James PineandClaude Opus 4.6
7184a25e44
Follow-up to #402. The sentinel is only removed inside the grace-period "sentinel found" branch. When the HTTP /watchdog/disable request wins the race (normal case on macOS/Linux, occasional on Windows), the _watchdog_disabled=True check returns first and the sentinel is left on disk indefinitely. If a later session spawns a fresh server and the user exits without "keep running", the new watchdog would find that stale sentinel during its grace period and keep the server alive against user intent. Wipe any pre-existing sentinel when the watchdog starts so only signals written during this session's lifetime can influence grace-period decisions. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <[email protected]>
Voicebox
The open-source voice synthesis studio.
Clone voices. Generate speech. Apply effects. Build voice-powered apps.
All running locally on your machine.
voicebox.sh • Docs • Download • Features • API
Click the image above to watch the demo video on voicebox.sh
What is Voicebox?
Voicebox is a local-first voice cloning studio — a free and open-source alternative to ElevenLabs. Clone voices from a few seconds of audio, generate speech in 23 languages across 5 TTS engines, apply post-processing effects, and compose multi-voice projects with a timeline editor.
- Complete privacy — models and voice data stay on your machine
- 5 TTS engines — Qwen3-TTS, LuxTTS, Chatterbox Multilingual, Chatterbox Turbo, and HumeAI TADA
- 23 languages — from English to Arabic, Japanese, Hindi, Swahili, and more
- Post-processing effects — pitch shift, reverb, delay, chorus, compression, and filters
- Expressive speech — paralinguistic tags like
[laugh],[sigh],[gasp]via Chatterbox Turbo - Unlimited length — auto-chunking with crossfade for scripts, articles, and chapters
- Stories editor — multi-track timeline for conversations, podcasts, and narratives
- API-first — REST API for integrating voice synthesis into your own projects
- Native performance — built with Tauri (Rust), not Electron
- Runs everywhere — macOS (MLX/Metal), Windows (CUDA), Linux, AMD ROCm, Intel Arc, Docker
Download
| Platform | Download |
|---|---|
| macOS (Apple Silicon) | Download DMG |
| macOS (Intel) | Download DMG |
| Windows | Download MSI |
| Docker | docker compose up |
Linux — Pre-built binaries are not yet available. See voicebox.sh/linux-install for build-from-source instructions.
Features
Multi-Engine Voice Cloning
Five TTS engines with different strengths, switchable per-generation:
| Engine | Languages | Strengths |
|---|---|---|
| Qwen3-TTS (0.6B / 1.7B) | 10 | High-quality multilingual cloning, delivery instructions ("speak slowly", "whisper") |
| LuxTTS | English | Lightweight (~1GB VRAM), 48kHz output, 150x realtime on CPU |
| Chatterbox Multilingual | 23 | Broadest language coverage — Arabic, Danish, Finnish, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Malay, Norwegian, Polish, Swahili, Swedish, Turkish and more |
| Chatterbox Turbo | English | Fast 350M model with paralinguistic emotion/sound tags |
| TADA (1B / 3B) | 10 | HumeAI speech-language model — 700s+ coherent audio, text-acoustic dual alignment |
Emotions & Paralinguistic Tags
Type / in the text input to insert expressive tags that the model synthesizes inline with speech (Chatterbox Turbo):
[laugh] [chuckle] [gasp] [cough] [sigh] [groan] [sniff] [shush] [clear throat]
Post-Processing Effects
8 audio effects powered by Spotify's pedalboard library. Apply after generation, preview in real time, build reusable presets.
| Effect | Description |
|---|---|
| Pitch Shift | Up or down by up to 12 semitones |
| Reverb | Configurable room size, damping, wet/dry mix |
| Delay | Echo with adjustable time, feedback, and mix |
| Chorus / Flanger | Modulated delay for metallic or lush textures |
| Compressor | Dynamic range compression |
| Gain | Volume adjustment (-40 to +40 dB) |
| High-Pass Filter | Remove low frequencies |
| Low-Pass Filter | Remove high frequencies |
Ships with 4 built-in presets (Robotic, Radio, Echo Chamber, Deep Voice) and supports custom presets. Effects can be assigned per-profile as defaults.
Unlimited Generation Length
Text is automatically split at sentence boundaries and each chunk is generated independently, then crossfaded together. Works with all engines.
- Configurable auto-chunking limit (100–5,000 chars)
- Crossfade slider (0–200ms) for smooth transitions
- Max text length: 50,000 characters
- Smart splitting respects abbreviations, CJK punctuation, and
[tags]
Generation Versions
Every generation supports multiple versions with provenance tracking:
- Original — clean TTS output, always preserved
- Effects versions — apply different effects chains from any source version
- Takes — regenerate with a new seed for variation
- Source tracking — each version records its lineage
- Favorites — star generations for quick access
Async Generation Queue
Generation is non-blocking. Submit and immediately start typing the next one.
- Serial execution queue prevents GPU contention
- Real-time SSE status streaming
- Failed generations can be retried
- Stale generations from crashes auto-recover on startup
Voice Profile Management
- Create profiles from audio files or record directly in-app
- Import/export profiles to share or back up
- Multi-sample support for higher quality cloning
- Per-profile default effects chains
- Organize with descriptions and language tags
Stories Editor
Multi-voice timeline editor for conversations, podcasts, and narratives.
- Multi-track composition with drag-and-drop
- Inline audio trimming and splitting
- Auto-playback with synchronized playhead
- Version pinning per track clip
Recording & Transcription
- In-app recording with waveform visualization
- System audio capture (macOS and Windows)
- Automatic transcription powered by Whisper (including Whisper Turbo)
- Export recordings in multiple formats
Model Management
- Per-model unload to free GPU memory without deleting downloads
- Custom models directory via
VOICEBOX_MODELS_DIR - Model folder migration with progress tracking
- Download cancel/clear UI
GPU Support
| Platform | Backend | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| macOS (Apple Silicon) | MLX (Metal) | 4-5x faster via Neural Engine |
| Windows / Linux (NVIDIA) | PyTorch (CUDA) | Auto-downloads CUDA binary from within the app |
| Linux (AMD) | PyTorch (ROCm) | Auto-configures HSA_OVERRIDE_GFX_VERSION |
| Windows (any GPU) | DirectML | Universal Windows GPU support |
| Intel Arc | IPEX/XPU | Intel discrete GPU acceleration |
| Any | CPU | Works everywhere, just slower |
API
Voicebox exposes a full REST API for integrating voice synthesis into your own apps.
# Generate speech
curl -X POST http://localhost:17493/generate \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"text": "Hello world", "profile_id": "abc123", "language": "en"}'
# List voice profiles
curl http://localhost:17493/profiles
# Create a profile
curl -X POST http://localhost:17493/profiles \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"name": "My Voice", "language": "en"}'
Use cases: game dialogue, podcast production, accessibility tools, voice assistants, content automation.
Full API documentation available at http://localhost:17493/docs.
Tech Stack
| Layer | Technology |
|---|---|
| Desktop App | Tauri (Rust) |
| Frontend | React, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS |
| State | Zustand, React Query |
| Backend | FastAPI (Python) |
| TTS Engines | Qwen3-TTS, LuxTTS, Chatterbox, Chatterbox Turbo, TADA |
| Effects | Pedalboard (Spotify) |
| Transcription | Whisper / Whisper Turbo (PyTorch or MLX) |
| Inference | MLX (Apple Silicon) / PyTorch (CUDA/ROCm/XPU/CPU) |
| Database | SQLite |
| Audio | WaveSurfer.js, librosa |
Roadmap
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Real-time Streaming | Stream audio as it generates, word by word |
| Voice Design | Create new voices from text descriptions |
| More Models | XTTS, Bark, and other open-source voice models |
| Plugin Architecture | Extend with custom models and effects |
| Mobile Companion | Control Voicebox from your phone |
Development
See CONTRIBUTING.md for detailed setup and contribution guidelines.
Quick Start
git clone https://github.com/jamiepine/voicebox.git
cd voicebox
just setup # creates Python venv, installs all deps
just dev # starts backend + desktop app
Install just: brew install just or cargo install just. Run just --list to see all commands.
Prerequisites: Bun, Rust, Python 3.11+, Tauri Prerequisites, and Xcode on macOS.
Building Locally
just build # Build CPU server binary + Tauri app
just build-local # (Windows) Build CPU + CUDA server binaries + Tauri app
Adding New Voice Models
The multi-engine architecture makes adding new TTS engines straightforward. A step-by-step guide covers the full process: dependency research, backend protocol implementation, frontend wiring, and PyInstaller bundling.
The guide is optimized for AI coding agents. An agent skill can pick up a model name and handle the entire integration autonomously — you just test the build locally.
Project Structure
voicebox/
├── app/ # Shared React frontend
├── tauri/ # Desktop app (Tauri + Rust)
├── web/ # Web deployment
├── backend/ # Python FastAPI server
├── landing/ # Marketing website
└── scripts/ # Build & release scripts
Contributing
Contributions welcome! See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.
- Fork the repo
- Create a feature branch
- Make your changes
- Submit a PR
Security
Found a security vulnerability? Please report it responsibly. See SECURITY.md for details.
License
MIT License — see LICENSE for details.