WhatsApp Voice Note

WhatsApp Voice Note

Turns text into a real WhatsApp voice note (the kind with the waveform, ptt:true) and sends it through your OpenClaw WhatsApp channel. The plugin auto-sends any audio attachment as a voice note; this skill hands it clean opus/ogg for best quality.

Usage

./voice.sh --target +15555550100 --text "Hi, on my way."
./voice.sh --target +15555550100 --text-file /path/to/note.txt
./voice.sh --text "test" --out-only /tmp/note.ogg     # build the file, don't send
./voice.sh --target +15555550100 --text "hello" --dry-run

Engines (auto-selected)

• elevenlabs — natural, multilingual. Used automatically when ELEVENLABS_API_KEY is set. Model is picked per language: most languages use eleven_multilingual_v2; Hebrew text auto-switches to eleven_v3 (the only model that speaks it properly — learned the hard way).
• say — macOS built-in, free, robotic. Fallback when no key. Force either with --engine elevenlabs|say.

Config (.env next to the script, or env vars)

ELEVENLABS_API_KEY=...            # enables the good engine
ELEVENLABS_VOICE_ID=...           # default: Daniel (male multilingual)
ELEVENLABS_MODEL=...              # override auto model pick (e.g. eleven_flash_v2_5 = ~half credits)

Hard-won notes

• WhatsApp voice notes must be opus in ogg, mono — ffmpeg flags in the script are the ones that survive WhatsApp's transcoder without artifacts.
• Put a policy line in your agent's rules about WHO may receive voice notes. An agent that can voice-message anyone in your contacts is a liability, not a feature.
• --out-only is great for piping into other channels (Telegram, casting to a speaker).

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From the Build Your Own Chief starter kit — skills, configs, and gotchas from a real 24/7 household agent: https://chief.natalicot.com/kit/?utm=clawhub