Podcastfy Generator 🎙️
Generate AI podcast-style audio conversations from any content. Creates engaging two-host dialogues similar to Google NotebookLM's Audio Overview feature.
Capabilities
- •URLs → Fetch article content, generate podcast discussion
- •YouTube → Extract transcript, create audio summary
- •PDFs → Parse document, synthesize key points as dialogue
- •Text/Topics → Generate podcast from plain text or topic prompts
- •Multi-lingual → English, German, French, Spanish (auto-detect or specify)
- •Custom Identity → Name the podcast, name the hosts, pick their voices
Quick Examples
"Create a podcast about this article: https://example.com/tech-news" "Turn this YouTube video into a podcast: https://youtube.com/watch?v=..." "Generate a German podcast discussing quantum computing" "Make a podcast called 'Deep Dive' with hosts Alex and Sam about this PDF"
Usage
Basic Generation
# From URL <skill>/scripts/generate.py --url "https://example.com/article" # From YouTube <skill>/scripts/generate.py --url "https://youtube.com/watch?v=abc123" # From text <skill>/scripts/generate.py --text "Your content here..." # From PDF <skill>/scripts/generate.py --pdf "/path/to/document.pdf" # Multiple sources <skill>/scripts/generate.py --url "https://url1.com" --url "https://url2.com"
Podcast Identity
# Name the podcast <skill>/scripts/generate.py --url "https://..." --podcast-name "Deep Dive" # Name the hosts (they'll use each other's names in conversation) <skill>/scripts/generate.py --url "https://..." --host-name Alex --cohost-name Sam # No podcast name (hosts introduce topic naturally, no show branding) <skill>/scripts/generate.py --url "https://..." --podcast-name "" # Full customization <skill>/scripts/generate.py --url "https://..." \ --podcast-name "Tech Talk" --podcast-tagline "Breaking down the future" \ --host-name Alex --cohost-name Kiki
Language Options
# Auto-detect (default) <skill>/scripts/generate.py --url "https://example.de/artikel" # Explicit language <skill>/scripts/generate.py --url "https://example.com" --lang de
Supported: en (English), de (German), fr (French), es (Spanish)
TTS Provider & Voice Options
Default: OpenAI TTS (tts-1-hd with onyx + nova voices)
Optional: ElevenLabs for higher quality, more natural voices:
# Use ElevenLabs with defaults (Daniel + Alice) <skill>/scripts/generate.py --url "https://..." --elevenlabs # Custom voices per host <skill>/scripts/generate.py --url "https://..." --elevenlabs \ --host-voice Daniel --cohost-voice Alice # OpenAI custom voices <skill>/scripts/generate.py --url "https://..." \ --host-voice echo --cohost-voice shimmer
# Use local sherpa-onnx TTS (free, offline, unlimited) <skill>/scripts/generate.py --url "https://..." --sherpa
OpenAI voices: alloy, echo, fable, onyx, nova, shimmer
ElevenLabs voices (premade): Roger, Sarah, Laura, Charlie, George, Callum, River, Liam, Alice, Matilda, Will, Jessica, Eric, Bella, Chris, Brian, Daniel, Lily, Adam, Bill
Sherpa-onnx (local): Uses Piper VITS models. Voice paths configured in config/conversation.yaml under text_to_speech.sherpa. Requires sherpa-onnx-offline-tts binary (set SHERPA_ONNX_TTS_BIN or install to ~/.openclaw/tools/sherpa-onnx-tts/).
Performance note: CPU-based synthesis, typically ~2-10x realtime, requires ~2GB+ RAM, and quality is good but generally below ElevenLabs.
Browse ElevenLabs voices: https://elevenlabs.io/voice-library
All CLI Options
| Option | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
--url | URL to process (repeatable) | --url https://... |
--text | Plain text content | --text "AI is..." |
--pdf | Path to PDF file | --pdf report.pdf |
--lang | Output language | --lang de |
--podcast-name | Podcast name (empty = none) | --podcast-name "Deep Dive" |
--podcast-tagline | Podcast tagline | --podcast-tagline "..." |
--host-name | Host name (Person1) | --host-name Alex |
--cohost-name | Co-host name (Person2) | --cohost-name Kiki |
--elevenlabs | Use ElevenLabs TTS | --elevenlabs |
--sherpa | Use local sherpa-onnx TTS (free) | --sherpa |
--host-voice | Voice for host | --host-voice Daniel |
--cohost-voice | Voice for co-host | --cohost-voice Alice |
--output, -o | Output file path | -o podcast.ogg |
Output
The script outputs an OGG audio file path. Use the OpenClaw message tool to send it:
# Agent workflow
audio_path = exec("<skill>/scripts/generate.py --url 'https://...'")
message(action="send", media=audio_path, target=user_chat)
Configuration
Default podcast style is configured in <skill>/config/conversation.yaml. CLI flags override config values.
Key config options:
- •
podcast_name— Show name (empty = content-driven intro) - •
roles_person1/roles_person2— Host role descriptions - •
text_to_speech.{provider}.default_voices— Default voice per provider - •
language_voices.{provider}.{Language}— Per-language voice overrides (applied when no--host-voice/--cohost-voiceis set) - •
conversation_style— Style keywords (engaging, concise, etc.) - •
creativity— 0-1 scale (higher = more creative dialogue)
Environment Variables
| Variable | Required | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
OPENAI_API_KEY | Yes | TTS audio generation (default) |
GEMINI_API_KEY | Yes | Transcript/dialogue generation |
ELEVENLABS_API_KEY | No | ElevenLabs TTS (required for --elevenlabs) |
SHERPA_ONNX_TTS_BIN | No | Path to sherpa-onnx-offline-tts binary (for --sherpa) |
Get your ElevenLabs API key at: https://elevenlabs.io/app/settings/api-keys
Installation
First-time setup (run once):
<skill>/scripts/install.sh
Requirements
- •ffmpeg — Audio format conversion
- •uv — Python environment management
- •Python 3.11+ — Runtime
Troubleshooting
"ffmpeg not found"
Install ffmpeg: brew install ffmpeg (macOS) or apt install ffmpeg (Linux)
"API key not set"
Ensure OPENAI_API_KEY and GEMINI_API_KEY are in your environment or secrets.conf
Hosts say "Quick Brief" or reference a show name
Set podcast_name: "" in config/conversation.yaml or use --podcast-name ""
Generation takes too long
Podcastfy processes content through LLM + TTS. Expect 30-90 seconds for short podcasts.
Audio quality issues
Try ElevenLabs (--elevenlabs) for more natural voices. OpenAI tts-1-hd is decent but synthetic.