vox

Cross-platform TTS CLI with four backends and MCP server for AI assistants.

                           vox
                            |
          +--------+--------+--------+--------+
          |        |                 |        |
        say      qwen          qwen-native  kokoro
     (macOS)  (MLX/Python)    (pure Rust)  (pure Rust)
      native  Apple Silicon   CPU/Metal    CPU/GPU
                               /CUDA
                        |
                      rodio
                  (audio playback)

Install

# Quick install (macOS / Linux / WSL)
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rtk-ai/vox/main/install.sh | sh

# From source
cargo install --path .

# With GPU acceleration
cargo install --path . --features metal  # macOS Apple Silicon
cargo install --path . --features cuda   # Linux NVIDIA

Platform	Default backend	GPU
macOS	say	--features metal
Linux / WSL	kokoro	--features cuda

Linux requires sudo apt install libasound2-dev.

Quick start

vox "Hello, world."                     # Speak with default backend
vox -b kokoro -l fr "Bonjour"           # Specific backend + language
echo "Piped text" | vox                 # Read from stdin
vox --list-voices                       # List available voices

AI assistant integration

One command configures 14 AI tools (Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, Zed, Codex, Gemini, Amazon Q, and more):

vox init                # MCP server (default) — all AI tools
vox init -m cli         # CLAUDE.md + Stop hook (recommended)
vox init -m skill       # /speak slash command
vox init -m all         # all of the above

Running vox init again is safe — it skips files that are already configured.

CLI mode vs MCP mode

CLI mode is recommended for AI coding agents. Benchmarks show CLI tools are 10-32x cheaper and 100% reliable vs 72% for MCP due to MCP's TCP timeout overhead and JSON schema cost per call.

With CLI mode, the agent calls vox directly via Bash — no server, no protocol overhead:

# Agent just runs this after completing a task
vox "Fix applied and tests passing."

MCP mode remains useful for tools that don't have shell access (Cursor, VS Code extensions) or when you need structured tool discovery.

Mode	Reliability	Token cost	Best for
CLI (vox init -m cli)	100%	Low (Bash call)	Claude Code, Codex, terminal agents
MCP (vox init)	~72%	Higher (JSON schema)	Cursor, VS Code, GUI-based tools

Voice cloning

vox clone add patrick --audio ~/voice.wav --text "Transcription"
vox clone record myvoice --duration 10
vox -v patrick "This speaks with your voice."
vox clone list
vox clone remove patrick

Preferences

vox config show
vox config set backend kokoro
vox config set lang fr
vox config set voice Chelsie
vox config set gender feminine
vox config set style warm
vox config reset

Sound packs

vox pack install peon              # Install a pack
vox pack set peon                  # Activate it
vox pack play greeting             # Play a sound
vox pack list                      # List available packs

Voice conversation (macOS)

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-...
vox chat -l fr                     # Talk with Claude
vox hear -l fr                     # Speech-to-text only

Data

All state is stored locally in ~/.config/vox/:

~/.config/vox/
  vox.db          # SQLite: preferences, voice clones, usage logs
  clones/         # Audio files for voice clones
  packs/          # Installed sound packs

Env var	Description
VOX_CONFIG_DIR	Override config directory
VOX_DB_PATH	Override database path

Documentation

Document	Description
Architecture	Architecture technique, backends, DB schema, protocole MCP, securite
Features	Documentation fonctionnelle de toutes les commandes et fonctionnalites
Guide	Guide utilisateur, installation, demarrage rapide, depannage

License

Source-Available — Free for individuals and teams up to 20 people. Enterprise license required for larger organizations. Contact: license@rtk.ai