TalkiTo

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TalkiTo lets developers talk, slack and whatsapp with Claude Code and OpenAI Codex. It can be used as a command-line tool, a web extension, and as a Python library.

🚀 Quick Install

Option 1: One-liner Install Script (Recommended)

curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/robdmac/talkito/main/install.sh | bash

Option 2: PyPI

pip install talkito

Then just run:

talkito claude

Install for End Users

From Source (Stable)

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/robdmac/talkito.git
cd talkito

# Create and activate virtual environment (recommended)
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate

# Install system dependencies (macOS)
brew install portaudio

# Install package (normal install - gets updates via git pull)
pip install .

# Run this in a directory you want to use claude with
talkito claude

Install for Developers

Editable Install (Development)

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/robdmac/talkito.git
cd talkito

# Create and activate virtual environment (recommended)
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate

# Install system dependencies (macOS)
brew install portaudio

# Install in development mode (editable install)
pip install -e .

# Run this in a directory you want to use claude with
talkito claude

or for the web extension run as

talkito --mcp-sse-server

then go to chrome://extensions/ and load unpacked the extensions/chrome/ dir

Demo Video

AI Assistant Compatibility

| AI Assistant | Method | Status | |-----------------|---------------|---------------------| | Claude Code | Terminal | Fully Supported | | Codex Cli | Terminal | Fully Supported | | bolt.new | Web Extension | Output Only | | v0.dev | Web Extension | Output Only | | replit.com | Web Extension | Output Only | | Other agents | Terminal | In Progress |

Run with Claude Code

run talkito claude

Run with Codex Cli

run talkito codex

Run as an MCP server

run talkito --mcp-server

Run the TalkiTo configuration menu

run talkito

Advanced Options

# Disable auto-skip to newer content (auto-skip is on by default)
talkito --dont-auto-skip-tts claude

# Use different TTS providers
talkito --tts-provider polly --tts-voice Matthew --tts-region us-west-2 echo "Hello with AWS"
talkito --tts-provider azure --tts-voice en-US-JennyNeural echo "Hello with Azure"
talkito --tts-provider gcloud --tts-voice en-US-Journey-F echo "Hello with Google"
talkito --tts-provider kittentts --tts-voice expr-voice-3-f echo "Hello with KittenTTS"
talkito --tts-provider kokoro --tts-voice af_heart echo "Hello with Kokoro (local)"

# Use different ASR providers
talkito --asr-provider gcloud --asr-language en-US claude
AZURE_SPEECH_KEY=... AZURE_SPEECH_REGION=eastus talkito --asr-provider azure claude
WHISPER_MODEL=small WHISPER_COMPUTE_TYPE=int8 talkito --asr-provider local_whisper claude
talkito --asr-language es-ES echo "Hola mundo"  # Spanish recognition

# Enable remote communication (configure via environment variables)
talkito --slack-channel '#alerts' python manage.py runserver
talkito --whatsapp-recipients +1234567890 long-running-command
talkito --sms-recipients +1234567890,+0987654321 server-monitor.sh

Using tts.py (Standalone TTS)

The TTS module can be used independently for text-to-speech operations:

#!/usr/bin/env python3
import tts

# Initialize TTS
engine = tts.detect_tts_engine()
tts.start_tts_worker(engine)

# Speak text
tts.queue_for_speech("Hello from the TTS module!")

# Wait and cleanup
import time
time.sleep(2)
tts.shutdown_tts()

Using asr.py (Standalone ASR)

The ASR module can be used independently for speech recognition:

#!/usr/bin/env python3
import asr

# Define callback for recognized text
def handle_text(text):
    print(f"You said: {text}")

# Start dictation
asr.start_dictation(handle_text)

# Keep running (press Ctrl+C to stop)
try:
    import time
    while True:
        time.sleep(1)
except KeyboardInterrupt:
    asr.stop_dictation()

Provider Configuration

Text-to-Speech (TTS) Providers

System TTS (Default)

• macOS: Uses built-in say command
• Linux: Uses espeak, festival, or flite (install via package manager)
• Setup: No API key needed

OpenAI TTS

• Get API Key: https://platform.openai.com/api-keys
• Voices: alloy, echo, fable, onyx, nova, shimmer
• Usage: --tts-provider openai --tts-voice nova

AWS Polly

• Get Credentials: https://aws.amazon.com/polly/getting-started/
• Setup: Set AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID and AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY
• Voices: Joanna, Matthew, Amy, Brian, and more
• Usage: --tts-provider polly --tts-voice Matthew

Azure Speech Services

• Get API Key: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/cognitive-services/speech-services/
• Setup: Set AZURE_SPEECH_KEY and AZURE_REGION
• Voices: en-US-JennyNeural, en-US-AriaNeural, and many more
• Usage: --tts-provider azure --tts-voice en-US-JennyNeural

Google Cloud Text-to-Speech

• Get Credentials: https://cloud.google.com/text-to-speech/docs/quickstart
• Setup: Set GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS to service account JSON path
• Voices: en-US-Journey-F, en-US-News-N, and more
• Usage: --tts-provider gcloud --tts-voice en-US-Journey-F

ElevenLabs

• Get API Key: https://elevenlabs.io/
• Setup: Set ELEVENLABS_API_KEY
• Voices: Various voice IDs available
• Usage: Configure in code or .env file

Deepgram

• Get API Key: https://deepgram.com/
• Setup: Set DEEPGRAM_API_KEY
• Voices: aura-asteria-en, aura-luna-en, aura-stella-en, and more
• Usage: --tts-provider deepgram --tts-voice aura-asteria-en

KittenTTS (Local / Offline)

• Install: pip install https://github.com/KittenML/KittenTTS/releases/download/0.1/kittentts-0.1.0-py3-none-any.whl soundfile phonemizer
• Setup: No API key required. First run prompts to download the selected model (default kitten-tts-nano-0.2) into the Hugging Face cache. Configure KITTENTTS_MODEL and KITTENTTS_VOICE to pick different quality/voice options.
• Best for: Ultra-lightweight CPU-only voices that stay on-device.
• Usage: KITTENTTS_MODEL=kitten-tts-nano-0.2 talkito --tts-provider kittentts --tts-voice expr-voice-3-f

Kokoro (Local / Offline)

• Install: pip install 'kokoro>=0.9.4' soundfile phonemizer
• Setup: No API key required. TalkiTo will download Kokoro weights the first time you run it (set KOKORO_LANGUAGE, KOKORO_VOICE, KOKORO_SPEED to control defaults).
• Best for: High-quality multilingual voices without sending audio to a cloud provider.
• Usage: talkito --tts-provider kokoro --tts-voice af_heart --tts-language en-US

Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) Providers

Google Speech Recognition (Default)

• Free: No API key required
• Limitations: Best for short utterances, requires internet
• Usage: Default when no provider specified

Google Cloud Speech-to-Text

• Get Credentials: https://cloud.google.com/speech-to-text/docs/quickstart
• Setup: Set GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS
• Features: Better accuracy, streaming support
• Usage: --asr-provider gcloud

AssemblyAI

• Get API Key: https://www.assemblyai.com/
• Setup: Set ASSEMBLYAI_API_KEY
• Features: Real-time transcription, speaker detection
• Usage: Configure in code or .env file

Deepgram

• Get API Key: https://deepgram.com/
• Setup: Set DEEPGRAM_API_KEY
• Features: Fast, accurate real-time transcription
• Usage: Configure in code or .env file

Houndify

• Get Credentials: https://www.houndify.com/
• Setup: Set HOUNDIFY_CLIENT_ID and HOUNDIFY_CLIENT_KEY
• Features: Natural language understanding
• Usage: --asr-provider houndify

AWS Transcribe

• Get Credentials: https://aws.amazon.com/transcribe/
• Setup: Set AWS credentials
• Features: Streaming transcription
• Usage: --asr-provider aws --aws-region us-west-2

Azure Speech Services

• Get API Key: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/cognitive-services/speech-services/
• Setup: Set AZURE_SPEECH_KEY and AZURE_SPEECH_REGION, then pip install azure-cognitiveservices-speech
• Features: Low-latency streaming dictation with automatic punctuation
• Usage: AZURE_SPEECH_KEY=... AZURE_SPEECH_REGION=eastus talkito --asr-provider azure

Local Whisper (On-Device)

• Install: pip install faster-whisper (default) or WHISPER_COREML=1 pip install pywhispercpp for Apple Silicon/CoreML acceleration
• Setup: No API key required. Configure WHISPER_MODEL (e.g., small, medium), WHISPER_DEVICE (cpu, cuda, or mps), and WHISPER_COMPUTE_TYPE (int8, int8_float16, etc.). Models are cached locally and TalkiTo will prompt before downloading unless TALKITO_AUTO_APPROVE_DOWNLOADS=1.
• Usage: WHISPER_MODEL=small WHISPER_COMPUTE_TYPE=int8 talkito --asr-provider local_whisper

Communication Providers (Remote Interact