elevenlabs

Use this skill when you need to:

• Convert text to speech with high-quality AI voices
• List available voices to find the right voice for your use case
• Stream audio output for real-time playback
• Generate voiceovers for videos, podcasts, or accessibility

---

1. Sign up at [ElevenLabs](https://elevenlabs.io/) and create an account
2. Go to your profile settings and generate an API key
3. Store your API key in the environment variable ELEVENLABS_API_KEY

```bash

export ELEVENLABS_API_KEY="your-api-key"

```

API Limits

• Free tier: limited characters per month
• API key is passed via the xi-api-key header

---

> Important: When using $VAR in a command that pipes to another command, wrap the command containing $VAR in bash -c '...'. Due to a Claude Code bug, environment variables are silently cleared when pipes are used directly.

> ```bash

> bash -c 'curl -s "https://api.example.com" -H "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY"' | jq .

> ```

All examples below assume you have ELEVENLABS_API_KEY set.

The base URL for the ElevenLabs API is:

• https://api.elevenlabs.io/v1

---

1. List Available Voices

Get all voices available to your account:

```bash

bash -c 'curl -s -X GET "https://api.elevenlabs.io/v1/voices" --header "xi-api-key: ${ELEVENLABS_API_KEY}"' | jq '.voices[] | {voice_id, name, category}'

```

This returns voice IDs needed for text-to-speech. Common voice categories:

• premade: ElevenLabs default voices
• cloned: Your cloned voices
• generated: AI-designed voices

---

2. Get Voice Details

Get detailed information about a specific voice. Replace with an actual voice ID:

```bash

bash -c 'curl -s -X GET "https://api.elevenlabs.io/v1/voices/" --header "xi-api-key: ${ELEVENLABS_API_KEY}"'

```

---

3. List Available Models

Get all available TTS models:

```bash

bash -c 'curl -s -X GET "https://api.elevenlabs.io/v1/models" --header "xi-api-key: ${ELEVENLABS_API_KEY}"' | jq '.[] | {model_id, name, can_do_text_to_speech}'

```

Common models:

• eleven_multilingual_v2: Best quality, supports 29 languages
• eleven_flash_v2_5: Low latency, good for real-time
• eleven_v3: Latest model (alpha)

---

4. Text to Speech (Save to File)

Convert text to speech and save as MP3. Replace with an actual voice ID from the list voices endpoint:

Write to /tmp/elevenlabs_request.json:

```json

{

"text": "Hello! This is a test of the ElevenLabs text to speech API.",

"model_id": "eleven_multilingual_v2",

"voice_settings": {

"stability": 0.5,

"similarity_boost": 0.75

}

}

```

Then run:

```bash

curl -s -X POST "https://api.elevenlabs.io/v1/text-to-speech/" --header "xi-api-key: ${ELEVENLABS_API_KEY}" --header "Content-Type: application/json" --header "Accept: audio/mpeg" -d @/tmp/elevenlabs_request.json --output speech.mp3

```

Voice settings:

• stability (0.0-1.0): Higher = more consistent, lower = more expressive
• similarity_boost (0.0-1.0): Higher = closer to original voice

---

5. Text to Speech with Streaming

Stream audio for real-time playback. Replace with an actual voice ID:

Write to /tmp/elevenlabs_request.json:

```json

{

"text": "This audio is being streamed in real-time.",

"model_id": "eleven_flash_v2_5"

}

```

Then run:

```bash

curl -s -X POST "https://api.elevenlabs.io/v1/text-to-speech//stream" --header "xi-api-key: ${ELEVENLABS_API_KEY}" --header "Content-Type: application/json" --header "Accept: audio/mpeg" -d @/tmp/elevenlabs_request.json --output streamed.mp3

```

---

6. Get User Subscription Info

Check your usage and character limits:

```bash

bash -c 'curl -s -X GET "https://api.elevenlabs.io/v1/user/subscription" --header "xi-api-key: ${ELEVENLABS_API_KEY}"' | jq '{character_count, character_limit, tier}'

```

---

You can specify different output formats via the output_format query parameter. Replace with an actual voice ID:

Write to /tmp/elevenlabs_request.json:

```json

{

"text": "Hello world",

"model_id": "eleven_multilingual_v2"

}

```

Then run:

```bash

curl -s -X POST "https://api.elevenlabs.io/v1/text-to-speech/?output_format=pcm_16000" --header "xi-api-key: ${ELEVENLABS_API_KEY}" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/elevenlabs_request.json --output speech.pcm

```

Available formats:

• mp3_44100_192 (default): MP3 at 44.1kHz, 192kbps
• mp3_44100_128: MP3 at 44.1kHz, 128kbps
• pcm_16000: PCM at 16kHz
• pcm_22050: PCM at 22.05kHz
• pcm_24000: PCM at 24kHz

---

1. Choose the right model: Use eleven_flash_v2_5 for low latency, eleven_multilingual_v2 for best quality
2. Monitor usage: Check subscription endpoint to avoid exceeding character limits
3. Experiment with voice settings: Adjust stability and similarity_boost for different effects
4. Use streaming for long text: Stream endpoint is better for real-time applications
5. Cache voice IDs: Store frequently used voice IDs to avoid repeated API calls