Text-to-Speech (Reader + Editor)

Social Archiver includes built-in Text-to-Speech (TTS) for both Timeline Reader Mode and regular Markdown editing.

Overview

TTS is available in two places:

1. Reader Mode TTS: Read archived posts aloud inside Timeline Reader Mode
2. Editor TTS: Read any Markdown document (full doc or current selection)

Requirements

• TTS works with one provider at a time: Azure Cloud or Supertonic (on-device)
• Azure Cloud requires login to your Social Archiver account
• Supertonic is desktop-only and must be installed first

Default behavior

If Supertonic is selected but not installed, Social Archiver falls back to Azure automatically when you're logged in.

Provider Options

Azure Cloud

• Uses Social Archiver backend + Azure Speech
• No local model installation needed
• Login required
• Broad language/voice coverage

Supertonic (On-device)

• Runs locally on your machine (desktop only)
• Uses built-in installer in plugin settings
• Best when you prefer local synthesis without cloud speech processing
• Supports: en, ko, es, pt, fr

Supertonic Installer Guide

Open Settings → Social Archiver → Text-to-Speech and set provider to Supertonic.

If Supertonic is not installed, you'll see an install panel:

1. Click Install
2. Wait for staged progress messages (runtime → models → voices → verify)
3. After completion, restart playback from Reader or Editor TTS

What the installer does:

• Installs runtime dependencies automatically
• Downloads ONNX models and voice style files
• Verifies installation integrity
• Installs to: ~/.social-archiver/tts/

Prerequisites

Supertonic installer checks for node and npm in your PATH. If missing, installation fails with a setup error.

After installation, settings also provide:

• Uninstall button
• Synthesis quality (fast, balanced, high)
• Current install path display

Reader Mode TTS

In Timeline Reader Mode, use the speaker button in the header to start reading.

Mini controller features:

• Play/pause
• Previous/next sentence
• Speed change
• Stop
• Progress indicator

Keyboard shortcuts:

Shortcut	Action
P	Play / pause
Shift + Left	Previous sentence
Shift + Right	Next sentence
[	Decrease speed
]	Increase speed
Esc	Stop reading

Editor TTS

Command Palette includes:

• Read document aloud (TTS)
• Read selection aloud (TTS)
• Pause / Resume reading (TTS)
• Stop reading (TTS)

There is also an editor context menu item:

• Read selection aloud

TTS Settings

Configure in Settings → Social Archiver → Text-to-Speech:

Setting	Description
TTS Provider	Azure Cloud or Supertonic
Speech speed	0.5x to 2.0x
Highlight current sentence	Highlight sentence while reading in Reader Mode
Auto-scroll to sentence	Keep current sentence visible while reading
Language	Auto-detect or force language
Synthesis quality	Supertonic-only quality/speed tradeoff

Language Behavior

• Supertonic supports a limited language set (en/ko/es/pt/fr)
• Azure supports a wider voice catalog
• When Supertonic is primary and Azure is available, unsupported languages can fall back to Azure

Troubleshooting

TTS does not start

• Check provider configuration in settings
• If using Azure, confirm you are logged in
• If using Supertonic, confirm it is installed

Supertonic install failed

• Verify node --version and npm --version
• Retry install from settings
• On Windows, install Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable if runtime load errors appear

Reader button appears but no audio

• Try switching provider (Supertonic ↔ Azure)
• Reset language override to auto-detect
• Stop and restart reading

Privacy

• Supertonic: speech synthesis runs locally on your machine
• Azure: synthesis is requested through your authenticated Social Archiver backend session