localkin-audio

name	localkin-audio
description	Local Speech-to-Text and Text-to-Speech via LocalKin Audio. Transcribe audio files, synthesize speech, manage models, and run real-time voice conversations — all locally, no API keys needed.
homepage	https://github.com/localkin/localkin-service-audio
user-invocable	true
metadata	{"openclaw":{"emoji":"🎵","os":["darwin","linux"],"requires":{"bins":["kin"]},"install":[{"id":"uv","kind":"uv","package":"localkin-service-audio","bins":["kin"],"label":"Install via uv"},{"id":"pip","kind":"pip","package":"localkin-service-audio","bins":["kin"],"label":"Install via pip"}]}}

LocalKin Audio

Local voice AI platform for Speech-to-Text (STT) and Text-to-Speech (TTS). All processing runs locally on the user's machine — no cloud API keys required.

When to use this skill

Use this skill when the user wants to:

• Transcribe an audio file to text (speech-to-text)
• Synthesize speech from text (text-to-speech)
• Listen in real-time from a microphone with optional LLM conversation
• Manage models — list, download, remove, or benchmark STT/TTS models
• Check system status — hardware detection, installed engines, cache info

Quick reference

Transcribe audio to text

kin audio transcribe <audio_file>
kin audio transcribe recording.wav --model whisper-cpp:base --language en
kin audio transcribe interview.mp3 --format srt --timestamps --output subtitles.srt
kin audio transcribe meeting.wav --format json --output transcript.json

Options:

Flag	Description	Default
--model, -m	STT model (engine:variant)	whisper-cpp:base
--language, -l	Language code (auto-detect if omitted)	auto
--output, -o	Output file (stdout if omitted)	stdout
--format, -f	Output format: text, json, srt, vtt	text
--timestamps	Include timestamps	off
--device	auto, cpu, cuda, mps	auto
--verbose, -v	Verbose output	off

Synthesize speech (TTS)

kin audio tts "Hello, world!"
kin audio tts "Welcome to LocalKin" --voice af_heart --output welcome.wav
kin audio tts "你好世界" --model kokoro --voice zf_xiaobei
kin audio tts "Bonjour" --speed 0.8 --no-play --output bonjour.wav

Options:

Flag	Description	Default
--model, -m	TTS model	kokoro
--voice, -v	Voice ID	model default
--output, -o	Output file (plays directly if omitted)	play
--speed, -s	Speed multiplier	1.0
--play/--no-play	Play audio after synthesis	--play
--list-voices	List available voices and exit	—
--device	auto, cpu, cuda, mps	auto

Kokoro voice IDs follow a pattern: first letter = language (a/b=English, e=Spanish, f=French, h=Hindi, i=Italian, j=Japanese, p=Portuguese, z=Chinese), second letter = gender (f=female, m=male). Examples: af_heart (English female), zm_yunyang (Chinese male), jf_alpha (Japanese female).

To list all available voices: kin audio tts --list-voices

Real-time listening

kin audio listen
kin audio listen --tts --tts-voice af_heart
kin audio listen --llm ollama --llm-model qwen3:14b --tts --stream

Options:

Flag	Description	Default
--model, -m	STT model	whisper-cpp:base
--tts/--no-tts	Enable TTS responses	off
--tts-model	TTS model for responses	native
--tts-voice	Voice for TTS	—
--llm	LLM backend (e.g. ollama)	off
--llm-model	LLM model name	qwen3:14b
--stream/--no-stream	Stream LLM responses	off
--language, -l	Language code	auto
--silence-threshold	Silence threshold 0.0–1.0	0.01
--silence-duration	Seconds of silence before processing	1.5

Model management

# List all available models
kin audio models

# Filter models
kin audio models --type stt
kin audio models --type tts --language zh
kin audio models --engine kokoro
kin audio models --search "chinese"

# Download a model
kin audio pull whisper-cpp:base
kin audio pull kokoro

# Remove a model
kin audio rm whisper-cpp:base

# Get hardware-based recommendations
kin audio recommend
kin audio recommend --verbose

Benchmark models

kin audio benchmark test.wav
kin audio benchmark test.wav --models whisper-cpp:tiny whisper-cpp:base faster-whisper:base
kin audio benchmark test.wav --iterations 3 --output results.json

System and configuration

# Check system status (installed engines, libraries, cache)
kin audio status

# View configuration
kin audio config
kin audio config --path
kin audio config --models

# Set configuration
kin audio config set default_stt_model whisper-cpp:base
kin audio config set default_tts_model kokoro
kin audio config set default_device mps

# Cache management
kin audio cache info
kin audio cache clear
kin audio cache clear whisper-cpp:base

# Show running servers
kin audio ps

API server

# Start the API server
kin audio serve
kin audio serve --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8000
kin audio serve whisper-cpp:base  # pre-load a model

# Start web UI
kin web
kin web --port 8080

Add custom models

# List available templates
kin audio list-templates

# Add from template
kin audio add-model --template whisper-gguf --name my-whisper --repo user/model

# Add from Hugging Face
kin audio add-model --name my-tts --repo user/tts-model --type tts --size-mb 200

Important notes

• Model format: Models are specified as engine:variant (e.g., whisper-cpp:base, faster-whisper:large-v3). Some models like kokoro have no variant.
• First run: Models are downloaded on first use. Use kin audio pull <model> to pre-download.
• Device selection: Use --device mps on Apple Silicon Macs for GPU acceleration. The default auto usually picks the best option.
• Output files: When --output is omitted, transcriptions print to stdout and TTS plays audio directly.
• Supported audio formats: WAV, MP3, FLAC, OGG, M4A, and other formats supported by ffmpeg.

Scripted usage

For scripted/automated use, helper scripts are available at {baseDir}/scripts/:

• {baseDir}/scripts/transcribe.sh <audio_file> [options] — transcribe wrapper
• {baseDir}/scripts/tts.sh "<text>" [options] — TTS wrapper
• {baseDir}/scripts/status.sh — quick status check