Which AI agents and environments are compatible with Readless?

Any agent that supports MCP servers: Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code with GitHub Copilot, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, Claude Desktop and others. The skill includes setup instructions for each of these.

Does Readless require an internet connection to generate voice updates?

Not necessarily. The default edge-tts backend uses Microsoft's free online voices and falls back to your OS voice when offline. Set tts_provider: system in ~/.readless/config.yaml to stay fully offline. OpenAI and ElevenLabs voices are optional and use your own key.

How is this different from just asking my agent to read its output aloud?

Asking an agent to read its output aloud gets you file paths, code and stack traces read out word by word. This skill gives the agent clear rules: when to speak (end of every turn, milestones on long tasks, and before it needs you), how long, and how to phrase it for the ear. The readless server adds the parts a prompt can't: real audio playback, a one-per-minute limit on status updates, interrupting speech for blockers, and a local log.

Can I control how often the agent speaks or set specific 'quiet times'?

Yes. In ~/.readless/config.yaml you can set quiet hours (summaries and status updates go silent; blocker questions still play), change the minimum gap between status updates, change voice and speed, or turn any of the three tools off.

Will I lose the detailed technical logs if I'm only listening to voice summaries?

Readless includes a local logging feature that saves every status update and technical detail to a JSONL file. This allows you to review the full technical history at your desk even if you only heard the brief summary while away.

Readless — Spoken Status Updates for Coding Agents

Q: What is the setup process like for adding this to my workflow?

Install uv, add the readless MCP server to your agent (one line: uvx --from readless-mcp readless), and restart the agent. If the server isn't installed yet, the skill walks your agent through these steps for your specific tool. Claude Code users can also install it as a plugin and run /readless:setup.

Hear when your agent finishes, how long tasks are going, and when it needs you, so you can walk away from the screen.

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Readless — Spoken Status Updates for Coding Agents

Example session with this skill installed

I'm heading out for lunch. Migrate the remaining API routes to the new auth middleware and run the test suite. Keep me posted by voice.

Read your context and instructions
Compiled the readless

Summary

The agent did the migration while you were away and kept you informed with short spoken updates. When it hit a real decision it asked out loud instead of waiting silently on screen.

What you heard (example session)

Time	Tool	Spoken aloud
0:40	`speak_status`	"Starting the route migration."
4:10	`speak_status`	"About half the routes migrated."
7:55	`speak_blocker`	"Two old admin routes have no tests. Delete them, or keep and migrate?"
	you reply: "keep and migrate"
12:30	`speak_status`	"Test suite running."
14:05	`speak_summary`	"Done. All twenty routes use the new auth middleware and the tests pass."

What was logged for later (not spoken)

speak_summary takes an optional details field that goes only to the local log, so specifics stay out of your ears but are there when you get back:

{"kind": "summary", "headline": "Done. All twenty routes use the new auth middleware and the tests pass.", "details": "Migrated 20 routes; kept and migrated the two legacy admin routes per user; full suite green."}

Why it sounds like this

Outcome first, short sentences. No file paths, code, hashes or stack traces read aloud.
Heartbeats only at milestones. The server plays at most one status per minute, so it never chatters.

Blockers interrupt. A question is spoken immediately, even over other speech or during quiet hours, so you never come back to an agent that stalled twenty minutes ago.

Your language. Write to the agent in Chinese and it speaks Chinese.

Next steps

Make it permanent: ask your agent to add the readless rules block to your CLAUDE.md or AGENTS.md.
Prefer an English voice? Set edge_voice: en-US-AriaNeural in ~/.readless/config.yaml and restart your agent.
Like it? Star the project on GitHub: https://github.com/hwjustin/readless

ask your agent to add the readless rules block to your CLAUDE.md

Connects securely to your tools. The creator never sees your data.

About this skill

⭐ Free and open source: github.com/hwjustin/readless. A star on GitHub is the best way to support it.

Long agent runs mean either staring at the terminal or coming back to find the agent stopped twenty minutes ago to ask you something. Readless lets your coding agent talk to you out loud.

What it does

The skill teaches your agent three habits, backed by the open-source readless MCP server:

End-of-turn summary. After every reply the agent says, in a sentence, what happened: "Fixed the session bug. All tests pass."
Heartbeats on long tasks. At milestones during work that takes more than a couple of minutes, a short spoken status, capped at one per minute.
Blockers you can't miss. When the agent needs a decision, or before anything destructive, it interrupts and asks out loud, even during quiet hours.

It also teaches the agent to write for the ear: outcome first, no file paths, code or stack traces read aloud, and the user's own language (Chinese and English work out of the box).

Setup is part of the skill

If the MCP server isn't installed yet, the skill walks your agent through setup for Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code Copilot, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI, Windsurf or any MCP client. It can optionally add a short rules block to your agent's instructions file so voice updates stay on every session.

Voice backends

edge-tts (default): free Microsoft voices, no API key, no signup. The default voice is a bilingual Chinese/English one; English speakers can switch to en-US-AriaNeural with one config line.
System voice: fully offline (macOS say, Linux espeak-ng, Windows SAPI).
OpenAI / ElevenLabs: your own key, entered through a separate terminal command so it never enters the chat.

What leaves your machine

Default backend: the spoken text is sent to Microsoft's online edge-tts service. It falls back to the local OS voice when offline.
Optional OpenAI / ElevenLabs backends send the spoken text to that provider with your own key.
tts_provider: system keeps everything local.
Every call is logged locally to ~/.readless/log.jsonl. Nothing is sent to the author or to any analytics service.
The skill itself is Markdown instructions only, no scripts.

How to use

Skills on Agensi run inside your AI agent. Copy the prompt, paste it into your agent, and it connects to Agensi and installs this skill for you. If a payment is needed, your agent shows it to you first.

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Requires

Astral

Readless (PyPI: Readless Mcp) MCP

uv (Python tool runner)

mpg123 or ffplay (Linux only)

Python

macOS

Listed3 days ago

Readless — Spoken Status Updates for Coding Agents