README.md

metadata

title: Scriptorium
emoji: 🏆
colorFrom: pink
colorTo: blue
sdk: gradio
sdk_version: 6.18.0
python_version: '3.12'
app_file: app.py
pinned: false
short_description: Convert your books to the spoken word
tags:
  - track:backyard-ai
  - sponsor:openai
  - sponsor:nvidia
  - sponsor:modal
  - badge:off-brand

Scriptorium

Scriptorium is a Gradio-based app for turning EPUB books into audiobooks. It provides a custom front-end for uploading and configuring a book, previewing voices, running long-form synthesis, and exporting the finished audiobook once generation completes.

Demo video

Open video directly

Social media post

https://bsky.app/profile/unlimiteddreamco.xyz/post/3moe744qpos2m

What it does

• Parses EPUB uploads into chapter text and metadata.
• Lets users select which chapters to include.
• Supports preview generation before committing to a full render.
• Runs full-book synthesis with progress updates and an export flow after completion.
• Exports finished renders from session-scoped storage.

Project structure

• app.py
  • Main Gradio server entrypoint and API registration.
• frontend/
  • Custom HTML/CSS/JS interface for the three-step app flow.
• backend/epub.py
  • EPUB validation, parsing, metadata extraction, and chapter shaping.
• backend/synthesis_service.py
  • Main orchestration layer that routes preview/render work to local or Modal-backed synthesis.
• backend/modal_client.py
  • Client for the optional remote Modal synthesis service.
• modal_app.py
  • Modal FastAPI worker app for remote preview and render jobs.
• backend/export.py
  • Audiobook packaging and export helpers.
• tests/
  • Backend and integration-oriented test coverage for parsing, synthesis routing, Modal client behavior, and API wiring.

Models and synthesis backends

Scriptorium currently supports these speech models:

• OmniVoice
  • Main model for presets, design-prompt voices, and voice cloning.
• Magpie TTS
  • Multilingual synthesis with speaker presets and optional text normalization.

It can run them through two execution backends:

• HF/local
  • Runs synthesis inside the Hugging Face Space runtime.
• Modal
  • Offloads synthesis to a separately deployed Modal worker.

The in-app voice presets such as The Archivist, The Novice, The Warden, and The Illuminator are themed preset layers on top of the underlying synthesis configuration.

Modal backend configuration

Set these as Hugging Face Space secrets if you want to use the optional Modal backend:

• SCRIPTORIUM_MODAL_BASE_URL
• SCRIPTORIUM_MODAL_AUTH_TOKEN

SCRIPTORIUM_MODAL_BASE_URL must be the deployed modal.run web endpoint, not the Modal dashboard URL under modal.com/apps/....