Voice control with wake word, STT, and TTS

Arka supports hands-free use with a wake-word listener, multiple STT engines, and TTS replies.

Quick start

arka listen
# Say: "hey arka, what's the weather"

TTS replies are on by default (AGENT_SPEAK=1). Disable with AGENT_SPEAK=0.

Wake-word listener

The listener is off by default until you run arka listen. For shell autostart on login:

AGENT_WAKE_AUTO=1

Restart after config changes:

arka reload --listen

STT engines

Arka picks the best available engine automatically (STT=auto, LISTEN_ENGINE=auto):

Priority	Engine	Requires
1	AssemblyAI	API key
2	Sarvam	API key (Indian languages)
3	Groq	API key
4	Vosk	Local model (offline)

Override explicitly:

STT=groq
LISTEN_ENGINE=vosk

Install voice extras:

pip install "arka-agent[voice]"

TTS backends

Arka speaks replies using Edge TTS or Sarvam:

arka speak-lang hi-IN    # Hindi
arka speak-lang en-US    # English

Sarvam supports Indian languages. Edge TTS works offline for most locales.

Remote server

Use arka serve to run a remote STT/TTS server for phone-based interaction with your PC agent:

arka serve

Use Arka backend with an API key

Arka’s remote backend can also be called from your own app, script, or local frontend. The access token is the API key: set REMOTE_TOKEN, start the server, then pass the token as a bearer token.

# ~/.config/arka/.env
REMOTE_TOKEN=replace-with-a-long-random-token
REMOTE_HOST=127.0.0.1
REMOTE_PORT=8765

arka serve

Check that the backend is reachable:

curl -s http://127.0.0.1:8765/v1/health

Call the agent endpoint:

curl -s http://127.0.0.1:8765/v1/agent \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $REMOTE_TOKEN" \
  -d '{"text":"check repo health","remote_speak":false}'

Response shape:

{
  "ok": true,
  "exit_code": 0,
  "output": "...",
  "speak_text": ""
}

From JavaScript:

const response = await fetch("http://127.0.0.1:8765/v1/agent", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
    Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.REMOTE_TOKEN}`,
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    text: "summarize this repo",
    remote_speak: false,
  }),
});

const data = await response.json();
console.log(data.output);

Useful endpoints:

Endpoint	Method	Purpose
`/v1/health`	`GET`	Health check without running the agent
`/v1/agent`	`POST`	Run an Arka request from API clients
`/v1/transcribe`	`POST`	Transcribe uploaded WAV audio when local STT is configured
`/v1/handoff`	`GET`/`POST`	List or add handoff items

Configuration:

Variable	Default	Purpose
`REMOTE_TOKEN`	generated on first `arka serve` run	API key for `Authorization: Bearer ...` or `X-Arka-Token`
`REMOTE_HOST`	`0.0.0.0`	Bind address; use `127.0.0.1` for local-only access
`REMOTE_PORT`	`8765`	HTTP port
`REMOTE_TIMEOUT`	`600`	Max seconds for one agent request
`AGENT_SPEAK`	forced to `0` server-side	Prevents local TTS from playing on API requests

For a stricter inbound automation surface, use the webhook server instead:

WEBHOOK_ENABLED=1 WEBHOOK_TOKEN=$REMOTE_TOKEN arka webhook serve
curl -s http://127.0.0.1:8767/v1/inbox \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $REMOTE_TOKEN" \
  -d '{"text":"summarize this deployment event","source":"ci","chat_id":"deploy-42"}'

Keep the backend bound to 127.0.0.1 unless you are behind a trusted reverse proxy with HTTPS, rate limits, and logs. Do not put provider keys in request bodies; configure them in Arka’s .env on the server. Troubleshooting:

Symptom	Fix
`401 unauthorized`	Confirm the request uses `Authorization: Bearer $REMOTE_TOKEN` and that Arka loaded the same `.env` file
`missing text`	Send JSON with a non-empty `text` field
request hangs	Lower `REMOTE_TIMEOUT`, check `arka background processes`, and inspect the shell command Arka is running
works locally but not remotely	Keep `REMOTE_HOST=127.0.0.1` and expose it through a reverse proxy/tunnel that adds HTTPS and rate limits

Multi-turn conversation

Voice sessions maintain context across turns. Say “hey arka” followed by your request, then continue the conversation without repeating the wake word until the session times out.

Memory from voice

With MEMORY_AUTODETECT=1 (default), Arka automatically detects “remember that …” phrases from voice and chat:

hey arka, remember that I prefer Hindi TTS

Install fish shell and voice extras for the full voice experience. See the Quickstart for setup steps.

Routing & CLI

Agent & memory

Developer tools

Models & inference

Media & documents

Integrations

Finance & data

Workflows & productivity

More

Voice control with wake word, STT, and TTS

Quick start

Wake-word listener

STT engines

TTS backends

Remote server

Use Arka backend with an API key

Multi-turn conversation

Memory from voice

​Quick start

​Wake-word listener

​STT engines

​TTS backends

​Remote server

​Use Arka backend with an API key

​Multi-turn conversation

​Memory from voice

Quick start

Wake-word listener

STT engines

TTS backends

Remote server

Use Arka backend with an API key

Multi-turn conversation

Memory from voice