ElevenLabs Integration: TTS, Scribe STT, and Realtime Transcription
Learn how OpenClaw uses ElevenLabs for text-to-speech, batch speech-to-text with Scribe v2, and streaming STT. This page covers authentication, model selection, and default settings for developers.
Read this when
- You want ElevenLabs text-to-speech in OpenClaw
- You want ElevenLabs Scribe speech-to-text for audio attachments
- You want ElevenLabs realtime transcription for Voice Call or Google Meet
OpenClaw uses ElevenLabs for text-to-speech, batch speech-to-text with Scribe v2, and streaming STT with Scribe v2 Realtime. The plugin ships and activates automatically; no plugins install step is required.
| Capability | OpenClaw surface | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Text-to-speech | tts / talk | eleven_multilingual_v2 |
| Batch speech-to-text | tools.media.audio | scribe_v2 |
| Streaming speech-to-text | Voice Call streaming or Google Meet realtime.transcriptionProvider | scribe_v2_realtime |
Authentication
Set ELEVENLABS_API_KEY in the environment. XI_API_KEY is also accepted for compatibility with existing ElevenLabs tooling.
export ELEVENLABS_API_KEY="..."
Text-to-speech
{
tts: {
providers: {
elevenlabs: {
apiKey: "${ELEVENLABS_API_KEY}",
voiceId: "pMsXgVXv3BLzUgSXRplE",
modelId: "eleven_multilingual_v2",
},
},
},
}
Set modelId to eleven_v3 to use ElevenLabs v3 TTS. OpenClaw keeps eleven_multilingual_v2 as the default for existing installs.
Discord voice channels use ElevenLabs' streaming TTS endpoint when ElevenLabs is the selected voice.tts/tts provider: playback starts from the returned audio stream instead of waiting for OpenClaw to download the whole audio file first. latencyTier maps to ElevenLabs' optimize_streaming_latency query parameter for models that accept it; OpenClaw omits that parameter for eleven_v3, which rejects it.
Speech-to-text
Use Scribe v2 for inbound audio attachments and short recorded voice segments:
{
tools: {
media: {
audio: {
enabled: true,
models: [{ provider: "elevenlabs", model: "scribe_v2" }],
},
},
},
}
OpenClaw sends multipart audio to ElevenLabs /v1/speech-to-text with model_id: "scribe_v2". Language hints map to language_code when present.
Streaming STT
The bundled elevenlabs plugin registers Scribe v2 Realtime for Voice Call and Google Meet agent-mode streaming transcription.
| Setting | Config path | Default |
|---|---|---|
| API key | plugins.entries.voice-call.config.streaming.providers.elevenlabs.apiKey | Falls back to ELEVENLABS_API_KEY / XI_API_KEY |
| Model | ...elevenlabs.modelId | scribe_v2_realtime |
| Audio format | ...elevenlabs.audioFormat | ulaw_8000 |
| Sample rate | ...elevenlabs.sampleRate | 8000 |
| Commit strategy | ...elevenlabs.commitStrategy | vad |
| Language | ...elevenlabs.languageCode | (unset) |
{
plugins: {
entries: {
"voice-call": {
config: {
streaming: {
enabled: true,
provider: "elevenlabs",
providers: {
elevenlabs: {
apiKey: "${ELEVENLABS_API_KEY}",
audioFormat: "ulaw_8000",
commitStrategy: "vad",
languageCode: "en",
},
},
},
},
},
},
},
}
Note
Voice Call receives Twilio media as 8 kHz G.711 u-law. The ElevenLabs realtime provider defaults to
ulaw_8000, so telephony frames can be forwarded without transcoding.
For Google Meet agent mode, set plugins.entries.google-meet.config.realtime.transcriptionProvider to "elevenlabs" and configure the same provider block under plugins.entries.google-meet.config.realtime.providers.elevenlabs.