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[](./CHANGELOG.md)
[](https://codecov.io/gh/remsky/Kokoro-FastAPI) [](https://github.com/remsky/Kokoro-FastAPI/actions/workflows/ci.yml)
[](https://github.com/hexgrad/kokoro)
[](https://github.com/hexgrad/misaki)
[](https://huggingface.co/hexgrad/Kokoro-82M/commit/41e5892b9d8b43e56fc560f892312a328a410973)
[](https://huggingface.co/spaces/Remsky/FastKoko) [](https://github.com/remsky?tab=packages&repo_name=Kokoro-FastAPI)
Dockerized FastAPI wrapper for [Kokoro-82M](https://huggingface.co/hexgrad/Kokoro-82M) text-to-speech model. Generate hours of high quality speech in minutes.
- OpenAI-compatible Speech endpoint, multi-language support
- English (US/GB), Spanish, French, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Brazilian Portuguese, Mandarin Chinese
- Custom voicepacks via [Inno Clone-Tuner](https://github.com/remsky/inno-kokoro)
- Optional integrated WebUI; read-along long-generation
- Inline multi-speaker generation & voice mixing + aliasing weighted combinations, SSML support
- Per-word, or per-chunk timestamped caption generation
- Phoneme endpoints: generate phonemes from text, or generate audio from phonemes
- Prebuilt multiplatform images
- CPU and NVIDIA GPU (CUDA): linux/amd64 + linux/arm64
- AMD GPU (ROCm, experimental): linux/amd64 only
- Apple Silicon (MPS) supported when running directly via UV (no image)
### Integration & Guides
[](https://deepwiki.com/remsky/Kokoro-FastAPI) [](https://codewiki.google/github.com/remsky/kokoro-fastapi)
[](docs/deployment/kubernetes.md) [](docs/deployment/digitalocean.md) [](docs/integrations/sillytavern.md)
[](docs/integrations/openwebui.md)
<details>
<summary>🌐Community projects that enable Kokoro-FastAPI as a backend</summary>
- Home Assistant
- [wyoming_openai](https://github.com/roryeckel/wyoming_openai), [openai_tts](https://github.com/sfortis/openai_tts), [Kokoro-TTS](https://github.com/beecho01/Kokoro-TTS), [Kokoro-FastAPI App](https://github.com/YaannnTech/HA-Apps/tree/main/kokoro_fastapi)
- App stores and templates
- [Umbrel](https://github.com/getumbrel/umbrel-apps/tree/master/kokoro), [Unraid Apps](https://github.com/nwithan8/unraid_templates), [GPUStack](https://github.com/gpustack/gpustack), [jetson-containers](https://github.com/dusty-nv/jetson-containers/tree/master/packages/speech/kokoro-tts)
- Readers and audiobooks
- [openreader](https://github.com/richardr1126/openreader), [epub_to_audiobook](https://github.com/p0n1/epub_to_audiobook), [audiobook-creator](https://github.com/prakharsr/audiobook-creator), [Zotero-OpenReader](https://github.com/xujialiu/Zotero-OpenReader)
- Assistants and agents
- [xiaozhi-esp32-server](https://github.com/xinnan-tech/xiaozhi-esp32-server), [call-me](https://github.com/ZeframLou/call-me), [agent-cli](https://github.com/basnijholt/agent-cli), [voice-chat-ai](https://github.com/bigsk1/voice-chat-ai)
- Browser
- [kokoro-extension](https://github.com/Fooftilly/kokoro-extension), [customtts](https://github.com/BassGaming/customtts)
</details>
## Get Started
<details>
<summary>Quickest Start (docker run)</summary>
Pre-built multi-arch images with models baked in.
`:latest` is available, but please pin to a release tag for stable usage.
<sub><ins>**No GPU**</ins> (laptop, CPU-only server)</sub>
```bash
docker run -p 8880:8880 ghcr.io/remsky/kokoro-fastapi-cpu:latest
```
<sub><ins>**NVIDIA**</ins> (GTX 900-series through RTX 40; ships cu126)</sub>
```bash
docker run --gpus all -p 8880:8880 ghcr.io/remsky/kokoro-fastapi-gpu:latest
```
<sub><ins>**NVIDIA RTX 50-series / Blackwell**</ins> (ships cu128)</sub>
```bash
docker run --gpus all -p 8880:8880 ghcr.io/remsky/kokoro-fastapi-gpu:latest-cu128
```
<sub><ins>**NVIDIA arm64**</ins> (Jetson, GH200; same tag, ships cu129)</sub>
```bash
docker run --gpus all -p 8880:8880 ghcr.io/remsky/kokoro-fastapi-gpu:latest
```
<sub><ins>**AMD GPU**</ins> (ROCm, experimental, x86_64 only)</sub>
```bash
docker run --device=/dev/kfd --device=/dev/dri -p 8880:8880 ghcr.io/remsky/kokoro-fastapi-rocm:latest
```
<sub><ins>**Apple Silicon**</ins> (native MPS clone; the CPU image also works)</sub>
```bash
./start-gpu_mac.sh
```
`gpu:latest` is the same image as `gpu:latest-cu126`. Configuration via environment variables, see [the configuration guide](docs/configuration.md).
</details>
<details>
<summary>Quick Start (docker compose) </summary>
1. Install prerequisites, and start the service using Docker Compose (Full setup including UI):
- Install [Docker](https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop/)
- Clone the repository:
```bash
git clone https://github.com/remsky/Kokoro-FastAPI.git
cd Kokoro-FastAPI
cd docker/gpu # For NVIDIA GPU support
# or cd docker/cpu # For CPU support
# or cd docker/rocm # For AMD GPU (ROCm, experimental, amd64 only)
docker compose up --build
# *Note for Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3) users:
# The Docker GPU image is CUDA-only and won't run on Apple Silicon. With Docker, use `docker/cpu`.
# For native MPS (Apple GPU) acceleration, run directly via UV with `./start-gpu_mac.sh`.
cd ../.. # back to repo root for the paths below
# Models will auto-download, but if needed you can manually download:
python docker/scripts/download_model.py --output api/src/models/v1_0
```
[Configuration guide](docs/configuration.md) covers image vs build, the volume mounts, and env vars.
</details>
<details>
<summary>Direct Run (via uv) </summary>
1. Install prerequisites:
- Install [astral-uv](https://docs.astral.sh/uv/)
- Install [espeak-ng](https://github.com/espeak-ng/espeak-ng) in your system if you want it available as a fallback for unknown words/sounds. The upstream libraries may attempt to handle this, but results have varied.
- Clone the repository:
```bash
git clone https://github.com/remsky/Kokoro-FastAPI.git
cd Kokoro-FastAPI
```
Run the [model download script](https://github.com/remsky/Kokoro-FastAPI/blob/master/docker/scripts/download_model.py) if you haven't already
Start directly via UV (with hot-reload)
Linux and macOS
```bash
./start-cpu.sh OR
./start-gpu.sh
```
Windows
```powershell
.\start-cpu.ps1 OR
.\start-gpu.ps1
```
</details>
<details open>
<summary> Up and Running? </summary>
Run locally as an OpenAI-Compatible Speech Endpoint
```python
from openai import OpenAI
client = OpenAI(
base_url="http://localhost:8880/v1", api_key="not-needed"
)
with client.audio.speech.with_streaming_response.create(
model="kokoro",
voice="af_sky+af_bella", #single or multiple voicepack combo
input="Hello world!"
) as response:
response.stream_to_file("output.mp3")
```
- The API will be available at http://localhost:8880
- API Documentation: http://localhost:8880/docs
- Web Interface: http://localhost:8880/web
<div align="center">
<img src="assets/webui-screenshot.png" width="51.4%" alt="Web UI Screenshot">
<img src="assets/docs-screenshot.png" width="46.6%" alt="API Documentation">
</div>
</details>
## Features
### Core
<details>
<summary>OpenAI-Compatible Speech Endpoint</summary>
```python
# Using OpenAI's Python library
from openai import OpenAI
client = OpenAI(base_url="http://localhost:8880/v1", api_key="not-needed")
response = client.audio.speech.create(
model="kokoro",
voice="af_bella+af_sky", # see /api/src/core/openai_mappings.json to customize
input="Hello world!",
response_format="mp3"
)
response.stream_to_file("output.mp3")
```
Or Via Requests:
```python
import requests
response = requests.get("http://localhost:8880/v1/audio/voices")
voices = [v["id"] for v in response.json()["voices"]]
# Generate audio
response = requests.post(
"http://localhost:8880/v1/audio/speech",
json={
"model": "kokoro",
"input": "Hello world!",
"voice": "af_bella",
"response_format": "mp3", # Supported: mp3, wav, opus, flac, aac, pcm
"speed": 1.0
}
)
# Save audio
with open("output.mp3", "wb") as f:
f.write(response.content)
```
Quick tests (run from another terminal):
```bash
python examples/assorted_checks/test_openai/test_openai_tts.py # Test OpenAI Compatibility
python examples/assorted_checks/test_voices/test_all_voices.py # Test all available voices
```
</details>
<details>
<summary>Streaming Support</summary>
```python
# OpenAI-compatible streaming
from openai import OpenAI
client = OpenAI(
base_url="http://localhost:8880/v1", api_key="not-needed")
# Stream to file
with client.audio.speech.with_streaming_response.create(
model="kokoro",
voice="af_bella",
input="Hello world!"
) as response:
response.stream_to_file("output.mp3")
# Stream to speakers (requires PyAudio)
import pyaudio
player = pyaudio.PyAudio().open(
format=pyaudio.paInt16,
channels=1,
rate=24000,
output=True
)
with client.audio.speech.with_streaming_response.create(
model="kokoro",
voice="af_bella",
response_format="pcm",
input="Hello world!"
) as response:
for chunk in response.iter_bytes(chunk_size=1024):
player.write(chunk)
```
Or via requests:
```python
import requests
response = requests.post(
"http://localhost:8880/v1/audio/speech",
json={
"input": "Hello world!",
"voice": "af_bella",
"response_format": "pcm"
},
stream=True
)
for chunk in response.iter_content(chunk_size=1024):
if chunk:
# Process streaming chunks
pass
```
<p align="center">
<img src="assets/gpu_first_token_timeline_openai.png" width="45%" alt="GPU First Token Timeline" style="border: 2px solid #333; padding: 10px; margin-right: 1%;">
<img src="assets/cpu_first_token_timeline_stream_openai.png" width="45%" alt="CPU First Token Timeline" style="border: 2px solid #333; padding: 10px;">
</p>
Key Streaming Metrics:
- First token latency @ chunksize
- ~300ms (GPU) @ 400
- ~3500ms (CPU) @ 200 (older i7)
- ~<1s (CPU) @ 200 (M3 Pro)
- Adjustable chunking settings for real-time playback
*Note: Artifacts in intonation can increase with smaller chunks*
</details>
<details>
<summary>Multiple Output Audio Formats</summary>
- mp3
- wav
- opus
- flac
- aac
- pcm
<p align="center">
<img src="assets/format_comparison.png" width="80%" alt="Audio Format Comparison" style="border: 2px solid #333; padding: 10px;">
</p>
</details>
### Voices
<details>
<summary>Voice Combination</summary>
- Weighted voice combinations using ratios (e.g., "af_bella(2)+af_heart(1)" for 67%/33% mix)
- Ratios are automatically normalized to sum to 100%
- Available through any endpoint by adding weights in parentheses
- Saves generated voicepacks for future use
Combine voices and generate audio:
```python
import requests
response = requests.get("http://localhost:8880/v1/audio/voices")
voices = [v["id"] for v in response.json()["voices"]]
# Weighted voice combination (67%/33% mix)
response = requests.post(
"http://localhost:8880/v1/audio/speech",
json={
"input": "Hello world!",
"voice": "af_bella(2)+af_sky(1)", # 2:1 ratio = 67%/33%
"response_format": "mp3"
}
)
# Download combined voice as .pt file
response = requests.post(
"http://localhost:8880/v1/audio/voices/combine",
json="af_bella(2)+af_sky(1)" # 2:1 ratio = 67%/33%
)
# Save the .pt file
with open("combined_voice.pt", "wb") as f:
f.write(response.content)
# Use the downloaded voice file
response = requests.post(
"http://localhost:8880/v1/audio/speech",
json={
"input": "Hello world!",
"voice": "combined_voice", # Use the saved voice file
"response_format": "mp3"
}
)
```
<p align="center">
<img src="assets/voice_analysis.png" width="80%" alt="Voice Analysis Comparison" style="border: 2px solid #333; padding: 10px;">
</p>
</details>
<details>
<summary>Voice Aliases</summary>
Weighted mixes can get long fast. `voice_aliases` maps a short name per request, for both the `voice` field and `[voice:...]` tags:
- Aliases prefer to match case-insensitively (keep lowercase to avoid inconsistencies).
- An alias pointing at a nonexistent voice returns a 400.
- The web UI's cast exports in the same format e.g. `{"voice_aliases": {...}}`; interchangeable for API calls.
```python
from openai import OpenAI
client = OpenAI(base_url="http://localhost:8880/v1", api_key="not-needed")
client.audio.speech.create(
model="kokoro",
voice="narrator",
input="[voice:narrator] Once upon a time. [voice:villain] Never!",
extra_body={
"allow_voice_tags": True,
"voice_aliases": {"narrator": "af_bella(2)+af_sky", "villain": "am_michael"},
},
)
```
or
```bash
curl -X POST http://localhost:8880/v1/audio/speech \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"model": "kokoro",
"voice": "narrator",
"input": "[voice:narrator] Once upon a time. [voice:villain] Never!",
"allow_voice_tags": true,
"voice_aliases": {"narrator": "af_bella(2)+af_sky", "villain": "am_michael"},
"response_format": "mp3"
}' --output aliased.mp3
```
</details>
<details>
<summary>Voice Tuning (reference clip) 🧪</summary>
`POST /dev/tune` takes a 3 to 30 s clip of one English speaker and speaks with a voice tuned toward it, via [inno-kokoro](https://github.com/remsky/inno-kokoro). A tuner, not a cloner: expect the same neighbourhood, not a match. Only tune voices you have permission to use.
```bash
curl -s http://localhost:8880/dev/tune -F audio=@ref.wav -F 'request={"input":"Hello there."}' -o out.mp3
curl -s http://localhost:8880/dev/tune -F audio=@ref.wav -F return_voice_pack=true -o ref.pt
curl -s http://localhost:8880/dev/tune -F audio=@ref.wav -F save_voice=am_ref # saves am_ref_tuned, needs ALLOW_LOCAL_VOICE_SAVING=true
```
- `request` is the `/v1/audio/speech` body minus `voice`; the pack only exists for the length of the response unless `save_voice` keeps it in `VOICES_DIR`
- Names follow the existing language prefix pattern (`am_`, `bf_`, `ax_`, etc.) and saved voices get a `_tuned` suffix. Bundled tuned voices end in `_inno`
- Knobs: `prosody_head` (default on), `fmax` pitch ceiling in Hz (default auto)
- Off by default:
- `ENABLE_INNO_TUNER=true` enables with a web player tab
- `ALLOW_LOCAL_VOICE_SAVING=true` allows saving them to the live server.
- Full reference in [docs/inno-tune.md](docs/inno-tune.md)
</details>
<details>
<summary>Multi-Speaker / Dialogue</summary>
- `[voice:...]` tags switch speakers inline, anywhere `input` is accepted
- `/v1/audio/speech` needs `allow_voice_tags: true` per request; `/dev/dialogue` allows them by default
- `ENABLE_VOICE_TAGS=false` opts out server-wide: the parameter is refused and `/dev/dialogue` 403s
```bash
curl -X POST http://localhost:8880/v1/audio/speech \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"model": "kokoro",
"voice": "af_heart",
"input": "The narrator opens. [voice:af_bella] Did it land? [pause:0.3s] [voice:am_michael] It did.",
"allow_voice_tags": true,
"response_format": "mp3"
}' --output dialogue.mp3
```
With the official OpenAI client, pass the param in `extra_body`:
```python
client.audio.speech.create(
model="kokoro",
voice="af_jadzia",
input="The narrator opens. [voice:af_bella] Did it land?",
extra_body={"allow_voice_tags": True},
)
```
`POST /dev/dialogue` uses structured turns, and allows `pause_between_turns` to be controlled by param.
```bash
curl -X POST http://localhost:8880/dev/dialogue \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"turns": [
{"voice": "af_bella", "text": "Did the multi speaker support land?"},
{"voice": "am_michael", "text": "It did. Turns switch voices inline."}
],
"pause_between_turns": 0.4,
"response_format": "mp3"
}' --output dialogue.mp3
```
Notes:
- Any text before the first tag uses the request's `voice`/default.
- Each speaker keeps its own language pipeline based on voice prefix. An explicit `lang_code` will override every speaker.
- Consecutive turns sharing a voice are merged automatically.
- Tags accept short names from **Voice Aliases** above, instead of full weighted mixes.
<div align="center">
<img src="assets/gpu_dialogue_turn_length.png" width="45%" alt="Throughput against the single-voice baseline as speaker turns get shorter" style="border: 2px solid #333; padding: 10px; margin-right: 1%;">
<img src="assets/gpu_dialogue_text_length.png" width="45%" alt="Throughput at two voice change rates as the generation grows" style="border: 2px solid #333; padding: 10px;">
</div>
Number of voices has minimal impact on generation speed. For continuous swaps though, if each speaker gets less than about 2 sentences, chunking requirements slow generation down. Still a flat cost, not compounding as the text grows. Regenerate with `examples/assorted_checks/test_dialogue/`.
</details>
### Text Control
<details>
<summary>Inline Control Tokens</summary>
Four tokens can be embedded in the `input` text and are parsed server-side (API, WebUI, or any client):
- **Pause**: `[pause:1.5s]` inserts that much silence. Must be exactly this form (colon, trailing `s`, case-insensitive). `[pause=1.5]` and `[PAUSE 1.0]` are not recognized and get read aloud.
- **Pronunciation**: `[Worcester](/wˈʊstər/)` speaks the IPA between the slashes instead of the word. English only; use `/dev/phonemize` to find the IPA.
- **Voice**: `[voice:am_michael]` switches speaker for everything that follows.
- Requires `allow_voice_tags: true` per request, and `ENABLE_VOICE_TAGS` server-side (on by default). Otherwise the tag is spoken as written.
- Accepts the same combine syntax as the `voice` parameter (`[voice:af_bella(2)+af_sky]`),
- Short names/aliases can be defined in `voice_aliases`,
- Unknown values return a 400.
- **Rate**: `[rate:1.5]` scales the speaking voice's pace until the next rate tag or voice change; `[rate:1.0]` reverts. Applies on top of the request `speed`, clamped to 0.25-4.0. Same gating as voice tags.
- A voice alias can carry a natural pace: `{"grandpa": {"voice": "am_michael", "rate": 0.8}}` applies that rate whenever the alias speaks, as the `voice` parameter or in tags. Useful for voices that read fast or slow, and for named presets over one voice (`narrator_fast`, `narrator_slow`).
- Rate belongs to the voice speaking it. A `[rate:]` tag scales the speaker's calibrated pace rather than replacing it, so an alias throttled to `0.8` stays proportionally slower under `[rate:1.1]`. Every `[voice:...]` tag resets to the new voice's own rate, so a calibrated speaker cannot drag its pace onto the next one. Use `speed` for a pace over the whole request.
```text
The city of [Worcester](/wˈʊstər/) is easy. [pause:1s] See?
```
</details>
<details>
<summary>SSML Input 🧪</summary>
Send `ssml: true` with `allow_voice_tags: true` on `/v1/audio/speech` or `/dev/captioned_speech` to translate and speak in one call. Both flags are needed, since the translation emits `[voice:]` and `[rate:]` spans that would otherwise be read aloud; `ssml` without them is a 400.
```json
{
"model": "kokoro",
"input": "<speak>Hi<break time=\"750ms\"/>there</speak>",
"voice": "af_bella",
"allow_voice_tags": true,
"ssml": true
}
```
`POST /dev/ssml` does the translation on its own when you want the tokens back as text rather than audio, or want to inspect them before synthesis. Send `text`, plus `voice` if your speech request uses one, then pass the result back with `allow_voice_tags: true`. Without a voice, `<voice>`/`<prosody>` are stripped and their content kept.
- `<break time="750ms"/>` becomes `[pause:0.75s]`. `strength=` instead of `time=` gives none/x-weak 0s, weak 0.25s, medium 0.5s, strong 1s, x-strong 1.5s
- `<voice name="am_michael">` becomes `[voice:am_michael]`, reverts at the closing tag
- `<prosody rate="slow">` becomes `[rate:0.75]`, and takes `80%` or `1.2` too. Scales the speaking voice's pace on top of the request `speed`, clamped 0.25-4.0, reverts. `pitch`/`volume` ignored
- `<phoneme alphabet="ipa" ph="wˈʊstər">Worcester</phoneme>` becomes `[Worcester](/wˈʊstər/)`, IPA and English only
- `<sub alias="World Wide Web">WWW</sub>` speaks the alias
- `<desc>` is dropped with its text, an audio description is not speech
- `<emphasis>`, `<say-as>`, `<p>`, `<s>`, `<lang>`, etc: markup dropped, text spoken
- Malformed SSML is a 400, non-SSML passes through unchanged
- DTDs are refused and nesting past `SSML_MAX_DEPTH` (10) is a 400; no dialect uses a DTD, real documents nest 2-5
- Prefixed names (`google:style`, `mstts:express-as`, `amazon:effect`) need their `xmlns:` on `<speak>`, vendor docs often omit it
- `GET /dev/ssml` serves these tables as data, read off the translator itself
```bash
curl -s http://localhost:8880/dev/ssml -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"text": "<speak>The city of <phoneme alphabet=\"ipa\" ph=\"wˈʊstər\">Worcester</phoneme> is easy.<break time=\"1s\"/>See?</speak>"}'
# {"text": "The city of [Worcester](/wˈʊstər/) is easy. [pause:1.0s] See?"}
```
</details>
<details>
<summary>Natural Boundary Detection</summary>
- Automatically splits and stitches at sentence boundaries
- Reduces artifacts, and allows long-form output from a base model configured for roughly 30s at a time
The model takes up to 510 phonemized tokens per chunk, but running it that long tends to produce 'rushed' speech and other artifacts. The server adds its own chunking layer on top, sized by `TARGET_MIN_TOKENS`, `TARGET_MAX_TOKENS`, and `ABSOLUTE_MAX_TOKENS` (175, 250, 450 by default, set via environment variables).
</details>
<details>
<summary>Phoneme & Token Routes</summary>
Convert text to phonemes and/or generate audio directly from phonemes:
```python
import requests
def get_phonemes(text: str, language: str = "a"):
"""Get phonemes and tokens for input text"""
response = requests.post(
"http://localhost:8880/dev/phonemize",
json={"text": text, "language": language} # "a" for American English
)
response.raise_for_status()
result = response.json()
return result["phonemes"], result["tokens"]
def generate_audio_from_phonemes(phonemes: str, voice: str = "af_bella"):
"""Generate audio from phonemes"""
response = requests.post(
"http://localhost:8880/dev/generate_from_phonemes",
json={"phonemes": phonemes, "voice": voice},
headers={"Accept": "audio/wav"}
)
if response.status_code != 200:
print(f"Error: {response.text}")
return None
return response.content
# Example usage
text = "Hello world!"
try:
# Convert text to phonemes
phonemes, tokens = get_phonemes(text)
print(f"Phonemes: {phonemes}") # e.g. ðɪs ɪz ˈoʊnli ɐ tˈɛst
print(f"Tokens: {tokens}") # Token IDs including start/end tokens
# Generate and save audio
if audio_bytes := generate_audio_from_phonemes(phonemes):
with open("speech.wav", "wb") as f:
f.write(audio_bytes)
print(f"Generated {len(audio_bytes)} bytes of audio")
except Exception as e:
print(f"Error: {e}")
```
See `examples/phoneme_examples/generate_phonemes.py` for a sample script.
</details>
### Captions
<details>
<summary>Timestamps (word level)</summary>
Generate audio with word-level timestamps without streaming:
```python
import requests
import base64
import json
response = requests.post(
"http://localhost:8880/dev/captioned_speech",
json={
"model": "kokoro",
"input": "Hello world!",
"voice": "af_bella",
"speed": 1.0,
"response_format": "mp3",
"stream": False,
},
stream=False
)
with open("output.mp3","wb") as f:
audio_json=json.loads(response.content)
chunk_audio=base64.b64decode(audio_json["audio"].encode("utf-8"))
f.write(chunk_audio)
print(audio_json["timestamps"])
```
Generate audio with word-level timestamps with streaming:
```python
import requests
import base64
import json
response = requests.post(
"http://localhost:8880/dev/captioned_speech",
json={
"model": "kokoro",
"input": "Hello world!",
"voice": "af_bella",
"speed": 1.0,
"response_format": "mp3",
"stream": True,
},
stream=True
)
f=open("output.mp3","wb")
for chunk in response.iter_lines(decode_unicode=True):
if chunk:
chunk_json=json.loads(chunk)
chunk_audio=base64.b64decode(chunk_json["audio"].encode("utf-8"))
f.write(chunk_audio)
print(chunk_json["timestamps"])
```
With `"allow_voice_tags": true`, each timestamp also carries the `voice` that spoke the word, so multi-speaker captions can be labelled without re-deriving the split client side. Without it the field is absent.
</details>
<details>
<summary>Timestamps (streaming chunks)</summary>
With `stream`, `return_download_link`, and `return_timing` set, the response carries an `X-Timing-Path` header pointing at a JSON sidecar of per-chunk timings. The audio body is unchanged and nothing extra is computed; this is what drives the web UI's read along.
```python
response = requests.post(
"http://localhost:8880/v1/audio/speech",
json={
"input": "Hello world! [pause:1s] Again.",
"voice": "af_bella",
"stream": True,
"return_download_link": True,
"return_timing": True,
},
stream=True,
)
audio = b"".join(response.iter_content(1024))
timings = requests.get(f"http://localhost:8880/v1{response.headers['x-timing-path']}").json()
# {"chunks": [{"text": "Hello world!", "start": 0.0, "end": 0.64}, ...]}
```
- Chunk-level (a sentence group, roughly 10-20s of audio), not word-level. For word-level use `/dev/captioned_speech`.
- The header arrives up front, but the file is written when generation finishes. Fetch it after the stream ends; earlier is a 404.
- `start`/`end` are seconds in the final audio, so pauses and speed are already accounted for. `[pause:Ns]` gaps appear as `{"text": ""}` entries.
- `text` is normalized (numbers etc expanded), so align by words rather than exact match.
- With `allow_voice_tags`, each spoken chunk also carries its `voice`, same as captioned timestamps. Absent otherwise.
- The sidecar sits next to the download file and shares its temp lifetime.
</details>
## Performance & Operations
<details>
<summary>Performance & Benchmarks</summary>
### Throughput
Generation through the local API, text lengths up to feature-length books (~1.5 hours output), measuring processing time and realtime factor. Run on:
- Windows 11 Home w/ WSL2
- NVIDIA 4060Ti 16gb GPU @ CUDA 12.1
- 11th Gen i7-11700 @ 2.5GHz
- 64gb RAM
- WAV native output
- H.G. Wells - The Time Machine (full text)
<p align="center">
<img src="assets/gpu_processing_time.png" width="45%" alt="Processing Time" style="border: 2px solid #333; padding: 10px; margin-right: 1%;">
<img src="assets/gpu_realtime_factor.png" width="45%" alt="Realtime Factor" style="border: 2px solid #333; padding: 10px;">
</p>
Key Performance Metrics:
- Realtime Speed: Ranges between 35x-100x (generation time to output audio length)
- Average Processing Rate: 137.67 tokens/second (cl100k_base)
### Model Unload / VRAM Reclaim
`POST /dev/unload` frees the model from VRAM and reloads lazily on the next request. Reclaim scales with load (the activation pool, not just weights) but plateaus: chunks cap at 450 tokens. Long-form = ~30 paragraphs. Same setup as above.
<p align="center">
<img src="assets/gpu_model_unload_short.png" width="45%" alt="Short workload" style="border: 2px solid #333; padding: 10px; margin-right: 1%;">
<img src="assets/gpu_model_unload_longform.png" width="45%" alt="Long-form workload" style="border: 2px solid #333; padding: 10px;">
</p>
| Workload | Loaded | Floor | Reclaimed | Reload |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Short (6s audio) | 3.11 GB | 2.37 GB | 758 MiB | +4.9s |
| Long-form (7.5m) | 3.98 GB | 2.37 GB | 1,656 MiB | +5.1s |
Floor is host + CUDA context. Reproduce with `uv run --extra benchmarks assorted_checks/benchmarks/benchmark_model_unload.py` from `examples/`.
To automatically unload the model after an idle timeout, set `MODEL_AUTO_UNLOAD_TIMEOUT_SECONDS` to a positive number of seconds. The default `0` disables auto-unload.
### Transcription roundtrip (WER/CER)
End-to-end roundtrip: synthesize with Kokoro, transcribe the result back with [`faster-whisper`](https://github.com/SYSTRAN/faster-whisper), compare to the source text. Scripts and data live under `examples/assorted_checks/test_transcription/`.
**Long-form English** (full book, *A Journey to the Centre of the Earth*, Project Gutenberg, voice `af_heart`, `base.en` Whisper on CUDA float16, baseline captured on cu126 GPU build):
| Run | Input chars | Audio length | Synth speedup | Transcribe speedup | WER |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Short (~ch.7) | 64,996 | 66m 06s | 36.4x rt | 62.4x rt | **0.047** |
| Full book | 502,766 | 507m 52s | 45.7x rt | 65.1x rt | **0.033** |
See `examples/assorted_checks/test_transcription/BASELINE.md` for the full regression bands.
**Per-language check** (single-sentence per voice, multilingual Whisper `small`. WER for Latin scripts, CER for ja/zh/hi):
| Language | Voice | Metric | Score |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| English | `af_heart` | WER | 0.000 |
| English (UK) | `bf_emma` | WER | 0.111 |
| Spanish | `ef_dora` | WER | 0.000 |
| French | `ff_siwis` | WER | 0.000 |
| Italian | `if_sara` | WER | 0.000 |
| Portuguese | `pf_dora` | WER | 0.000 |
| Hindi | `hf_alpha` | CER | 0.059 |
| Japanese | `jf_alpha` | CER | 0.000 |
| Chinese | `zf_xiaobei` | CER | 0.143 |
*Caveat: these are single short sentences, not a comprehensive per-language quality benchmark. They confirm each voice produces transcribable audio in its target language; deeper quality evaluation per language is open work.*
To reproduce, see `examples/assorted_checks/test_transcription/README.md`.
</details>
<details>
<summary>Configuration Variables</summary>
Every setting is an environment variable, or a line in a `.env` file at the project root. Full reference in [the configuration guide](docs/configuration.md).
</details>
<details>
<summary>Debug Endpoints</summary>
System state and resource usage, for debugging exhaustion or performance issues. The `/debug/*` routes expose host and process internals, so they are off by default; set `ENABLE_DEBUG_ENDPOINTS=true` to enable.
- `/debug/threads` - Get thread information and stack traces
- `/debug/storage` - Disk usage per mounted partition
- `/debug/system` - Get system information (CPU, memory, GPU)
- `/dev/model` - Get model load state and auto-unload timing. Off by default; set `ALLOW_DEV_UNLOAD=true` to enable
- `POST /dev/unload` - Release model from VRAM; reloads lazily on next request. Off by default; set `ALLOW_DEV_UNLOAD=true` to enable
- `POST /dev/reload` - Load the model into VRAM. Off by default; set `ALLOW_DEV_UNLOAD=true` to enable
Stability: the `/v1/*` OpenAI-compatible routes are the stable API. `/dev/*` and `/debug/*` are operational helpers, and may change or move behind flags between minor releases.
</details>
<details>
<summary>Logging</summary>
Global API [loguru logging level](https://loguru.readthedocs.io/en/stable/api/logger.html#levels) can be set using the `API_LOG_LEVEL` environment variable. Defaults to `DEBUG`. Per run method in [the configuration guide](docs/configuration.md#logging).
</details>
## Known Issues & Troubleshooting
<details>
<summary>Missing words & Missing some timestamps</summary>
The API normalizes input text, which can incorrectly remove or change some phrases. Disable it with `"normalization_options":{"normalize": false}` in the request json, the full field list is in [Text normalization](docs/configuration.md#text-normalization):
```python
import requests
response = requests.post(
"http://localhost:8880/v1/audio/speech",
json={
"input": "Hello world!",
"voice": "af_heart",
"response_format": "pcm",
"normalization_options":
{
"normalize": False
}
},
stream=True
)
for chunk in response.iter_content(chunk_size=1024):
if chunk:
# Process streaming chunks
pass
```
</details>
<details>
<summary>Linux GPU Permissions</summary>
See [docs/troubleshooting.md#linux-gpu-permissions](docs/troubleshooting.md#linux-gpu-permissions) for container group, host group, and device permission options.
</details>
<details>
<summary>AMD GPU (ROCm) troubleshooting</summary>
See [docs/troubleshooting.md#amd-gpu-rocm](docs/troubleshooting.md#amd-gpu-rocm) for HSA overrides, MIOpen warmup, hipBLAS fallback, and native Linux host requirement.
</details>
<details>
<summary>WAV duration reported as nonsense in some readers</summary>
WAV responses use a streaming-sentinel (`0xFFFFFFFF`) for the size fields in the header. Most readers handle this fine: `soundfile`, `pydub`/ffmpeg, browsers, OS players. Python's stdlib `wave` does not, and reports a bogus duration. For exact length use `soundfile.info(path).duration` or `ffprobe`.
</details>
## Project
<details>
<summary>Versioning & Development</summary>
**Branching Strategy:**
* **`release` branch:** Contains the latest stable build, recommended for production use. Docker images tagged with specific versions are built from this branch.
* **`master` branch:** Active development. Experimental features, ongoing changes, and fixes not yet released. Use it for the newest code, expect less stability. No images are published from here; `:latest` is built from `release` like every other tag.
Note: This is a *development* focused project at its core.
If you run into trouble, you may have to roll back a version on the release tags if something comes up, or build up from source and/or troubleshoot + submit a PR.
Free and open source is a community effort, and there's only really so many hours in a day. If you'd like to support the work, feel free to open a PR, buy me a coffee, or report any bugs/features/etc you find during use.
Working on the code, or pointing an AI agent at it? [AGENTS.md](AGENTS.md) covers the repo layout, commands, and conventions.
<a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/remsky" target="_blank">
<img
src="https://cdn.buymeacoffee.com/buttons/v2/default-violet.png"
alt="Buy Me A Coffee"
style="height: 30px !important;width: 110px !important;"
>
</a>
</details>
<details open>
<summary>Model</summary>
This API uses the [Kokoro-82M](https://huggingface.co/hexgrad/Kokoro-82M) model from HuggingFace.
Visit the model page for more details about training, architecture, and capabilities. I have no affiliation with any of their work, and produced this wrapper for ease of use and personal projects.
</details>
<details>
<summary>License</summary>
This project is licensed under the Apache License 2.0 - see below for details:
- The Kokoro model weights are licensed under Apache 2.0 (see [model page](https://huggingface.co/hexgrad/Kokoro-82M))
- The FastAPI wrapper code in this repository is licensed under Apache 2.0 to match
- The inference code adapted from StyleTTS2 is MIT licensed
The full Apache 2.0 license text can be found at: https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
</details>
<details>
<summary>Project Structure and Churn</summary>
</details>
## Contributors
<a href="https://github.com/remsky/Kokoro-FastAPI/graphs/contributors">
<img src="https://contrib.rocks/image?repo=remsky/Kokoro-FastAPI" />
</a>
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