| name | add-tts-engine |
| description | Use this skill to add a new TTS engine to Voicebox. It walks through dependency research, backend implementation, frontend wiring, PyInstaller bundling, and frozen-build testing. Always start with Phase 0 (dependency audit) before writing any code. |
Add TTS Engine
Goal
Integrate a new text-to-speech engine into Voicebox end-to-end: dependency research, backend protocol implementation, frontend UI wiring, PyInstaller bundling, and frozen-build verification. The user should only need to test the final build locally.
Reference Doc
The full phased guide lives at docs/content/docs/developer/tts-engines.mdx. Read this file in its entirety before starting. It contains:
- Phase 0: Dependency research (mandatory before writing code)
- Phase 1: Backend implementation (
TTSBackend protocol)
- Phase 2: Route and service integration (usually zero changes)
- Phase 3: Frontend integration (5 files)
- Phase 4: Dependencies (
requirements.txt, justfile, CI, Docker)
- Phase 5: PyInstaller bundling (
build_binary.py + server.py)
- Phase 6: Common upstream workarounds
- Implementation checklist (gate between phases)
Workflow
1. Read the guide
cat docs/content/docs/developer/tts-engines.mdx
Internalize all phases, especially Phase 0 and Phase 5. The v0.2.3 release was three patch releases because Phase 0 was skipped.
2. Dependency research (Phase 0)
Clone the model library into a temporary directory and audit it. Do NOT skip this.
mkdir /tmp/engine-research && /tmp/engine-research
git <model-library-url>
