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captioned_speech endpoint is not returning the timestamps for non-english languages #331
Description
Describe the bug
The /dev/captioned_speech endpoint returns timestamps: null instead of word-level timestamps, even when using the latest Docker image that includes the merged streaming word timestamps feature from PR #173. Additionally, enabling streaming mode causes connection errors with chunked encoding issues.
Screenshots or console output
# Response (successful but no timestamps)
Response status: 200
Response headers: {'date': 'Wed, 11 Jun 2025 21:16:09 GMT', 'server': 'uvicorn', 'content-disposition': 'attachment; filename=speech.wav', 'cache-control': 'no-cache', 'content-length': '3794545', 'content-type': 'application/json'}
Saved audio file: chapter_30_tv1_es_ef_dora.wav (2845864 bytes)
Word-level timestamps: None # ← Should contain timestamp array
Duration: unknowns
# Same payload but with "stream": true
Error processing streaming response: ("Connection broken: InvalidChunkLength(got length b'', 0 bytes read)", InvalidChunkLength(got length b'', 0 bytes read))Branch / Deployment used
Branch: Latest master branch (post PR #173 merge)
Docker image: ghcr.io/remsky/kokoro-fastapi-cpu:latest
Deployment: Local Docker container
Docker command:
docker run -d --name kokoro-audio-temp -p 8880:8880 ghcr.io/remsky/kokoro-fastapi-cpu:latest
Image digest: sha256:fb639bcaa170ef653a78c385c8701e5f0c7f502f52fe944f2c7aa7febf8a8906
Operating System
Platform: macOS Darwin 24.4.0
Docker version: Latest (pulled image successfully on June 11, 2025)
Hardware: CPU-only (using cpu variant of the image)
Architecture: Apple Silicon (M-series)
Additional context
Audio generation works perfectly - files are created successfully with correct content and size
Only timestamps are affected - the timestamps field consistently returns null
PR #173 context: This issue occurs despite the "Streaming word timestamps" feature being merged on Feb 23, 2025
Endpoint behavior:
/dev/captioned_speech with stream: false → Audio works, timestamps null
/dev/captioned_speech with stream: true → Connection errors
/v1/audio/speech → Crashes server entirely
Expected behavior: Based on the GitHub documentation example, timestamps should contain an array of word-level timing data
Workaround: Currently using --no-timestamps flag to generate audio without timestamp data
Activity
hsavit1 commentedon Jun 11, 2025
I think the error might be due to the fact that im trying to generate timestamps for ef_dora - it's a spanish text. Can you generate timestamps for non-english texts?
hsavit1 commentedon Jun 11, 2025
im able to generate timestamps for english voices but not spanish voices
hsavit1 commentedon Jun 11, 2025
to get timestamped audio for spanish text, i had to do this
[-]captioned_speech endpoint is not returning the timestamps[/-][+]captioned_speech endpoint is not returning the timestamps for non-english languages[/+]fireblade2534 commentedon Jun 12, 2025
@hsavit1 This appears to be an issue with the kokoro library itself rather then kokoro-FastAPI.
RBEmerson970 commentedon Jun 12, 2025
Is there any sign of development of Kokoro itself?
hsavit1 commentedon Jun 12, 2025
yeah, also an issue to link to over there
lionel-rowe commentedon Nov 12, 2025
@hsavit1 How does this work? Surely the timestamps wouldn't line up if you used different voices, with the English ones pronouncing with English phonology?
fix: word timestamps for non-English (espeak) voices in captioned_spe…
chore(release): 0.6.0 [skip ci]