elevenlabs-sound-effects

Overview

What is elevenlabs-sound-effects?

elevenlabs-sound-effects is a command-line–driven skill that turns short text descriptions into fully rendered sound effects using ElevenLabs, orchestrated via the inference.sh CLI (infsh). It is designed for creators who need quick, royalty-free SFX without recording or manual sound design.

Behind the scenes, the skill calls the elevenlabs/sound-effects app on inference.sh. You provide a natural-language prompt (for example, "Thunder rumbling in the distance"), and the tool returns an audio file you can drop straight into your timeline, game engine, or podcast session.

Who is it for?

This skill is a good fit if you:

• Produce video content (YouTube, short-form, trailers, explainers) and need tailored sound effects on demand.
• Work in game development and want fast iterations on ambient sounds, UI blips, impacts, and foley.
• Host podcasts or audio dramas and need custom stings, atmospheres, or transitions.
• Cut film or cinematic pieces and want unique braams, risers, drones, and hits.
• Build apps or workflows where sound effects are generated programmatically through a CLI.

Key capabilities

• Text-to-sound-effect: Describe the sound in plain English and generate audio with one CLI command.
• Custom duration: Control clip length via the duration_seconds parameter (from 0.5 to 22 seconds) or let the model choose automatically.
• Prompt influence control: Use prompt_influence (0–1) to decide how literally the model should follow your description.
• Royalty-free output: Designed for practical use in videos, games, podcasts, films, presentations, and social media, subject to the ElevenLabs/inference.sh terms of use.
• CLI-friendly workflow: Integrates cleanly into shell scripts, build pipelines, or other tools that call infsh.

When is elevenlabs-sound-effects a good fit?

Use this skill when:

• You need lots of variations quickly without browsing stock libraries.
• You want fine-grained control over length (e.g., match a 3-second transition or a 10-second ambient bed).
• You work in a terminal-first or automated environment and prefer CLI or scripted workflows.

It may not be ideal if:

• You require precise reproduction of licensed or brand-specific sounds (e.g., a specific engine model, a trademarked notification sound).
• You need full DAW-style editing; this skill generates assets, but mixing, layering, and mastering happen in your usual audio or video tools.
• You are unable to install or use the inference.sh CLI.

How to Use

Prerequisites

Before using elevenlabs-sound-effects, you need:

1. inference.sh CLI (infsh) installed

   • The skill requires the inference.sh command-line tool.
   • Official installation instructions are available at:
     • https://raw.githubusercontent.com/inference-sh/skills/refs/heads/main/cli-install.md

2. Logged in to inference.sh

   • You must authenticate so the CLI can call the ElevenLabs sound effects app.

Once those are in place, you can add and use the skill from your agent environment and from the CLI.

Step 1: Install the skill into your agent environment

If you are using the Agent Skills ecosystem, add the skill from the shared skills repository:

npx skills add https://github.com/inferen-sh/skills --skill elevenlabs-sound-effects

This pulls the elevenlabs-sound-effects skill definition from tools/audio/elevenlabs-sound-effects in the inferen-sh/skills repository and makes it available to your agent or workflow.

After installation:

• Review SKILL.md in the skill folder for the authoritative runtime description.
• Note that the skill is allowed to use Bash(infsh *), indicating it will run infsh commands under the hood.

Step 2: Set up inference.sh CLI

If you have not already configured the CLI:

1. Install infsh using the instructions from the repository install guide.
2. Log in from your terminal:

infsh login

Follow the on-screen prompts to authenticate. Once logged in, infsh can invoke the ElevenLabs sound effects app.

Step 3: Generate your first sound effect

With the CLI ready, you can generate a sound effect directly:

infsh app run elevenlabs/sound-effects --input '{"text": "Thunder rumbling in the distance"}'

This command:

• Calls the elevenlabs/sound-effects app.
• Passes a JSON input object with your text prompt.
• Returns output JSON describing the generated asset (including the audio file location or URL, depending on your environment).

You can then download or reference the generated audio in your own tooling (video editor, DAW, game engine, or pipeline script).

Step 4: Control duration and prompt behavior

The ElevenLabs sound effects app supports three main parameters:

• text (string, required)

  • Description of the sound effect (max 1000 characters).
  • Example: "Cinematic braam, deep bass impact".

• duration_seconds (number, optional)

  • Target length of the audio in seconds.
  • Valid range: 0.5–22 seconds.
  • When omitted, the app chooses an appropriate length automatically.

• prompt_influence (number, optional)

  • Controls how literally the model interprets your text.
  • Range: 0–1, with a default of 0.3.
  • Lower values: more creative, looser interpretation.
  • Higher values: more strict adherence to the prompt wording.

Example with custom duration and prompt influence:

infsh app run elevenlabs/sound-effects \
  --input '{
    "text": "Futuristic UI confirmation beep with soft echo",
    "duration_seconds": 1.2,
    "prompt_influence": 0.6
  }'

Step 5: Use cinematic and ambient styles

The skill is well-suited for cinematic and ambient effects you can layer into film or video work. For example:

# Epic trailer hit
infsh app run elevenlabs/sound-effects --input '{"text": "Cinematic braam, deep bass impact"}'

# Suspense drone
infsh app run elevenlabs/sound-effects --input '{"text": "Low suspenseful drone with subtle pulsing"}'

These outputs are ideal for:

• Trailer stings and transitions
• Scene tension beds
• Title card impacts
• Background atmospheres for dialogue scenes

Step 6: Integrate into your audio or video workflow

Once you have generated sound effects with elevenlabs-sound-effects, you can:

• Import into video editors such as Adobe Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, DaVinci Resolve, or CapCut.
• Drop into audio tools/DAWs like Audacity, Reaper, Pro Tools, or Logic Pro for further mixing.
• Embed in game engines (Unity, Unreal, Godot) as SFX assets for actions, UI, ambience, and foley.
• Automate in build scripts by invoking infsh app run from shell scripts, CI pipelines, or custom developer tools.

Because the skill is CLI-first, it fits nicely into scripted pipelines that generate and organize sound assets per build, per scene, or per content batch.

FAQ

What does elevenlabs-sound-effects actually do under the hood?

elevenlabs-sound-effects is a skill definition that allows an agent or workflow to call the elevenlabs/sound-effects app via the inference.sh CLI. It accepts text prompts (plus optional duration_seconds and prompt_influence parameters) and returns AI-generated sound effect audio suitable for production use.

How do I install elevenlabs-sound-effects?

Install the skill into your agent environment with:

npx skills add https://github.com/inferen-sh/skills --skill elevenlabs-sound-effects

Then ensure the inference.sh CLI (infsh) is installed and that you have run infsh login so the skill can call the ElevenLabs sound effects app.

Do I need the inference.sh CLI to use this skill?

Yes. The SKILL.md configuration explicitly allows Bash(infsh *), meaning elevenlabs-sound-effects relies on the inference.sh CLI to perform the actual sound generation. Without infsh, the skill cannot call the underlying ElevenLabs app.

What parameters can I customize?

The ElevenLabs sound effects app supports:

• text: Required description of the sound effect (up to 1000 characters).
• duration_seconds: Optional clip length from 0.5 to 22 seconds.
• prompt_influence: Optional control from 0 to 1, default 0.3, determining how literally the prompt is followed.

These map directly to the JSON --input object you pass to infsh app run.

Can I generate very short UI sounds or longer ambiences?

Yes. With duration_seconds you can create:

• Short blips, clicks, or notifications at ~0.5–1.5 seconds.
• Medium-length transitions, risers, or impacts at ~2–7 seconds.
• Longer ambiences or drones up to 22 seconds.

If you skip duration_seconds, the app chooses a duration based on your prompt.

Is the audio royalty-free?

The skill description notes the output is intended as royalty-free audio for video production, game audio, podcasts, films, presentations, and social media. Always confirm the latest usage rights and licensing terms with ElevenLabs and inference.sh to ensure compliance for your specific project.

Can I use elevenlabs-sound-effects inside video or audio editing software directly?

The skill itself runs via the CLI and agent workflows, not as a plugin inside editors. The typical workflow is:

1. Use infsh app run elevenlabs/sound-effects to generate sound effects.
2. Save or download the resulting audio files.
3. Import those files into your editor or DAW.

Is elevenlabs-sound-effects suitable for real-time playback in apps or games?

The skill is optimized for asset generation, not low-latency real-time playback. It is best used to pre-generate SFX that you then package with your application or game. For live, in-session generation, you would need to design a workflow based on how quickly infsh can respond and whether that fits your UX requirements.

Where can I find more details about this skill?

After installing from the inferen-sh/skills repository, open the SKILL.md file in tools/audio/elevenlabs-sound-effects. It contains the canonical parameters, example commands, and any updates to usage guidance.