Telnyx Text-to-Speech - Python

Installation

pip install telnyx

Setup

import os
from telnyx import Telnyx

client = Telnyx(
    api_key=os.environ.get("TELNYX_API_KEY"),
)

All examples below assume client is already initialized as shown above.

Error Handling

All API calls can fail with network errors, rate limits (429), validation errors (422), or authentication errors (401). Always handle errors in production code:

import telnyx

try:
    response = client.text_to_speech.generate(text="Hello world")
except telnyx.APIConnectionError:
    print("Network error — check connectivity and retry")
except telnyx.RateLimitError:
    import time
    time.sleep(1)
except telnyx.APIStatusError as e:
    print(f"API error {e.status_code}: {e.message}")

Common error codes: 401 invalid API key, 403 insufficient permissions, 404 resource not found, 422 validation error, 429 rate limited.

Core Tasks

Generate speech from text

Generate synthesized speech audio from text input. Returns audio as base64-encoded JSON (base64output) or a binary audio stream (binaryoutput).

POST /text-to-speech/speech

# Default Telnyx provider
response = client.text_to_speech.generate(
    text="Hello from Telnyx!",
)
print(response.base64_audio)

# AWS provider with specific voice
response = client.text_to_speech.generate(
    text="Hello from Telnyx!",
    provider="aws",
    voice="en-US-Standard-A",
    output_type="base64_output",
)
print(response.base64_audio)

# SSML input
response = client.text_to_speech.generate(
    text="<speak>Hello <break time='1s'/> world</speak>",
    text_type="ssml",
)
print(response.base64_audio)

# ElevenLabs provider
response = client.text_to_speech.generate(
    text="Hello from Telnyx!",
    provider="elevenlabs",
    voice="21m00Tcm4TlvDq8ikWAM",
    output_type="base64_output",
)
print(response.base64_audio)

Primary response fields:

• response.base64audio — Base64-encoded audio data (when outputtype is base64_output)
• Binary stream (when outputtype is binaryoutput)

List available voices

Retrieve a list of available voices from one or all TTS providers.

GET /text-to-speech/voices

# List all voices across all providers
response = client.text_to_speech.list_voices()
for voice in response.voices:
    print(f"{voice['name']} — {voice['provider']} ({voice['language']})")

# List only AWS voices
response = client.text_to_speech.list_voices(provider="aws")
for voice in response.voices:
    print(f"{voice['name']} — {voice['language']}")

Primary response fields:

• response.voices — Array of voice objects with name, provider, language, voice_id

CLI Usage

The Telnyx Agent CLI provides composite commands for TTS:

# Generate speech
telnyx-agent tts --text "Hello world" --json

# Generate with specific provider and voice
telnyx-agent tts --text "Hello world" --provider aws --voice en-US-Standard-A --json

# List available voices
telnyx-agent tts-voices --json

# Filter voices by provider
telnyx-agent tts-voices --provider elevenlabs --json

Important Notes

• Audio format: When outputtype is base64output, decode the base64 string to get the audio bytes. When binary_output, the response is a raw audio stream.
• SSML: Use text_type: "ssml" to send SSML markup for fine-grained control over pronunciation, pauses, and emphasis.
• Provider-specific options: Each provider (aws, azure, elevenlabs, etc.) has its own object for provider-specific configuration (e.g., AWS engine type, ElevenLabs stability).
• Caching: Responses are cached by default. Use disable_cache: true to bypass.
• xAI: The xAI provider is available via the CLI (--provider xai) and supports voice listing.