iMessage Voice Reply

---

name: imessage-voice-reply

version: 1.0.1

description: Send voice message replies in iMessage using local Kokoro-ONNX TTS. Generates native iMessage voice bubbles (CAF/Opus) that play inline with waveform — not file attachments. Use when receiving a voice message in iMessage and wanting to reply with voice, enabling voice-to-voice iMessage conversations, or sending audio responses. Zero cost — all TTS runs locally. Requires BlueBubbles channel configured in OpenClaw.

---

# iMessage Voice Reply

Generate and send native iMessage voice messages using local Kokoro TTS. Voice messages appear as inline playable bubbles with waveforms — identical to voice messages recorded in Messages.app.

How It Works

Your text response → Kokoro TTS (local) → afconvert (native Apple encoder) → CAF/Opus → BlueBubbles → iMessage voice bubble

Setup

bash ${baseDir}/scripts/setup.sh

Installs: kokoro-onnx, soundfile, numpy. Downloads Kokoro models (~136MB) to `~/.cache/kokoro-onnx/`.

Requires: BlueBubbles channel configured in OpenClaw (`channels.bluebubbles`).

Generating and Sending a Voice Reply

Step 1: Generate audio

Write the response text to a temp file, then pass it via `--text-file` to avoid shell injection:

echo "Your response text here" > /tmp/voice_text.txt
${baseDir}/.venv/bin/python ${baseDir}/scripts/generate_voice_reply.py --text-file /tmp/voice_text.txt --output /tmp/voice_reply.caf

Alternatively, pass text directly (ensure proper shell escaping):

${baseDir}/.venv/bin/python ${baseDir}/scripts/generate_voice_reply.py --text "Your response text here" --output /tmp/voice_reply.caf

Options:

**Security note:** The Python script uses argparse and subprocess.run with list arguments (no shell=True). Input is handled safely within the script. When calling from a shell, prefer `--text-file` for untrusted input to avoid shell metacharacter issues.

Step 2: Send via BlueBubbles

Use the `message` tool:

{
  "action": "sendAttachment",
  "channel": "bluebubbles",
  "target": "+1XXXXXXXXXX",
  "path": "/tmp/voice_reply.caf",
  "filename": "Audio Message.caf",
  "contentType": "audio/x-caf",
  "asVoice": true
}

**Critical parameters for native voice bubble:**

All three are required for iMessage to render the message as an inline voice bubble with waveform instead of a file attachment.

Voice Options

| Language | Female | Male |

|----------|--------|------|

| English | af_heart ⭐ | am_puck |

| Spanish | ef_dora | em_alex |

| French | ff_siwis | — |

| Japanese | jf_alpha | jm_beta |

| Chinese | zf_xiaobei | zm_yunjian |

When to Reply with Voice

Reply with a voice message when:

Always include a text reply alongside the voice message for accessibility.

Audio Format

Cost

$0. Kokoro TTS runs entirely locally. No API calls for voice generation.

Troubleshooting

**Voice message shows as file attachment** — Ensure all three parameters are set: `filename="Audio Message.caf"`, `contentType="audio/x-caf"`, `asVoice=true`.

**First word clipped** — The script prepends 150ms silence automatically. If still clipped, increase the silence pad in the script.

**Kokoro model not found** — Run `bash ${baseDir}/scripts/setup.sh`.

**afconvert not found** — Only available on macOS. Script falls back to ffmpeg/MP3 on Linux.