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Piper TTS

Name: Piper TTS
Author: bewareofddog

by bewareofddog · GitHub ↗ · v1.0.1

cross-platform ⚠ suspicious

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Install in OpenClaw

/install beware-piper-tts

Description

Local text-to-speech using Piper for voice message delivery. Use when the user asks for voice responses, audio messages, TTS, text-to-speech, voice notes, or...

README (SKILL.md)

Piper TTS — Local Voice Messages

Generate voice messages using Piper, a fast local TTS engine. Zero cloud calls, zero cost, zero API keys.

Setup

If Piper is not installed, run the setup script:

scripts/setup-piper.sh

This installs piper-tts via pip and downloads a default voice (en_US-kusal-medium).

Generating Voice Messages

Use scripts/piper-speak.sh to generate and deliver voice:

scripts/piper-speak.sh "\x3Ctext>" [voice]

text: The text to speak (required)
voice: Piper voice name (default: en_US-kusal-medium)

The script outputs an MP3 path. Include it in your reply as:

[[audio_as_voice]]
MEDIA:\x3Cpath-to-mp3>

This delivers the audio as a native voice message on supported channels (Telegram, Discord, etc.).

Example Workflow

User asks: "Tell me a joke as audio"
Run: scripts/piper-speak.sh "Why do programmers prefer dark mode? Because light attracts bugs!"
Get MP3 path from output
Reply with [[audio_as_voice]] + MEDIA:\x3Cpath>

Available Voices

After setup, download additional voices:

scripts/setup-piper.sh --voice en_US-ryan-high
scripts/setup-piper.sh --voice en_GB-northern_english_male-medium

Popular voices:

en_US-kusal-medium — Clear male voice (default, recommended)
en_US-ryan-high — High quality US male
en_US-hfc_male-medium — US male
en_GB-northern_english_male-medium — British male
Browse all: https://huggingface.co/rhasspy/piper-voices

Important Notes

Speed: Local generation is ~0.5-1s. Much faster than cloud TTS.
No API keys: Works completely offline after setup.
Platform: macOS (Apple Silicon + Intel), Linux. Requires Python 3.9+.
Do NOT set messages.tts.auto: "always" in OpenClaw config — it makes every response slow. Keep TTS on-demand.

Usage Guidance

This skill appears to do what it says: local TTS using Piper and downloaded voice models from HuggingFace. Before running setup-piper.sh, consider: 1) the setup script will run pip3 install (piper-tts) and may run sudo apt-get install ffmpeg — run these commands in a virtualenv or on a machine where you trust installing packages. 2) the voice files are downloaded from https://huggingface.co/rhasspy/piper-voices which is the expected source, but downloads and pip installs execute remote code — review or run in an isolated environment if you have concerns. 3) voices are written to ~/ .local/share/piper-voices (or PIPER_VOICES_DIR if set); no secrets are requested. If you want minimal risk, run setup manually and inspect outputs before enabling the skill.

Capability Analysis

Type: OpenClaw Skill Name: beware-piper-tts Version: 1.0.1 The skill is classified as suspicious due to a critical path traversal vulnerability found in `scripts/setup-piper.sh`. The `download_voice` function constructs the output filename (`onnx_file`) directly from the user-controlled `--voice` argument without proper sanitization. This allows an attacker to specify a voice name like `../../.ssh/id_rsa` to write a downloaded file from HuggingFace to an arbitrary location on the filesystem, potentially leading to arbitrary file write or remote code execution if combined with other vulnerabilities or specific file types. While the overall intent of the skill is benign (local TTS), this vulnerability poses a significant security risk.

Capability Assessment

✓ Purpose & Capability

The name/description (local Piper TTS) match the included scripts and README: setup installs piper-tts and downloads voice ONNX files; speak script generates WAV via python -m piper and converts to MP3. No unrelated capabilities or credentials are requested.

✓ Instruction Scope

SKILL.md and scripts keep to TTS: they read PIPER_VOICES_DIR, HOME and TMPDIR (reasonable), call python3 -m piper, ffmpeg, and output an MP3 path. They do not read unrelated system files or send data to unexpected endpoints; voice downloads go to HuggingFace repo.

ℹ Install Mechanism

There is no formal install spec (instruction-only). setup-piper.sh installs piper-tts via pip and may install ffmpeg via brew or apt-get (sudo). It downloads model files with curl from huggingface.co (official repo). This is expected but carries normal risks of executing pip/apt and downloading binaries; running in a controlled environment is recommended.

✓ Credentials

The skill requests no credentials or secret env vars. It optionally respects PIPER_VOICES_DIR and TMPDIR (standard local config). No excessive or unrelated environment access is requested.

✓ Persistence & Privilege

always:false and model invocation is normal. The scripts install tools/packages but do not modify other skills or system agent configs. The only elevated action is apt-get which may require sudo during setup — expected for installing ffmpeg on Linux.

How to Use

Make sure OpenClaw is installed (local or Docker)
Run the install command in chat: /install beware-piper-tts
After installation, invoke the skill by name or use /beware-piper-tts
Provide required inputs per the skill's parameter spec and get structured output

Version History

v1.0.1

No code or documentation changes detected. - Version bump only; no functional or content updates in this release.

v1.0.0

Initial release of Piper TTS skill for local text-to-speech. - Delivers voice messages using the fast, local Piper TTS engine. - No cloud APIs, no cost, no latency—runs entirely offline. - Easy setup script for installing Piper and downloading default/enhanced voices. - Provides scripts to convert text to MP3 voice messages for platforms like Telegram and Discord. - Supports user requests for voice responses, audio messages, and text-to-speech. - Includes instructions for adding new voices and example workflow.

Metadata

Slug beware-piper-tts

Version 1.0.1

License —

All-time Installs 1

Active Installs 1

Total Versions 2

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Piper TTS?

Local text-to-speech using Piper for voice message delivery. Use when the user asks for voice responses, audio messages, TTS, text-to-speech, voice notes, or... It is an AI Agent Skill for Claude Code / OpenClaw, with 843 downloads so far.

How do I install Piper TTS?

Run "/install beware-piper-tts" in the OpenClaw or Claude Code chat to install it in one step — no extra setup required.

Is Piper TTS free?

Yes, Piper TTS is completely free (open-source). You can download, install and use it at no cost.

Which platforms does Piper TTS support?

Piper TTS is cross-platform and runs anywhere OpenClaw / Claude Code is available (cross-platform).

Who created Piper TTS?

It is built and maintained by bewareofddog (@bewareofddog); the current version is v1.0.1.

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