🎯 Useful Claude Customizations

October 1, 2025 · View on GitHub

A collection of powerful hooks and customizations for Claude Code to enhance your AI-assisted development workflow.

✨ Features

🔊 ElevenLabs Voice Summaries

Automatically hear natural voice summaries of completed tasks using ElevenLabs' text-to-speech API.

Smart Summarization: Intelligently extracts key actions from Claude's responses
Session Detection: Automatically detects and announces which terminal session completed the task
Voice Mapping: Each Terminal Keeper session gets its own unique voice for instant identification
Natural Voice: High-quality voice synthesis with 9 different voice options
Cross-Platform: Works on macOS, Windows, and Linux/WSL
Audio Archive: Saves all generated summaries for later playback

📋 Prerequisites

Claude Code installed and configured
Node.js 18+ and npm
tsx installed globally: npm install -g tsx
ElevenLabs account (free tier available)

🚀 Quick Start

Automated Installation (Recommended)

The installer provides detailed explanations for each step and supports both global and project-specific installations.

Get Your ElevenLabs API Key
- Sign up for a free account at ElevenLabs
- Go to your API Keys page
- Copy your API key

Set Environment Variable

# Add to your shell profile (~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, etc.)
export ELEVENLABS_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"

Run the Installer

# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/paulpreibisch/UsefulClaudeCustomizations.git
cd UsefulClaudeCustomizations

# Run the install script
./install.sh

Choose Installation Type
- Global: Press Enter when prompted - affects all Claude Code sessions
- Project-specific: Enter your project path - only affects that project
The installer will:
- Explain what tsx is and why it's needed
- Show what each step does and why
- Ask for confirmation before making changes
- Preserve your existing settings (creates backup)
- Install hooks in either ~/.claude/ or <project>/.claude/
Restart Claude Code
- The installer handles everything: hooks, settings, and directory setup
- Just restart Claude Code and you're ready to go!

Manual Installation

If you prefer to install manually, follow these steps:

1. Get Your ElevenLabs API Key

Sign up for a free account at ElevenLabs
Go to your API Keys page
Copy your API key

2. Set Environment Variable

# Add to your shell profile (~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, etc.)
export ELEVENLABS_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"

3. Install the Hook

# Create Claude hooks directory
mkdir -p ~/.claude/hooks

# Copy the ElevenLabs hook
cp hooks/stop-elevenlabs.ts ~/.claude/hooks/

# Make it executable
chmod +x ~/.claude/hooks/stop-elevenlabs.ts

4. Configure Claude Settings

Create or update ~/.claude/settings.json:

{
  "$schema": "https://json.schemastore.org/claude-code-settings.json",
  "hooks": {
    "Stop": [
      {
        "hooks": [
          {
            "type": "command",
            "command": "ELEVENLABS_API_KEY=${ELEVENLABS_API_KEY} npx tsx ~/.claude/hooks/stop-elevenlabs.ts"
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

5. Restart Claude Code

Important: Restart Claude Code for the hooks to take effect.

6. Activate the Output Style

After restarting, activate the marker-based TTS system:

/output-style voice-summaries-enhanced

This enables automatic TTS markers in Claude's responses. Claude will now add invisible markers that trigger voice summaries for acknowledgements and task completions.

🎭 Customization

Change Voice

Edit the voiceId in the hook file. You can use either the default professional voices or video game character voices:

Professional Voices (Original)

const CONFIG = {
  voiceId: 'EXAVITQu4vr4xnSDxMaL', // Rachel - Professional newsreader (default)
  // voiceId: 'MF3mGyEYCl7XYWbV9V6O', // Emily - Bubbly teenager
  // voiceId: 'TxGEqnHWrfWFTfGW9XjX', // Josh - Energetic young adult (male)
  // voiceId: 'JBFqnCBsd6RMkjVDRZzb', // George - Calm narrator (male)
  // voiceId: 'onwK4e9ZLuTAKqWW03F9', // Daniel - British accent (male)
  // voiceId: 'pNInz6obpgDQGcFmaJgB', // Adam - Friendly guy next door (male)
  // voiceId: 'ErXwobaYiN019PkySvjV', // Antoni - Well-rounded (male)
  // voiceId: 'oWAxZDx7w5VEj9dCyTzz', // Grace - Soft spoken (female)
  // voiceId: 'flq6f7yk4E4fJM5XTYuZ', // Michael (male)
};

Character Voices Collection

Voice Name	Voice ID	Share Link	Description
Northern Terry	`wo6udizrrtpIxWGp2qJk`	🔗 Share	Eccentric & husky character from the North of England
Grandpa Spuds Oxley	`NOpBlnGInO9m6vDvFkFC`	🔗 Share	A friendly grandpa who knows how to enthrall his audience
Ms. Walker	`DLsHlh26Ugcm6ELvS0qi`	🔗 Share	Warm & caring Southern mom
Ralf Eisend	`A9evEp8yGjv4c3WsIKuY`	🔗 Share	International audiobook speaker with clear and deep voice
Amy	`bhJUNIXWQQ94l8eI2VUf`	🔗 Share	Young and natural, relaxed and friendly tone
Michael	`U1Vk2oyatMdYs096Ety7`	🔗 Share	Deep and controlled British urban voice
Jessica Anne Bogart	`flHkNRp1BlvT73UL6gyz`	🔗 Share	The Villain! Wickedly eloquent, calculating, cruel and calm
Aria	`TC0Zp7WVFzhA8zpTlRqV`	🔗 Share	Sexy female villain voice like dark velvet
Lutz Laugh	`9yzdeviXkFddZ4Oz8Mok`	🔗 Share	Chuckling and giggly character voice
Dr. Von Fusion	`yjJ45q8TVCrtMhEKurxY`	🔗 Share	Energetic, quirky voice ideal for eccentric characters
Matthew Schmitz	`0SpgpJ4D3MpHCiWdyTg3`	🔗 Share	Elitist, arrogant tyrant voiced by professional narrator
Demon Monster	`vfaqCOvlrKi4Zp7C2IAm`	🔗 Share	Deep demon voice perfect for horror and fantasy
Cowboy Bob	`KTPVrSVAEUSJRClDzBw7`	🔗 Share	Rich voice with rugged warmth, perfect for tales
Drill Sergeant	`DGzg6RaUqxGRTHSBjfgF`	🔗 Share	Harsh, barking tone with relentless authority

Browse more voices at ElevenLabs Voice Library.

Adjust Voice Settings

voiceSettings: {
  stability: 0.5,        // 0-1: Higher = more consistent
  similarity_boost: 0.75, // 0-1: Higher = more expressive
  style: 0.0,            // 0-1: Higher = more emotional
  use_speaker_boost: true // Enhance voice quality
}

Summary Length

maxSummaryLength: 150  // Adjust character limit

🖥️ Terminal Session Detection

The hook automatically detects which terminal session is completing tasks, perfect for multi-session workflows:

Automatic Detection

VS Code Terminal Keeper: Reads .vscode/sessions.json to identify the current session
Multiple Methods: Uses CWD matching, environment variables, and smart fallbacks
Session Announcements: Voice says "Session [Name]: [Summary]"

Manual Session Override

Set the session name manually:

export CLAUDE_SESSION_NAME="My Custom Session"

Session 1: yOsUZuYik0dKCynjfgaE - Your custom voice
Session 2: EXAVITQu4vr4xnSDxMaL - Rachel (professional newsreader)
Session 3: JBFqnCBsd6RMkjVDRZzb - George (calm narrator)
Session 4: MF3mGyEYCl7XYWbV9V6O - Emily (bubbly teenager)
Session 5: TxGEqnHWrfWFTfGW9XjX - Josh (energetic young adult)
TypeScript: onwK4e9ZLuTAKqWW03F9 - Daniel (British accent)
Frontend: pNInz6obpgDQGcFmaJgB - Adam (friendly guy next door)
Backend: ErXwobaYiN019PkySvjV - Antoni (well-rounded)
Testing: oWAxZDx7w5VEj9dCyTzz - Grace (soft-spoken)

See Voice Mapping Guide for complete details.

This helps you instantly identify which Claude instance completed the task just by the voice!

User-Specified Voice Override (New!)

You can now specify a voice for individual commands using markers in your output style:

Example with voice override:

User: "Fix the bug using Aria voice"
Claude response: I'll fix the bug.<!-- ACKNOWLEDGE: Fixing bug [VOICE: Aria] -->
...work completed...
Claude response: Fixed successfully.<!-- TASK_COMPLETE: Fixed bug [VOICE: Aria] -->

Supported voice names (from ElevenLabs Character Voices):

Northern Terry, Grandpa Spuds Oxley, Ms. Walker, Ralf Eisend, Amy, Michael
Jessica Anne Bogart, Aria, Lutz Laugh, Dr. Von Fusion, Matthew Schmitz
Demon Monster, Cowboy Bob, Drill Sergeant

See the voice-summaries-enhanced.md output style and Voice Override Feature Guide for full documentation.

💰 Pricing & Usage

Free Tier

10,000 characters/month
~130-200 task summaries
Perfect for testing

Paid Plans

Starter ($5/month): 30,000 characters (~400-600 summaries)
Creator ($11/month): 100,000 characters (~1,300-2,000 summaries)
Pro ($82.50/month): 500,000 characters (~6,500-10,000 summaries)

🔧 Project-Specific Setup

The installer now supports project-specific installations! When you run ./install.sh, you'll be prompted:

Enter project directory path (or press Enter for global installation):

Global Installation (press Enter):

Installs to ~/.claude/
Affects all Claude Code sessions
Use when you want voice announcements everywhere

Project-Specific Installation (enter path):

Installs to <your-project>/.claude/
Only affects that specific project
Use when you want different voices per project
Perfect for team projects with shared configurations

The installer handles everything automatically:

Creates .claude/hooks/ directory in your project
Copies the voice hook to your project
Creates/updates .claude/settings.json in your project
Creates .claude/audio/ for audio files
Preserves any existing project settings

📁 File Structure

UsefulClaudeCustomizations/
├── hooks/
│   └── stop-elevenlabs.ts    # Main ElevenLabs voice hook
├── examples/
│   ├── settings.json          # Example Claude settings
│   └── .mcp.json             # Example MCP configuration
├── docs/
│   └── SETUP.md              # Detailed setup guide
└── README.md                 # This file

🧪 Testing

Test the hook directly:

echo '{"response":"Created test file successfully"}' | \
  ELEVENLABS_API_KEY=your-key npx tsx ~/.claude/hooks/stop-elevenlabs.ts

You should hear "Created test file successfully" spoken aloud.

🔍 Troubleshooting

No Audio Playing

Check API Key: Ensure ELEVENLABS_API_KEY is set
Verify Credits: Check remaining credits at ElevenLabs Dashboard

Test Speakers:

# Linux/WSL
paplay /usr/share/sounds/ubuntu/stereo/bell.ogg

# macOS
afplay /System/Library/Sounds/Glass.aiff

View Generated Audio

ls -la ~/.claude/audio/

Check Logs

The hook outputs status messages in Claude Code's console:

✅ Success messages
❌ Error messages
📝 Task summaries
🔍 Extracted summaries

🚫 Disable Temporarily

To disable without removing:

Comment out the Stop hook in settings.json
Restart Claude Code

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Feel free to:

Add new hooks
Improve summarization logic
Add support for other TTS services
Share your customizations

📄 License

MIT License - See LICENSE file for details.

🙏 Credits

ElevenLabs for the amazing TTS API
Claude Code team for the hooks system
Community contributors

🔗 Resources

Made with ❤️ for the Claude Code community