The Hume [MCP](https://modelcontextprotocol.io) Server gives you the the ability to use [Octave Text to Speech](https://dev.hume.ai/docs/text-to-speech-tts/overview) from within an AI Chat, using an [MCP Client Application](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/clients) such as [Claude Desktop](https://claude.ai/download), [Cursor](https://cursor.sh/), or [Windsurf](https://www.windsurf.io/).
Octave TTS is the [first text-to-speech system built on LLM intelligence](https://www.hume.ai/blog/octave-the-first-text-to-speech-model-that-understands-what-its-saying). Octave is a speech-language model that understands what words mean in context, unlocking a new level of expressiveness and nuance. It *performs* the source text, it doesn't just pronounce it.
See [this video](https://www.loom.com/share/b9fb74163db44be28e9adcb61030e368) for a demonstration of using the MCP Server to narrate a scene from an audiobook.
## Quickstart
Click here to add to Cursor:
[](cursor://anysphere.cursor-deeplink/mcp/install?name=hume&config=eyJjb21tYW5kIjoibnB4IEBodW1lYWkvbWNwLXNlcnZlciIsImVudiI6eyJIVU1FX0FQSV9LRVkiOiIiLCJXT1JLRElSIjoiIn19)
Copy the following into your client's MCP configuration (for example, inside the `.mcpServers` property of `claude_desktop_config.json` for Claude Desktop, or of the `mcp.json` for Cursor).
```json
{
...
"hume": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"@humeai/mcp-server"
],
"env": {
"HUME_API_KEY": "",
}
}
}
```
## Prerequisites
- An account and API Key from [Hume AI](https://platform.hume.ai/)
- [Node.js](https://nodejs.org/)
- (optional) A command-line audio player
* [ffplay](https://ffmpeg.org/ffplay.html) from FFMpeg is recommended, but the server will attempt to detect and use any of several common players.
### Available Tools
The server exposes the following MCP tools:
- **tts**: Synthesize (and play) speech from text
- **play_previous_audio**: Replay previously generated audio
- **list_voices**: List available voices
- **save_voice**: Save a generated voice to your library
- **delete_voice**: Remove a voice from your library
### Command Line Options
```
Options:
--workdir, -w Set working directory for audio files (default: system temp)
--(no-)embedded-audio-mode Enable/disable embedded audio mode (default: false)
--help, -h Show this help message
```
## Evaluation Framework
The project includes a [comprehensive evaluation framework](src/evals/README.md) that measures how effectively AI agents can utilize the Hume TTS tools across various real-world scenarios.
## Environment Variables
- `HUME_API_KEY`: Your Hume AI API key (required)
- `WORKDIR`: Working directory for audio files (default: system temp directory + "/hume-tts")
- `EMBEDDED_AUDIO_MODE`: Enable/disable embedded audio mode (default: false, set to 'true' to enable)
- `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`: Required for running evaluations
