macOS Text-to-Speech Tool

A beautiful, interactive shell script that makes using macOS's built-in say command easier and more user-friendly.

Features

• Interactive prompts with colorful, easy-to-read interface
• Flexible input - speak text directly or read from a file
• Voice selection - choose from all available macOS voices
• Audio export - save speech as AIFF audio files
• Smart validation - checks for file existence, voice availability, and file overwrites
• Error handling - clear error messages and graceful failures
• Cross-platform paths - works with any file path, not just Desktop

Requirements

• macOS (uses the built-in say command)
• Shell with ANSI color support (most modern terminals)

Installation

1. Download the script:

curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/YOUR_USERNAME/say/main/say.sh

2. Make it executable:

chmod +x say.sh

3. (Optional) Move to your PATH for easy access:

sudo mv say.sh /usr/local/bin/say-interactive

Usage

Run the script:

./say.sh

The script will guide you through an interactive process:

Step 1: Input

Choose one of two options:

• Enter a message directly - type text to be spoken
• Use a file - press Enter and provide a file path

Step 2: Output

• Save to file - enter a filename to save as AIFF audio
• Just speak - press Enter to only speak without saving

Step 3: Voice Selection

• Browse the list of available voices
• Enter a voice name (e.g., "Samantha", "Alex", "Daniel")
• Press Enter to use the default voice (Samantha)

Step 4: Processing

The script will speak your text and/or save the audio file.

Examples

Speak a message with default voice

Please enter your message: Hello, world!
File to save to (blank for none): [Enter]
Which voice? (blank for default): [Enter]

Read from file and save audio

Please enter your message: [Enter]
Enter the path to input file: ~/Documents/speech.txt
File to save to (blank for none): my-speech
Which voice? (blank for default): Alex

Custom voice without saving

Please enter your message: This is a test
File to save to (blank for none): [Enter]
Which voice? (blank for default): Samantha

Features in Detail

Voice Validation

The script validates that your chosen voice exists. If you enter an invalid voice name, it falls back to the default (Samantha) with a warning.

File Validation

• Checks if input files exist and are readable
• Warns before overwriting existing output files
• Automatically adds .aiff extension to output files

Smart Error Handling

• Clear error messages with context
• Validates say command success
• Prevents common mistakes

Visual Feedback

• Color-coded messages (errors in red, success in green, warnings in yellow)
• Section headers for clear organization
• Status icons (✓, ⚠, ✗, ♪) for quick scanning
• Proper indentation and spacing

Available Voices

Run say -v ? in your terminal to see all available voices on your system. Common voices include:

• Alex (default US English male)
• Samantha (US English female)
• Daniel (UK English male)
• Fiona (UK English female)
• Victoria (US English female)
• And many more in different languages!

Troubleshooting

Colors not showing?

• Make sure your terminal supports ANSI colors
• Most modern terminals (Terminal.app, iTerm2, etc.) support this by default

Voice not found?

• Check the spelling matches exactly (case-sensitive)
• Run say -v ? to see available voices
• Some voices may need to be downloaded in System Preferences > Accessibility > Spoken Content

File permission errors?

• Ensure you have read permissions for input files
• Ensure you have write permissions for the output directory

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Feel free to:

• Report bugs
• Suggest new features
• Submit pull requests

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

Author

Created with attention to user experience and code quality.