand a tool for its parameters.

Self-reported~74 tokens of context

Security & health

What it can reach and how reliably it runs — from our own checks, not the maintainer’s claims.

ActiveLast checked Today

Recent health check succeeded.

9/9 checks healthy over the last 47d

Supply-chain signal

No high-severity advisories surfaced by our automated scan.

Critical 0High 0Medium 0Low 0

Scanned 5h ago via OSV.dev · ai-voice-bridge (npm)

Adoption & maintenance

Factual signals from GitHub, npm, and our automated checks — not a rating.

npm downloads138Package downloads in the last 30 days.
Last commit5mo agoMost recent push to the default branch.
Install checkInconclusiveDidn't respond in our test window — often a slow first install.
Tools exposed4Callable tools this server registers over MCP.
Directory activity3 viewsConfig copies, upvotes, and views on AllMCPs.

How Voice Bridge works

What Voice Bridge MCP server does

Voice Bridge MCP server adds local text-to-speech controls to AI coding assistants. Its MCP interface exposes four operations: speak text aloud, change the default engine, inspect the current mode and available engines, and list voices for an engine. The package also includes command-line utilities and a Claude Code plugin, so it can be used through MCP, shell pipes, or response hooks.

Audio is played on the machine running Voice Bridge. The project is intended for desktop or workstation use with speakers or headphones, not for delivering audio over a network. A text-safety filter removes code blocks, secrets, file paths, URLs, and markdown before speech. Claude Code's hook can also limit spoken output to 2,000 characters and play it sentence by sentence.

How it works

The package selects an engine automatically by default. The availability order is edge-tts, macOS say, espeak, Kokoro, and ElevenLabs. ElevenLabs enters that selection process only when its SDK is installed and a valid API key is configured. You can also select an engine explicitly for the default configuration or for an individual speak operation.

The available engines cover different deployment needs. edge-tts provides Microsoft neural voices without an API key. ElevenLabs is a paid cloud option. Kokoro runs locally through ONNX and requires model files. macOS say and espeak-ng use platform speech facilities and provide basic voices. Kokoro is English-only according to the project documentation.

With Claude Code, the plugin adds a Stop hook, a /speak skill, and the MCP server. The hook can extract content from <speak> tags for single-turn use, or speak the complete response in always-on mode. It runs in the background and records hook activity in a rotating log file.

Setup and configuration

Install Python 3.10 or newer, then install the package with the engine extra you need. ai-voice-bridge[edge] installs the free edge-tts path, [all] installs all engine dependencies, and the base package supports minimal platform options. Linux or Windows also need a supported player: mpv or ffplay on Linux, and ffplay or mpv on Windows. macOS uses its built-in afplay utility.

Run voice-bridge test to verify local playback. The setup command can detect engines, test audio, optionally collect an ElevenLabs key, write initial state, and show Claude Code integration options. The Claude Code plugin can be installed from the project's marketplace, or the Stop hook can be added manually to .claude/settings.json.

Configuration is stored under the platform-specific Voice Bridge data directory. VOICE_BRIDGE_HOME overrides that location. The directory can contain .env for the ElevenLabs key, .state for mode and voice settings, models/ for Kokoro files, and the hook log. The default mode is off, meaning speech is requested per turn; always-on mode can be enabled with voice-bridge on.

Tools and capabilities

The Voice Bridge MCP server provides:

  • set_engine: sets auto, edge-tts, ElevenLabs, Kokoro, say, or espeak as the default.
  • get_status: reports the current mode, selected engine, and available engines.
  • list_voices: lists voices, using the current engine when none is specified.

Voice discovery can be filtered by gender or locale where supported, and voices can be previewed from the command line. The CLI also supports random voice samples and engine status checks.

Limitations and notes

Voice Bridge MCP server requires local audio hardware and a compatible player. Installation may succeed on a headless server, Docker container, SSH session, or CI runner, but speak operations will not produce audio without sound hardware and a player. ElevenLabs requires both its SDK and an API key. Kokoro requires an approximately 200 MB model download. The documentation does not identify a software license for the project.

Read the full README View source on GitHub

Reviews

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Frequently Asked Questions about Voice Bridge

Voice Bridge is an MCP server that connects AI coding assistants to local text-to-speech engines. Its main tools speak text, set the default engine, report status, and list voices. It supports edge-tts, ElevenLabs, Kokoro, macOS say, and espeak-ng, with audio played through the host computer's speakers or headphones.

Install it with pip, such as `pip install ai-voice-bridge[edge]` for the free edge-tts engine. Python 3.10 or newer is required. Use the `[all]` extra for all engine dependencies, or install the base package for minimal platform options.

Yes, Voice Bridge is documented for Cursor, Claude Code, and VS Code. It can provide spoken responses through its MCP server, while the documented plugin and Stop hook integration are specifically for Claude Code.

Yes, it can run without an API key when using edge-tts, macOS say, espeak-ng, or Kokoro. ElevenLabs requires its SDK and a valid API key, and it is not selected automatically without those credentials.

Voice Bridge needs local audio hardware and a supported audio player, so speech can fail on headless servers, Docker containers, SSH sessions, and CI runners. The MCP server may install and start in those environments, but speak operations need speakers or headphones and a player.

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