chenhg5/cc-connect · error

espeak: voice=%s text=%q: %w

Error message

espeak: voice=%s text=%q: %w

What it means

EspeakTTS.Synthesize runs the local espeak binary with `-v <voice> -w /dev/stdout [speed] <text>` and captures stdout; if the command exits non-zero the library wraps the exec error with the voice and text for context. The wrapped err is typically *exec.ExitError (espeak failed) or *exec.Error (binary not found). Because Output() is used rather than CombinedOutput(), espeak's own stderr diagnostics are not included, so the real cause is hidden.

Source

Thrown at core/tts.go:580

	}

	// Add speed option if specified
	if opts.Speed > 0 {
		// espeak speed is in words per minute, default 160
		// Convert speed multiplier (0.5-2.0) to wpm
		wpm := int(160 * opts.Speed)
		args = append(args, "-s", fmt.Sprintf("%d", wpm))
	}

	// Add text as argument
	args = append(args, text)

	// Execute espeak command
	// Use Output() instead of CombinedOutput() to avoid mixing stderr warnings with audio data
	cmd := exec.CommandContext(ctx, e.Path, args...)
	output, err := cmd.Output()
	if err != nil {
		return nil, "", fmt.Errorf("espeak: voice=%s text=%q: %w", voice, text, err)
	}

	return output, "wav", nil
}

// ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
// PicoTTS — Google Pico TTS (better quality than espeak, offline)
// ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

// PicoTTS implements TextToSpeech using pico2wave (Google Pico TTS).
type PicoTTS struct {
	Path  string // path to pico2wave executable (empty = "pico2wave")
	Voice string // default voice language (e.g. "zh-CN", "en-US")
}

// NewPicoTTS creates a new PicoTTS instance.
func NewPicoTTS(path, voice string) *PicoTTS {
	if path == "" {

View on GitHub (pinned to 4000b2338a)

Solutions

1. Verify espeak is installed and runnable: `which espeak` / `espeak --version`; set EspeakTTS.Path to the full binary path if it's not on PATH.
2. Reproduce manually with the exact arguments: espeak -v <voice> -w /dev/stdout "<text>" > /tmp/out.wav and read stderr for the real failure.
3. Install the missing voice data for the configured voice (language packs / espeak-ng-data) or switch Voice to an installed one.
4. If the host uses espeak-ng, check flag compatibility or point Path at espeak-ng with equivalent arguments.
5. On non-Unix platforms, write WAV to a temp file instead of /dev/stdout.

Example fix

// before
voice := "zh+f3" // voice data not installed on host
output, _, err := e.Synthesize(ctx, text, core.TTSSynthesisOpts{})
// after
voice := "zh" // verified present: espeak --voices | grep zh
output, _, err := e.Synthesize(ctx, text, core.TTSSynthesisOpts{})
if err != nil {
	var ee *exec.ExitError
	if errors.As(err, &ee) {
		log.Printf("espeak stderr: %s", ee.Stderr)
	}
}

// Go: check the binary and voice before using EspeakTTS
p, err := exec.LookPath("espeak")
if err != nil { /* espeak missing: install it or pick another engine */ }
out, _ := exec.Command(p, "--voices").Output()
if !strings.Contains(string(out), voice) { /* voice not installed */ }

func espeakAvailable(path string) bool {
	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 3*time.Second)
	defer cancel()
	return exec.CommandContext(ctx, path, "--version").Run() == nil
}

audio, format, err := espeak.Synthesize(ctx, text, opts)
if err != nil {
	var execErr *exec.Error
	if errors.As(err, &execErr) {
		log.Printf("espeak binary not found: %v — install espeak or set Path", execErr)
	}
	// fallback: try PicoTTS or cloud TTS
	return picoTTS.Synthesize(ctx, text, opts)
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling Synthesize via EspeakTTS when: the espeak executable is missing or Path is misconfigured; the voice string is invalid or its language data is not installed; the text argument breaks espeak; the context is cancelled mid-run; or WAV-to-/dev/stdout fails (platforms lacking /dev/stdout semantics, e.g. Windows).

Common situations: Deploying to a container/minimal host without espeak installed; configuring Voice to a language whose espeak voice data (mbrola/dictionary) is absent; OS upgrades replacing espeak with espeak-ng and different flag behavior; running on Windows where `-w /dev/stdout` is unsupported.

Understand the failure class

Background: "git command failed": what it means when a tool shells out to git and git exits non-zero — this error's family across 21 libraries.

Related errors

• pico2wave: voice=%s text=%q: %w, output: %s
• acp: probe start %s: %w
• antigravitySession: start: %w
• hook exec: %w (stderr: %s)
• claudecode: start claude usage probe: %w

AI-assisted analysis of chenhg5/cc-connect@4000b2338a (2026-09-06). Data as JSON: /api/errors/1c22b6f3775507c6. Report an issue: GitHub.