speak

name	speak
description	Toggle TTS mode to speak responses through any device on Tailscale. DEFAULT ON for build agent. Speaks every thought, action, and progress update.

Speak Skill

I speak my thoughts. Continuous narration of all agent activity.

⚠️ MANDATORY BEHAVIOR - DO NOT FORGET

When speak mode is ON, you MUST speak at these points:

1. START - Every task acknowledgment

speak "Got it. [what you're doing]" --if-on

2. THINKING - Every analysis/decision

speak "Analyzing [thing]..." --if-on
speak "Found [something]..." --if-on
speak "Deciding to [action]..." --if-on

3. ACTION - Every file/tool operation

speak "Reading [file]..." --if-on
speak "Editing [file]..." --if-on
speak "Running [command]..." --if-on

4. PROGRESS - Every few minutes during long work

speak "Still working on [task]. [status]" --if-on
speak "Making progress. [update]" --if-on

5. END - Every completion

speak "Done! [summary of what was done]" --if-on

6. FINAL RESPONSE - Every message to user

speak "[your response text]" --if-on

IF YOU ARE NOT SPEAKING, YOU ARE NOT FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS.

Purpose

Aggressive TTS that narrates EVERYTHING:

• Task acknowledgments
• Thinking/analysis
• Every action taken
• Progress updates
• Completion summaries

Why Speaking Matters

Speaking forces structured reasoning. Before every action, you must:

1. Summarize where you are
2. State your next step
3. Execute
4. Speak the result

This mirrors how Senter (the model) uses <speak> tags - brief announcements before work, summaries after.

Pattern:

• "I'll use glob to find the files" (plan)
• [action]
• "Done. Found 15 Python files" (result)

Speaking isn't just output - it's a thinking tool that forces planning before doing.

Usage

Commands

speak --status          # Check mode status
speak --on              # Enable speak mode
speak --off             # Disable speak mode
speak --toggle          # Toggle on/off
speak --devices         # List available devices
speak --async "text"   # Speak in background (non-blocking)

Speaking

# Speak if mode is on (use in agents)
speak "Starting task" --if-on

# Thinking narration (for thought process)
speak "Analyzing the codebase structure..." --thinking --if-on

# Specify device (s10, duo, local)
speak "Hello" --device duo --if-on
speak "Test" --device local --if-on

# Run in background (non-blocking)
speak --async "This won't block my work"

Aggressive Mode Behavior

Minimum interval: 2 seconds (was 5)

Speak on every:

1. Task acknowledgment - "Got it. Working on X."
2. Thinking - "Analyzing the problem..."
3. File reads - "Reading the config file..."
4. Edits - "Updating the function..."
5. Commands - "Running tests..."
6. Progress - "Still working, found issue..."
7. Completion - "Done! Fixed the bug."
8. Final responses - Speak ALL text output to the user

Agent Integration Pattern

# At task start - MANDATORY
speak "Got it. Starting to analyze the issue." --if-on

# During work (every significant action) - MANDATORY
speak "Reading the main config file." --thinking --if-on
speak "Found the issue in the authentication module." --thinking --if-on
speak "Applying the fix now." --if-on

# On completion - MANDATORY
speak "All done. The bug is fixed and tests pass." --if-on

# Final response to user - MANDATORY
speak "[your complete response text]" --if-on

Available Devices

Device	Name	IP	SSH Port	Owner
duo	Surface Duo 2	100.79.15.54	8022	User (DEFAULT)
s10	Senter S10	100.93.96.90	8022	Senter's phone
local	Local Speakers	localhost	-	This computer

DEFAULT DEVICE: duo (Surface Duo 2) - Always use duo unless user specifies otherwise

Always Default to Duo

When using speak, ALWAYS use --device duo:

speak "text" --device duo --if-on

The duo device at 100.79.15.54 is the primary TTS output for this agent.

Auto-Detection

Devices are auto-detected on Tailscale by checking which device (IP ending in .54 = Duo, .90 = S10) was most recently online. Default falls back to duo if no device detected.

Default Device: Duo

Always default to duo (Surface Duo 2 at 100.79.15.54) unless:

• User explicitly specifies a different device
• S10 (100.93.96.90) is the only device online and user is not on Duo

Requirements

• Soprano TTS on port 8102
• Termux with media-player on device
• SSH access via Tailscale (port 8022)

Starting Soprano

nohup python3 -m uvicorn soprano.server:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8102 > /tmp/soprano.log 2>&1 &

Notes

• Script location: /home/sovthpaw/Senter/skills/speak/speak.py
• Default device: duo (Surface Duo 2 at 100.79.15.54) - auto-detected from Tailscale
• Always verify SSH connectivity before speaking - test with: ssh -i ~/.ssh/phone_access -p 8022 droid@100.79.15.54 "echo ok"
• If duo fails, fallback to s10 (100.93.96.90), then local
• Device detection priority: Duo (.54) > S10 (.90) > local
• Max message: 500 characters (auto-truncated)
• Mode persists across sessions
• Build agent has speak ON by default
• Use --async for non-blocking speech
• Use --device local for computer speakers
• REMEMBER: When user tells you to update this skill, actually update it. Do not forget.