hermes-agent/website/docs/user-guide/features
Teknium 8d302e37a8
feat(tts): add Piper as a native local TTS provider (closes #8508) (#17885)
Piper (OHF-Voice/piper1-gpl) is a fast, local neural TTS engine from the
Home Assistant project that supports 44 languages with zero API keys.
Adds it as a native built-in provider alongside edge/neutts/kittentts,
installable via 'hermes tools' with one keystroke.

What ships:

- New 'piper' built-in provider in tools/tts_tool.py
  - Lazy import via _import_piper()
  - Module-level voice cache keyed on (model_path, use_cuda) so switching
    voices doesn't invalidate older cached voices
  - _resolve_piper_voice_path() accepts either an absolute .onnx path or a
    voice name (auto-downloaded on first use via 'python -m
    piper.download_voices --download-dir <cache>')
  - Voice cache at ~/.hermes/cache/piper-voices/ (profile-aware via
    get_hermes_dir)
  - Optional SynthesisConfig knobs: length_scale, noise_scale,
    noise_w_scale, volume, normalize_audio, use_cuda — passed through
    only when configured, so older piper-tts versions aren't broken
  - WAV output then ffmpeg conversion path (same as neutts/kittentts) so
    Telegram voice bubbles work when ffmpeg is present
  - Piper added to BUILTIN_TTS_PROVIDERS so a user's
    tts.providers.piper.command cannot shadow the native provider
    (regression test included)

- 'hermes tools' wizard entry
  - Piper appears under Voice and TTS as local free, with
    'pip install piper-tts' auto-install via post_setup handler
  - Prints voice-catalog URL and default-voice info after install

- config.yaml defaults
  - tts.piper.voice defaults to en_US-lessac-medium
  - Commented advanced knobs for discoverability

- Docs
  - New 'Piper (local, 44 languages)' section in features/tts.md
    explaining install path, voice switching, pre-downloaded voices,
    and advanced knobs
  - Piper listed in the ten-provider table and ffmpeg table
  - Custom-command-providers section updated to drop the Piper example
    (now native) and add a piper-custom example for users with their own
    trained .onnx models
  - overview.md bumps provider count to ten

- Tests (tests/tools/test_tts_piper.py, 16 tests)
  - Registration (BUILTIN_TTS_PROVIDERS, PROVIDER_MAX_TEXT_LENGTH)
  - _resolve_piper_voice_path across every branch: direct .onnx path,
    cached voice name, fresh download with correct CLI args, download
    failure, successful-exit-but-missing-files, empty voice to default
  - _generate_piper_tts: loads voice once, reuses cache, voice-name
    download wiring, advanced knobs flow through SynthesisConfig
  - text_to_speech_tool end-to-end dispatch and missing-package error
  - check_tts_requirements: piper availability toggles the return value
  - Regression guard: piper cannot be shadowed by a command provider
    with the same name
  - Pre-existing test_tts_mistral test broadened to mock the new
    piper/kittentts/command-provider checks (otherwise it false-passes
    when piper is installed in the test venv)

E2E verification (live):

Actual pip install piper-tts, config piper + en_US-lessac-low,
text_to_speech_tool call, voice auto-downloaded from HuggingFace,
WAV synthesized, ffmpeg-converted to Ogg/Opus. Second call hits the
cache (~60ms). Cache dir populated with .onnx and .onnx.json.

This caught a real bug during development: the first pass used '-d' as
the download-dir flag; the actual piper.download_voices CLI wants
'--download-dir'. Fixed before PR opened.
2026-04-30 02:53:20 -07:00
..
_category_.json feat: add documentation website (Docusaurus) 2026-03-05 05:24:55 -08:00
acp.md docs(acp): fix zed config 2026-04-03 01:46:45 -07:00
api-server.md feat(api_server): expose run status for external UIs (#17085) 2026-04-29 06:38:10 -07:00
batch-processing.md fix: normalize remaining reasoning effort orderings and add missing 'minimal' 2026-04-09 14:20:16 -07:00
browser.md feat(browser): auto-spawn local Chromium for LAN/localhost URLs in cloud mode (#16136) 2026-04-26 09:57:58 -07:00
built-in-plugins.md feat(plugins): bundle hermes-achievements + scan full session history (#17754) 2026-04-29 23:23:57 -07:00
code-execution.md docs(execute_code): document project/strict execution modes (#12073) 2026-04-18 01:53:09 -07:00
context-files.md feat: progressive subdirectory hint discovery (#5291) 2026-04-05 12:33:47 -07:00
context-references.md docs: comprehensive documentation audit — fix stale info, expand thin pages, add depth (#5393) 2026-04-05 19:45:50 -07:00
credential-pools.md docs(anthropic): correct OAuth scope to Max plan + extra usage credits only (#17404) 2026-04-29 04:11:14 -07:00
cron.md docs: resync reference, user-guide, developer-guide, and messaging pages against code (#17738) 2026-04-29 20:55:59 -07:00
curator.md fix(curator): unify under auxiliary.curator (hermes model, dashboard) (#17868) 2026-04-30 02:46:01 -07:00
delegation.md docs: two-week gap sweep — platforms, CLI, config, TUI, hooks, providers (#17727) 2026-04-29 20:32:37 -07:00
extending-the-dashboard.md docs(dashboard): document page-scoped plugin slots (#15662) 2026-04-25 06:59:24 -07:00
fallback-providers.md docs: resync reference, user-guide, developer-guide, and messaging pages against code (#17738) 2026-04-29 20:55:59 -07:00
honcho.md feat(honcho): wizard cadence default 2, surface reasoning level, backwards-compat fallback 2026-04-18 22:50:55 -07:00
hooks.md docs: two-week gap sweep — platforms, CLI, config, TUI, hooks, providers (#17727) 2026-04-29 20:32:37 -07:00
image-generation.md feat(image-gen): add GPT Image 2 to FAL catalog (#13677) 2026-04-21 13:35:31 -07:00
mcp.md docs: deep quality pass — expand 10 thin pages, fix specific issues (#4134) 2026-03-30 20:30:11 -07:00
memory-providers.md feat(hindsight): richer session-scoped retain metadata 2026-04-22 05:27:10 -07:00
memory.md docs: add Supermemory to memory providers docs, env vars, CLI reference 2026-04-06 22:15:58 -07:00
overview.md feat(tts): add Piper as a native local TTS provider (closes #8508) (#17885) 2026-04-30 02:53:20 -07:00
personality.md docs: document SOUL.md as primary agent identity (#1927) 2026-03-18 04:18:08 -07:00
plugins.md docs: resync reference, user-guide, developer-guide, and messaging pages against code (#17738) 2026-04-29 20:55:59 -07:00
provider-routing.md docs: fallback providers + /background command documentation 2026-03-15 06:24:28 -07:00
rl-training.md fix(docs): Add links to Atropos and wandb in user guide 2026-04-23 03:07:06 -07:00
skills.md docs(skills): document URL install across features, reference, guide, and hermes-agent skill (#16355) 2026-04-26 21:27:59 -07:00
skins.md fix(tui): restore macOS copy behavior and theme polish (#17131) 2026-04-28 18:47:14 -05:00
spotify.md feat(spotify): wire setup wizard into 'hermes tools' + document cron usage (#15180) 2026-04-24 07:24:28 -07:00
tool-gateway.md docs: resync reference, user-guide, developer-guide, and messaging pages against code (#17738) 2026-04-29 20:55:59 -07:00
tools.md docs: resync reference, user-guide, developer-guide, and messaging pages against code (#17738) 2026-04-29 20:55:59 -07:00
tts.md feat(tts): add Piper as a native local TTS provider (closes #8508) (#17885) 2026-04-30 02:53:20 -07:00
vision.md docs: two-week gap sweep — platforms, CLI, config, TUI, hooks, providers (#17727) 2026-04-29 20:32:37 -07:00
voice-mode.md docs: two-week gap sweep — platforms, CLI, config, TUI, hooks, providers (#17727) 2026-04-29 20:32:37 -07:00
web-dashboard.md docs: resync reference, user-guide, developer-guide, and messaging pages against code (#17738) 2026-04-29 20:55:59 -07:00