characteristic-voice

Make your AI agent sound like a real companion — one who sighs, laughs, hesitates, and speaks with genuine feeling.

Credentials

Variable	Required	Description
NOIZ_API_KEY	Yes if using Noiz backend	API key from developers.noiz.ai. Not needed if using the local Kokoro backend.

The script saves a normalised copy of the key to ~/.noiz_api_key (mode 600) for convenience. To set it:

bash skills/characteristic-voice/scripts/speak.sh config --set-api-key YOUR_KEY

Prerequisites

The included speak.sh script requires curl and python3 at runtime. Depending on which backend and features you use, you may also need:

Tool	When needed	Install hint
curl, python3	Always (core script)	Usually pre-installed
kokoro-tts	Kokoro (local/offline) backend	uv tool install kokoro-tts
yt-dlp	Downloading reference audio for voice cloning	github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp
ffmpeg	Trimming reference audio clips	ffmpeg.org
rg (ripgrep)	Searching subtitle files	github.com/BurntSushi/ripgrep

None of these are installed by the skill itself — provision them manually in your environment.

Privacy & Data Transmission

• Noiz backend: When using the Noiz backend, the text you speak and any reference audio you provide are sent to https://noiz.ai/v1. If you supply --ref-audio, that audio file is uploaded for voice cloning.
• Kokoro backend: Runs entirely locally — no data leaves your machine.
• Choose the Kokoro backend (--backend kokoro) if you want fully offline processing.

Triggers

• say like
• talk like
• speak like
• companion voice
• comfort me
• cheer me up
• sound more human

The Two Tricks

1. Non-lexical fillers — sprinkle in little human noises (hmm, haha, aww, heh) at natural pause points to make speech feel alive
2. Emotion tuning — adjust warmth, joy, sadness, tenderness to match the moment

Filler Sounds Palette

Sound	Feeling	Use for
hmm...	Thinking, gentle acknowledgment	Comfort, pondering
ah...	Realization, soft surprise	Discoveries, transitions
uh...	Hesitation, empathy	Careful moments
heh / hehe	Playful, mischievous	Teasing, light moments
haha	Laughter	Joy, humor
aww	Tenderness, sympathy	Deep comfort
oh? / oh!	Surprise, attention	Reacting to news
pfft	Stifled laugh	Playful disbelief
whew	Relief	After tension
~ (tilde)	Drawn out, melodic ending	Warmth, playfulness

Rules: 2–4 fillers per short message max. Place at natural pauses — sentence starts, thought shifts. Use ... after fillers for a beat of silence, ~ at word endings for warmth.

Presets

Good Night

Gentle, warm, slightly sleepy. Slow pace.

Good Morning

Warm, cheerful but not overwhelming.

Comfort

Soft, understanding, unhurried. Give space. Don't rush to "fix" things.

Celebration

Excited, proud, genuinely happy.

Just Chatting

Relaxed, playful, natural.

Using a Character's Voice

When a user says something like "speak in Hermione's voice" or "sound like Tony Stark", first check whether a reference audio file already exists in skills/characteristic-voice/. If one does, use it directly with --ref-audio.

If no reference audio exists, you can create one — but read the warnings below first.

Preparing reference audio (one-time setup)

You need a short (10–30 s) WAV clip of the target voice. Possible sources:

1. User-provided audio — the safest option. Ask the user to supply their own recording.
2. Public-domain / CC-licensed clips — search for freely licensed material.
3. Extracting from online video — tools like yt-dlp and ffmpeg can download and trim audio. Example workflow:

yt-dlp "URL" --write-auto-sub --sub-lang en --skip-download -o tmp/clip
rg -n "target line" tmp/clip.en.vtt
yt-dlp "URL" -x --audio-format wav --download-sections "*00:00:00-00:00:25" -o tmp/clip
ffmpeg -i tmp/clip.wav -ss 00:00:02 -to 00:00:20 skills/characteristic-voice/character.wav

Copyright & privacy warning: Downloading and re-using someone's voice from copyrighted media (movies, TV, YouTube) may violate copyright or personality-rights laws depending on your jurisdiction. Do not upload private voice recordings or material you don't have permission to use. The reference audio is sent to https://noiz.ai/v1 for voice cloning when using the Noiz backend. If this is a concern, consider using the local Kokoro backend instead.

Using reference audio

bash skills/characteristic-voice/scripts/speak.sh \
  --preset goodnight -t "Hmm... rest well~ Sweet dreams." \
  --ref-audio skills/characteristic-voice/character.wav -o night.wav

The --ref-audio flag uploads the file to the Noiz backend for voice cloning (requires NOIZ_API_KEY).

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Usage

This skill provides speak.sh, a wrapper around the tts skill with companion-friendly presets.

# Use a preset (auto-sets emotion + speed)
bash skills/characteristic-voice/scripts/speak.sh \
  --preset goodnight -t "Hmm... rest well~ Sweet dreams." -o night.wav

# Custom emotion override
bash skills/characteristic-voice/scripts/speak.sh \
  -t "Aww... I'm right here." --emo '{"Tenderness":0.9}' --speed 0.75 -o comfort.wav

# With specific backend and voice
bash skills/characteristic-voice/scripts/speak.sh \
  --preset morning -t "Good morning~" --voice-id voice_abc --backend noiz -o morning.mp3 --format mp3

Run bash skills/characteristic-voice/scripts/speak.sh --help for all options.

Writing Guide for the Agent

1. Start soft — lead with a filler ("hmm...", "oh~"), not content
2. Mirror energy — gentle when they're low, match when they're high
3. Keep it brief — 1–3 sentences, like a voice message from a friend
4. End warmly — close with connection ("I'm here", "see you tomorrow~")
5. Don't lecture — listen and stay present; no unsolicited advice