generate-episode-audio

name

generate-episode-audio

description

Generate podcast episode audio from Fountain or Highland screenplays using Produciesta CLI, wrap with intro/outro, and open in QuickTime Player. Use this skill whenever the user asks to "generate audio", "make audio", "produce episode audio", "create the audio", "generate episode", "render the episode", or any variation of turning a screenplay file into playable podcast audio. Also trigger when the user says "let's hear it", "play the episode", or references audio generation for any podcast-* project. Works across all intrusive-memory.productions podcasts (confessions, mr-mr-charles, casting-software-spells, daily-dao, meditations, etc.).

Generate Episode Audio

Turn a .fountain or .highland screenplay into wrapped podcast audio with intro/outro and chapter markers.

Workflow

Step 1: Identify the Episode File

Determine the episode file. The user may specify it directly or you may need to find it:

ls episodes/episode_*.fountain episodes/episode_*.highland 2>/dev/null

Step 2: Extract from Highland (if needed)

Highland files are zip archives. Extract the Fountain screenplay before generating audio:

unzip -p episodes/episode_XX.highland "*.textbundle/text.md" > episodes/episode_XX.fountain

Only do this if the source is .highland and no corresponding .fountain exists (or the user wants to regenerate from the highland source).

Step 3: Check Pronunciation

Read the .fountain file and scan for words that TTS will mispronounce. Common issues:

• Spanish terms: Add phonetic spellings (e.g., "Rodillo" → "ro-DEE-yo", "Espectro" → "es-PEK-tro")
• Technical jargon: Unusual acronyms or tool names
• Foreign names or phrases: Any non-English words

If pronunciation issues are found, edit the .fountain file to add phonetic hints inline before generating. Show the user what you're changing and get confirmation.

Step 4: Generate Audio

Run Produciesta to generate the episode audio:

produciesta generate --provider voxalta --episode episode_XX.fountain --regenerate /path/to/project

Key facts:

• Binary location: /Users/stovak/.local/bin/produciesta
• Voice provider: voxalta (uses .vox files in voices/ directory)
• Cast list: defined in PROJECT.md YAML frontmatter
• The --regenerate flag forces regeneration even if audio already exists
• For single episodes, use --episode <filename> (filename only, not full path)

Step 5: Intro/Outro Wrapping (Automatic)

The post-generation hook at .produciesta-hooks/post-generation.sh runs automatically after Produciesta finishes. It:

1. Concatenates audio/intro.m4a + episode audio + audio/outro.m4a using ffmpeg
2. Embeds chapter markers (Intro / Episode / Outro) in the M4A metadata
3. Skips files already wrapped (detected by checking for existing chapter markers)
4. Replaces the original episode file with the wrapped version

If wrapping doesn't happen automatically (no hook, or hook is missing), wrap manually:

# Create concat list
cat > /tmp/concat.txt <<EOF
file 'audio/intro.m4a'
file 'audio/episode_XX.m4a'
file 'audio/outro.m4a'
EOF

# Create chapter metadata (get durations with ffprobe)
INTRO_MS=$(ffprobe -v quiet -show_entries format=duration -of csv=p=0 audio/intro.m4a | awk '{printf "%.0f", $1 * 1000}')
EPISODE_MS=$(ffprobe -v quiet -show_entries format=duration -of csv=p=0 audio/episode_XX.m4a | awk '{printf "%.0f", $1 * 1000}')
OUTRO_MS=$(ffprobe -v quiet -show_entries format=duration -of csv=p=0 audio/outro.m4a | awk '{printf "%.0f", $1 * 1000}')

cat > /tmp/chapters.txt <<EOF
;FFMETADATA1
[CHAPTER]
TIMEBASE=1/1000
START=0
END=${INTRO_MS}
title=Intro

[CHAPTER]
TIMEBASE=1/1000
START=${INTRO_MS}
END=$((INTRO_MS + EPISODE_MS))
title=Episode

[CHAPTER]
TIMEBASE=1/1000
START=$((INTRO_MS + EPISODE_MS))
END=$((INTRO_MS + EPISODE_MS + OUTRO_MS))
title=Outro
EOF

# Concatenate and apply chapters
ffmpeg -y -f concat -safe 0 -i /tmp/concat.txt -i /tmp/chapters.txt -map_metadata 1 -c copy audio/episode_XX_wrapped.m4a
mv audio/episode_XX_wrapped.m4a audio/episode_XX.m4a

Step 6: Play in QuickTime

Open the final wrapped audio for review:

open -a "QuickTime Player" audio/episode_XX.m4a

Quick Reference

Item	Value
Produciesta binary	/Users/stovak/.local/bin/produciesta
Voice provider	voxalta
Voice files	voices/*.vox
Cast config	PROJECT.md (YAML frontmatter)
Intro/outro	audio/intro.m4a, audio/outro.m4a
Post-gen hook	.produciesta-hooks/post-generation.sh
Audio output	audio/episode_XX.m4a

Cross-Project Usage

This skill works on any podcast-* project. The project path is the working directory or can be specified explicitly. Each project has its own:

• PROJECT.md with cast list and voice assignments
• voices/ directory with .vox files
• audio/intro.m4a and audio/outro.m4a (if wrapping is desired)
• .produciesta-hooks/post-generation.sh (if auto-wrapping is configured)

Not all projects have intro/outro files. If they're missing, skip the wrapping step — Produciesta will still generate the episode audio.