Generate your first ElevenLabs text-to-speech audio file. Use when starting a new ElevenLabs integration, testing your setup, or learning basic TTS API patterns. Trigger: "elevenlabs hello world", "elevenlabs example", "elevenlabs quick start", "first elevenlabs TTS", "text to speech demo".
Generate speech from text using the ElevenLabs TTS API. This skill covers the core POST /v1/text-to-speech/{voice_id} endpoint with real voice IDs, model selection, and audio output.
elevenlabs-install-auth setupELEVENLABS_API_KEYTypeScript (recommended):
import { ElevenLabsClient } from "@elevenlabs/elevenlabs-js";
import { createWriteStream } from "fs";
import { Readable } from "stream";
import { pipeline } from "stream/promises";
const client = new ElevenLabsClient();
async function generateSpeech() {
// Use a pre-made voice — "Rachel" is a default voice available on all accounts
// Find voice IDs via: GET /v1/voices
const audio = await client.textToSpeech.convert("21m00Tcm4TlvDq8ikWAM", {
text: "Hello! This is your first ElevenLabs text-to-speech generation.",
model_id: "eleven_multilingual_v2", // Best quality, 29 languages
voice_settings: {
stability: 0.5, // 0-1: lower = more expressive
similarity_boost: 0.75, // 0-1: higher = closer to original voice
style: 0.0, // 0-1: higher = more dramatic (costs more latency)
speed: 1.0, // 0.7-1.2: speech speed multiplier
},
});
// audio is a ReadableStream — pipe to file
await pipeline(
Readable.fromWeb(audio as any),
createWriteStream("output.mp3")
);
console.log("Audio saved to output.mp3");
}
generateSpeech().catch(console.error);
Python:
from elevenlabs.client import ElevenLabsClient
client = ElevenLabsClient()
audio = client.text_to_speech.convert(
voice_id="21m00Tcm4TlvDq8ikWAM", # Rachel
text="Hello! This is your first ElevenLabs text-to-speech generation.",
model_id="eleven_multilingual_v2",
voice_settings={
"stability": 0.5,
"similarity_boost": 0.75,
"style": 0.0,
},
)
with open("output.mp3", "wb") as f:
for chunk in audio:
f.write(chunk)
print("Audio saved to output.mp3")
curl -X POST "https://api.elevenlabs.io/v1/text-to-speech/21m00Tcm4TlvDq8ikWAM" \
-H "xi-api-key: ${ELEVENLABS_API_KEY}" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"text": "Hello from the ElevenLabs API!",
"model_id": "eleven_multilingual_v2",
"voice_settings": {
"stability": 0.5,
"similarity_boost": 0.75
}
}' \
--output output.mp3
For real-time playback, use the streaming endpoint:
async function streamSpeech() {
const audioStream = await client.textToSpeech.stream("21m00Tcm4TlvDq8ikWAM", {
text: "This audio is streamed in real-time for low-latency playback.",
model_id: "eleven_flash_v2_5", // Optimized for streaming (~75ms latency)
output_format: "mp3_22050_32", // codec_sampleRate_bitrate
});
// Stream chunks arrive as they're generated
const writer = createWriteStream("streamed.mp3");
for await (const chunk of audioStream) {
writer.write(chunk);
}
writer.end();
console.log("Streamed audio saved to streamed.mp3");
}
| Model ID | Quality | Latency | Languages | Cost (credits/char) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
eleven_v3 | Highest expressiveness | Medium | 70+ | 1.0 |
eleven_multilingual_v2 | High quality, emotional | Medium | 29 | 1.0 |
eleven_flash_v2_5 | Good, ultra-fast | ~75ms | 32 | 0.5 |
eleven_turbo_v2_5 | Good, fast | Low | 32 | 0.5 |
eleven_monolingual_v1 | English only | Low | 1 | 0.5 |
| Voice | ID | Style |
|---|---|---|
| Rachel | 21m00Tcm4TlvDq8ikWAM | Calm, narration |
| Domi | AZnzlk1XvdvUeBnXmlld | Strong, assertive |
| Bella | EXAVITQu4vr4xnSDxMaL | Soft, warm |
| Antoni | ErXwobaYiN019PkySvjV | Well-rounded, male |
| Josh | TxGEqnHWrfWFTfGW9XjX | Deep, narrative |
Specified as codec_sampleRate_bitrate:
mp3_44100_128 (default, high quality)mp3_22050_32 (smaller file, streaming)pcm_16000 (raw PCM for processing)pcm_44100 (high-quality raw)ulaw_8000 (telephony)| Error | HTTP | Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|---|
voice_not_found | 404 | Invalid voice_id | Use GET /v1/voices to list valid IDs |
invalid_api_key | 401 | Bad or missing key | Check ELEVENLABS_API_KEY env var |
model_not_found | 400 | Wrong model_id string | Use exact IDs from models table |
text_too_long | 400 | Exceeds 5,000 chars | Split into chunks; use streaming for long text |
quota_exceeded | 401 | Monthly character limit hit | Check usage at elevenlabs.io/app/usage |
Proceed to elevenlabs-local-dev-loop for development workflow setup, or elevenlabs-core-workflow-a for voice cloning.