Synthesize Speech
Generate speech from text using the Kokoro TTS CLI tool. Supports single WAV output or chunked streaming for long text.
Quick Usage
Single WAV
~/.local/share/kokoro/.venv/bin/python ~/.local/share/kokoro/tts_generate.py
--text "Hello from Kokoro TTS" --voice af_heart --lang en-us --speed 1.0
--output /tmp/kokoro-tts-$$.wav
Play it
afplay /tmp/kokoro-tts-$$.wav
Parameters
Parameter Default Description
--text
(required) Text to synthesize
--voice
af_heart
Voice name (see voice catalog)
--lang
en-us
Language code (en-us, zh, ja, etc.)
--speed
1.0
Speech speed multiplier
--output
(required) Output WAV path
--chunk
off Chunked streaming mode for long text
Voice Catalog
See Voice Catalog for all available voices with quality grades.
Top voices:
Voice ID Name Grade Gender
af_heart Heart A Female
af_bella Bella A- Female
af_nicole Nicole B- Female
Chunked Streaming
For long text, use --chunk to get progressive playback:
~/.local/share/kokoro/.venv/bin/python ~/.local/share/kokoro/tts_generate.py
--text "Long text here..." --voice af_heart --lang en-us --speed 1.0
--output /tmp/kokoro-tts-$$.wav --chunk
Each chunk WAV path is printed to stdout as it becomes ready. The final line is DONE <ms> .
Troubleshooting
Issue Cause Solution
No audio output Model not loaded Run /kokoro-tts:install first
Empty text error Input was blank Provide non-empty --text
Slow generation First-run warmup Normal — subsequent runs faster