diff --git a/packages/coding-agent/src/cli.ts b/packages/coding-agent/src/cli.ts
index 22e2874cc..5eb3155ec 100755
--- a/packages/coding-agent/src/cli.ts
+++ b/packages/coding-agent/src/cli.ts
@@ -173,14 +173,20 @@ async function runWorkerEntrypoint(arg: string | undefined): Promise<boolean> {
  * worker is idle, and hard-kills the process on parent `disconnect`.
  */
 async function runIpcSubprocessWorker<In, Out>(
-	start: (transport: { send(message: Out): void; onMessage(handler: (message: In) => void): () => void }) => void,
+	start: (transport: {
+		send(message: Out): void;
+		sendAndFlush(message: Out): Promise<void>;
+		onMessage(handler: (message: In) => void): () => void;
+	}) => void,
 ): Promise<void> {
 	const { promise: shuttingDown, resolve: shutdown } = Promise.withResolvers<void>();
+	type IpcSend = (this: NodeJS.Process, message: unknown, callback?: (error: Error | null) => void) => boolean;
+	// `process.send` only exists when spawned with an IPC channel; the parent
+	// always spawns us that way. If it's missing, the parent vanished and
+	// there's no one to talk to.
+	const ipcSend = (): IpcSend | undefined => (process as NodeJS.Process & { send?: IpcSend }).send;
 	const send = (message: Out): void => {
-		// `process.send` only exists when spawned with an IPC channel; the
-		// parent always spawns us that way. If it's missing, the parent
-		// vanished and there's no one to talk to.
-		const sender = (process as NodeJS.Process & { send?: (m: unknown) => boolean }).send;
+		const sender = ipcSend();
 		if (!sender) {
 			shutdown();
 			return;
@@ -191,8 +197,24 @@ async function runIpcSubprocessWorker<In, Out>(
 			shutdown();
 		}
 	};
+	const sendAndFlush = (message: Out): Promise<void> => {
+		const sender = ipcSend();
+		if (!sender) {
+			shutdown();
+			return Promise.resolve();
+		}
+		const { promise, resolve } = Promise.withResolvers<void>();
+		try {
+			sender.call(process, message, () => resolve());
+		} catch {
+			shutdown();
+			resolve();
+		}
+		return promise;
+	};
 	start({
 		send,
+		sendAndFlush,
 		onMessage(handler) {
 			const wrap = (data: unknown): void => handler(data as In);
 			process.on("message", wrap);
diff --git a/packages/coding-agent/src/tts/index.ts b/packages/coding-agent/src/tts/index.ts
index f33fb795d..7f114f9a2 100644
--- a/packages/coding-agent/src/tts/index.ts
+++ b/packages/coding-agent/src/tts/index.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 export * from "./downloader";
 export * from "./models";
 export * from "./runtime";
+export * from "./speakable";
 export * from "./tts-client";
 export * from "./tts-protocol";
 export * from "./tts-worker";
diff --git a/packages/coding-agent/src/tts/speakable.ts b/packages/coding-agent/src/tts/speakable.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..47ad3d77f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/coding-agent/src/tts/speakable.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,382 @@
+/**
+ * Streaming markdown → speakable-segment transform for assistant speech.
+ *
+ * Sits between the assistant's raw streaming text deltas and the TTS engine,
+ * deciding both *what* is worth speaking and *when* a piece of text is ready
+ * to synthesize. Three passes:
+ *
+ * 1. Block pass (per character, stateful): drops fenced code blocks and table
+ *    rows, strips heading/bullet/blockquote markers (numbered-list markers are
+ *    spoken as "1, …"), and turns newlines into hard segment breaks.
+ * 2. Segmentation (stateful): emits a segment the moment a sentence boundary
+ *    appears — no next-sentence confirmation, which is what made the previous
+ *    engine-side splitter stall a full sentence behind generation. The first
+ *    segment cuts early at a clause boundary for fast time-to-first-audio, and
+ *    over-long unpunctuated runs are force-split so no segment exceeds the
+ *    synthesizer's input budget.
+ * 3. Inline normalization (per segment): markdown links speak their label,
+ *    bare URLs speak their host, inline-code ticks and emphasis markers are
+ *    stripped, multi-directory file paths collapse to their basename, HTML
+ *    tags are dropped, and whitespace is collapsed. Segments with no letters
+ *    or digits left are not spoken at all.
+ *
+ * Pure and synchronous — the vocalizer owns timers (idle flush) and the
+ * session lifecycle, so this class stays trivially unit-testable.
+ */
+
+/** Minimum length before the very first segment may cut at a sentence boundary. */
+const FIRST_SEGMENT_MIN = 12;
+/** Buffer length past which the first segment may cut at a clause boundary instead. */
+const FIRST_CLAUSE_MIN = 40;
+/** Hard cap for the first segment: force a word cut for fast time-to-first-audio. */
+const FIRST_FORCED_MAX = 140;
+/** Minimum segment length once speech has started (merges stubby sentences). */
+const MIN_SEGMENT = 24;
+/**
+ * Mid-stream soft cut: once this much unpunctuated text is buffered, split at
+ * a clause boundary instead of waiting for the sentence to end. Long sentences
+ * synthesize as clause-sized pieces, keeping the playback pipeline fed (a
+ * 280-char segment costs ~6s of synthesis — enough to drain the player dry).
+ */
+const SOFT_CLAUSE_LEN = 160;
+/**
+ * Hard cap per segment. Kokoro's `generate()` truncates past ~510 phoneme
+ * tokens rather than splitting, so every emission path must stay well under it.
+ */
+const MAX_SEGMENT = 280;
+
+/** Sentence-ending punctuation, optional closers, then whitespace. */
+const SENTENCE_BOUNDARY_RE = /[.!?…]+[)\]"'»”’]*\s/g;
+/** Clause punctuation followed by whitespace — early-cut and force-split points. */
+const CLAUSE_BOUNDARY_RE = /[,;:—–]\s/g;
+/** Abbreviations whose trailing dot is not a sentence boundary. */
+const ABBREVIATION_RE = /(?:^|\s)(?:e\.g|i\.e|etc|vs|Mr|Mrs|Ms|Dr|St|No)\.$/i;
+
+/** Line-start prefixes that may still grow into a block marker. */
+const UNDECIDED_PREFIX_RE = /^(?:#{1,6}|[-*+]|-{2,}|\*{2,}|_{2,}|\d{1,3}|\d{1,3}[.)]|>+|`{1,2}|~{1,2})$/;
+/** A whole line that is a horizontal rule (or setext underline) — silence. */
+const HR_LINE_RE = /^(?:-{3,}|\*{3,}|_{3,})\s*$/;
+
+const IMAGE_RE = /!\[([^\]]*)\]\(([^()]*)\)/g;
+const LINK_RE = /\[([^\]]+)\]\(([^()]*)\)/g;
+const AUTOLINK_RE = /<(https?:\/\/[^\s>]+)>/g;
+const BARE_URL_RE = /\bhttps?:\/\/[^\s<>()"'\]]+|\bwww\.[\w-]+(?:\.[\w-]+)+[^\s<>()"'\]]*/g;
+const INLINE_CODE_RE = /`{1,2}([^`]+)`{1,2}/g;
+const BOLD_STRIKE_RE = /\*\*|__|~~/g;
+const EMPHASIS_ASTERISK_RE = /\*(?=\S)|(?<=\S)\*/g;
+const EMPHASIS_UNDERSCORE_RE = /(^|\s)_+|_+(?=\s|$)/g;
+const HTML_TAG_RE = /<\/?[a-zA-Z][^<>]*>/g;
+const HR_INLINE_RE = /(^|\s)[-*_]{3,}(?=\s|$)/g;
+const PATH_RE = /(^|[\s("'`])((?:~|\.{1,2})?\/?[\w.@+-]+(?:\/[\w.@+-]+){2,}\/?)/g;
+const HAS_SPEAKABLE_RE = /[\p{L}\p{N}]/u;
+
+/** "https://github.com/foo/bar?x#y" → "github.com". */
+function speakableUrl(url: string): string {
+	return url
+		.replace(/^[a-z][\w+.-]*:\/\//i, "")
+		.replace(/^www\./i, "")
+		.replace(/[/?#].*$/, "");
+}
+
+/**
+ * Collapse one raw segment to its speakable form; empty string when nothing
+ * in it is worth vocalizing (pure markup, URLs-only, whitespace).
+ */
+function normalizeSpeakable(raw: string): string {
+	const spoken = raw
+		.replace(IMAGE_RE, "$1")
+		.replace(LINK_RE, "$1")
+		.replace(AUTOLINK_RE, (_match, url: string) => speakableUrl(url))
+		.replace(BARE_URL_RE, match => speakableUrl(match))
+		.replace(INLINE_CODE_RE, "$1")
+		.replace(BOLD_STRIKE_RE, "")
+		.replace(EMPHASIS_ASTERISK_RE, "")
+		.replace(EMPHASIS_UNDERSCORE_RE, "$1")
+		.replace(HTML_TAG_RE, " ")
+		.replace(HR_INLINE_RE, "$1")
+		.replace(PATH_RE, (_match, lead: string, path: string) => {
+			// "packages/coding-agent/src/tts/vocalizer.ts" → "vocalizer.ts".
+			const parts = path.split("/").filter(part => part.length > 0);
+			return lead + (parts[parts.length - 1] ?? path);
+		})
+		.replace(/\s+/g, " ")
+		.trim();
+	return HAS_SPEAKABLE_RE.test(spoken) ? spoken : "";
+}
+
+/**
+ * Earliest sentence boundary at or past `min` chars; -1 when none. Skips cuts
+ * that would strand an unclosed inline-code span or split an abbreviation.
+ */
+function findSentenceCut(text: string, min: number): number {
+	SENTENCE_BOUNDARY_RE.lastIndex = 0;
+	for (let match = SENTENCE_BOUNDARY_RE.exec(text); match; match = SENTENCE_BOUNDARY_RE.exec(text)) {
+		const cut = match.index + match[0].length;
+		if (cut < min) continue;
+		const head = text.slice(0, cut);
+		if (ABBREVIATION_RE.test(head.trimEnd())) continue;
+		if ((head.match(/`/g)?.length ?? 0) % 2 !== 0) continue;
+		return cut;
+	}
+	return -1;
+}
+
+/** Earliest clause boundary at or past `min` chars; -1 when none. */
+function findClauseCut(text: string, min: number): number {
+	CLAUSE_BOUNDARY_RE.lastIndex = 0;
+	for (let match = CLAUSE_BOUNDARY_RE.exec(text); match; match = CLAUSE_BOUNDARY_RE.exec(text)) {
+		const cut = match.index + match[0].length;
+		if (cut >= min) return cut;
+	}
+	return -1;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Latest clause boundary in `[min, max]` chars; -1 when none. Keeps soft-cut
+ * segments grouped near the target length instead of shaving off the earliest
+ * stale clause.
+ */
+function findLastClauseCut(text: string, min: number, max: number): number {
+	CLAUSE_BOUNDARY_RE.lastIndex = 0;
+	let best = -1;
+	for (let match = CLAUSE_BOUNDARY_RE.exec(text); match; match = CLAUSE_BOUNDARY_RE.exec(text)) {
+		const cut = match.index + match[0].length;
+		if (cut > max) break;
+		if (cut >= min) best = cut;
+	}
+	return best;
+}
+
+/** Word-level cut for text with no usable punctuation: last space at or before `max`. */
+function findForcedCut(text: string, max: number): number {
+	const space = text.lastIndexOf(" ", max);
+	return space > 0 ? space + 1 : Math.min(max, text.length);
+}
+
+/** How a line-start prefix resolved. */
+type PrefixDecision =
+	| { kind: "undecided" }
+	| { kind: "prose"; text: string }
+	| { kind: "marker"; spoken: string }
+	| { kind: "swallow" }
+	| { kind: "fence"; fence: string };
+
+function classifyPrefix(prefix: string): PrefixDecision {
+	if (prefix === "|") return { kind: "swallow" };
+	if (/^(?:`{3}|~{3})/.test(prefix)) return { kind: "fence", fence: prefix.slice(0, 3) };
+	if (/^#{1,6}[ \t]/.test(prefix)) return { kind: "marker", spoken: "" };
+	if (/^[-*+][ \t]/.test(prefix)) return { kind: "marker", spoken: "" };
+	const numbered = /^(\d{1,3})[.)][ \t]/.exec(prefix);
+	if (numbered) return { kind: "marker", spoken: `${numbered[1]}, ` };
+	if (/^>+/.test(prefix) && !/^>+$/.test(prefix)) {
+		return { kind: "prose", text: prefix.replace(/^>+[ \t]?/, "") };
+	}
+	if (UNDECIDED_PREFIX_RE.test(prefix)) return { kind: "undecided" };
+	return { kind: "prose", text: prefix };
+}
+
+/** Block-pass state: where the current character lands. */
+type BlockMode = "linestart" | "prose" | "swallow" | "code";
+
+/**
+ * One per utterance. Feed raw assistant deltas through {@link push}; each call
+ * returns the segments that became ready to speak. {@link flush} drains the
+ * remainder at message end; {@link flushIdle} drains it when generation stalls
+ * mid-sentence so speech doesn't sit on buffered text through a tool call.
+ */
+export class SpeakableStream {
+	#mode: BlockMode = "linestart";
+	/** Pending line-start characters while the block marker is still ambiguous. */
+	#prefix = "";
+	/** Opening fence of the code block being swallowed (``` or ~~~). */
+	#fence = "";
+	/** First characters of the current line inside a code block (fence-close probe). */
+	#codeLine = "";
+	/** Mode to enter after the current swallowed line ends (code for an opening fence). */
+	#afterSwallow: BlockMode = "linestart";
+	/** Prose accumulator the segmenter cuts from. */
+	#buf = "";
+	/** Whether anything has been emitted yet (enables the fast first segment). */
+	#spoke = false;
+
+	/** Consume a raw delta; returns segments now ready to speak, in order. */
+	push(delta: string): string[] {
+		const out: string[] = [];
+		for (const ch of delta) this.#consume(ch, out);
+		this.#extract(out);
+		return out;
+	}
+
+	/** Message end: drain everything left, including a trailing partial sentence. */
+	flush(): string[] {
+		const out: string[] = [];
+		if (this.#mode === "linestart" && this.#prefix.length > 0 && !HR_LINE_RE.test(this.#prefix)) {
+			this.#buf += this.#prefix;
+		}
+		this.#prefix = "";
+		this.#mode = "linestart";
+		this.#drain(out);
+		return out;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Generation stalled (tool call, thinking block): speak what we have rather
+	 * than sit silent on buffered text. Keeps block state so the stream resumes
+	 * afterwards, and refuses stubby mid-sentence fragments — the buffer must be
+	 * a complete thought (trailing sentence punctuation) or at least
+	 * {@link MIN_SEGMENT} long, so a stall right after "The" stays silent
+	 * instead of turning into choppy one-word speech.
+	 */
+	flushIdle(): string[] {
+		const out: string[] = [];
+		const pending = this.#buf.trimEnd();
+		const completeThought = /[.!?…][)\]"'»”’]*$/.test(pending);
+		if (!completeThought && pending.length < MIN_SEGMENT) return out;
+		this.#drain(out);
+		return out;
+	}
+
+	#consume(ch: string, out: string[]): void {
+		switch (this.#mode) {
+			case "linestart":
+				this.#consumeLineStart(ch, out);
+				return;
+			case "prose":
+				if (ch === "\n") this.#hardBreak(out);
+				else this.#buf += ch;
+				return;
+			case "swallow":
+				if (ch === "\n") this.#mode = this.#afterSwallow;
+				return;
+			case "code":
+				this.#consumeCode(ch);
+				return;
+		}
+	}
+
+	#consumeLineStart(ch: string, out: string[]): void {
+		if (ch === "\n") {
+			// The whole line fit in the prefix: an hr/blank line is silence; a
+			// short undecided prefix ("Hi.", "OK") was prose all along.
+			const line = this.#prefix;
+			this.#prefix = "";
+			if (line.length > 0 && !HR_LINE_RE.test(line)) this.#buf += line;
+			this.#hardBreak(out);
+			return;
+		}
+		this.#prefix += ch;
+		const decision = classifyPrefix(this.#prefix);
+		if (decision.kind === "undecided") {
+			if (this.#prefix.length > 8) {
+				this.#buf += this.#prefix;
+				this.#prefix = "";
+				this.#mode = "prose";
+			}
+			return;
+		}
+		this.#prefix = "";
+		switch (decision.kind) {
+			case "prose":
+				this.#buf += decision.text;
+				this.#mode = "prose";
+				return;
+			case "marker":
+				this.#buf += decision.spoken;
+				this.#mode = "prose";
+				return;
+			case "swallow":
+				this.#mode = "swallow";
+				this.#afterSwallow = "linestart";
+				return;
+			case "fence":
+				this.#fence = decision.fence;
+				this.#codeLine = "";
+				this.#mode = "swallow";
+				this.#afterSwallow = "code";
+				return;
+		}
+	}
+
+	#consumeCode(ch: string): void {
+		if (ch === "\n") {
+			this.#codeLine = "";
+			return;
+		}
+		if (this.#codeLine.length < 3) {
+			this.#codeLine += ch;
+			if (this.#codeLine === this.#fence) {
+				// Closing fence: swallow the rest of its line, then resume prose.
+				this.#mode = "swallow";
+				this.#afterSwallow = "linestart";
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	/** Newline in prose: everything buffered is a complete unit — emit it now. */
+	#hardBreak(out: string[]): void {
+		this.#mode = "linestart";
+		this.#drain(out);
+	}
+
+	/** Emit every buffered character, force-splitting anything over the cap. */
+	#drain(out: string[]): void {
+		let text = this.#buf;
+		this.#buf = "";
+		while (text.length > MAX_SEGMENT) {
+			const cut = findForcedCut(text, MAX_SEGMENT);
+			this.#emit(text.slice(0, cut), out);
+			text = text.slice(cut);
+		}
+		this.#emit(text, out);
+	}
+
+	/** Cut ready segments off the front of the buffer (streaming path). */
+	#extract(out: string[]): void {
+		for (;;) {
+			const buf = this.#buf;
+			const min = this.#spoke ? MIN_SEGMENT : FIRST_SEGMENT_MIN;
+			const sentence = findSentenceCut(buf, min);
+			if (sentence !== -1) {
+				this.#cut(sentence, out);
+				continue;
+			}
+			if (!this.#spoke && buf.length >= FIRST_CLAUSE_MIN) {
+				const clause = findClauseCut(buf, FIRST_SEGMENT_MIN);
+				if (clause !== -1) {
+					this.#cut(clause, out);
+					continue;
+				}
+				if (buf.length >= FIRST_FORCED_MAX) {
+					this.#cut(findForcedCut(buf, FIRST_FORCED_MAX), out);
+					continue;
+				}
+			}
+			if (this.#spoke && buf.length >= SOFT_CLAUSE_LEN) {
+				const clause = findLastClauseCut(buf, MIN_SEGMENT, SOFT_CLAUSE_LEN);
+				if (clause !== -1) {
+					this.#cut(clause, out);
+					continue;
+				}
+			}
+			if (buf.length > MAX_SEGMENT) {
+				const clause = findLastClauseCut(buf, MIN_SEGMENT, MAX_SEGMENT);
+				this.#cut(clause !== -1 ? clause : findForcedCut(buf, MAX_SEGMENT), out);
+				continue;
+			}
+			return;
+		}
+	}
+
+	#cut(at: number, out: string[]): void {
+		const head = this.#buf.slice(0, at);
+		this.#buf = this.#buf.slice(at);
+		this.#emit(head, out);
+	}
+
+	#emit(raw: string, out: string[]): void {
+		const spoken = normalizeSpeakable(raw);
+		if (!spoken) return;
+		out.push(spoken);
+		this.#spoke = true;
+	}
+}
diff --git a/packages/coding-agent/src/tts/streaming-player.ts b/packages/coding-agent/src/tts/streaming-player.ts
index 832d40631..586bca885 100644
--- a/packages/coding-agent/src/tts/streaming-player.ts
+++ b/packages/coding-agent/src/tts/streaming-player.ts
@@ -4,14 +4,17 @@
  * Replaces the spawn-`afplay`-per-sentence approach (a fresh process per chunk
  * meant audible gaps, per-spawn latency, and no way to interrupt a clip mid-play)
  * with a single persistent player process fed raw 32-bit-float mono PCM over
- * stdin. Chunks are queued and drained by one writer so sentences play back to
+ * stdin. Chunks are queued and drained by one writer so segments play back to
  * back; writes are paced to stay only {@link LEAD_SECONDS} ahead of realtime so
  * ducking and stop take effect promptly instead of after seconds of buffered
  * audio. {@link StreamingAudioPlayer.stop} kills the process for instant silence.
  *
- * Where no streaming backend exists (Windows, or macOS without the bundled
- * ffmpeg), it degrades to the per-file {@link playAudioFile} path so speech still
- * works — just without gapless playback or mid-clip interruption.
+ * Where no streaming backend exists (Windows, or a host without ffmpeg/sox), it
+ * degrades to the per-file {@link playAudioFile} path so speech still works —
+ * just without gapless playback or mid-clip interruption. A backend that spawns
+ * but dies early (e.g. an ffmpeg built without its platform audio device) is
+ * detected via its exit and the session downgrades to per-file playback without
+ * dropping the chunk being played.
  */
 import * as fs from "node:fs/promises";
 import * as os from "node:os";
@@ -41,8 +44,7 @@ export interface StreamingPlayerLookup {
  * and plays it to the default output device. An empty list means no streaming
  * backend is available and the caller should fall back to per-file playback.
  *
- * - darwin: none; `afplay` is file-only, so macOS uses the interruptible
- *   per-file fallback.
+ * - darwin: `ffmpeg` (AudioToolbox output device) → sox's `play` (coreaudio).
  * - linux/other POSIX: `ffmpeg` (`-f pulse` then `-f alsa`) → `paplay`/`aplay`
  *   raw fallbacks.
  * - win32: none (PowerShell `SoundPlayer` is file-only).
@@ -57,7 +59,19 @@ export function streamingPlayerCommandsFor(
 	const rate = String(sampleRate > 0 ? sampleRate : DEFAULT_SAMPLE_RATE);
 	const input = ["-loglevel", "error", "-nostdin", "-f", "f32le", "-ar", rate, "-ac", "1", "-i", "pipe:0"];
 
-	if (platform === "darwin") return [];
+	if (platform === "darwin") {
+		const commands: PlayerCommand[] = [];
+		const ffmpegBin = ffmpeg();
+		if (ffmpegBin) commands.push({ cmd: ffmpegBin, args: [...input, "-f", "audiotoolbox", "default"] });
+		const play = which("play");
+		if (play) {
+			commands.push({
+				cmd: play,
+				args: ["-q", "-t", "raw", "-e", "floating-point", "-b", "32", "-r", rate, "-c", "1", "-"],
+			});
+		}
+		return commands;
+	}
 	if (platform === "win32") {
 		return [];
 	}
@@ -87,6 +101,8 @@ export class StreamingAudioPlayer {
 	#mode: "stream" | "file" = "file";
 	#proc: Subprocess<"pipe", "ignore", "ignore"> | null = null;
 	#sink: FileSink | null = null;
+	/** Streaming backends not yet tried; consumed head-first by {@link #spawnStream}. */
+	#candidates: PlayerCommand[] | null = null;
 	#writtenSec = 0;
 	#startedAt = 0;
 	#started = false;
@@ -140,20 +156,37 @@ export class StreamingAudioPlayer {
 		} catch {}
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Spawn the next untried streaming backend; false once the list is
+	 * exhausted. A backend that spawns but dies early (e.g. an ffmpeg built
+	 * without this platform's audio output device) would otherwise swallow PCM
+	 * into a dead pipe, so its exit advances to the next candidate — or to
+	 * per-file playback — and #writeStream's failure path replays the
+	 * in-flight chunk.
+	 */
 	#spawnStream(): boolean {
-		for (const command of streamingPlayerCommandsFor(process.platform, this.#sampleRate)) {
+		this.#candidates ??= streamingPlayerCommandsFor(process.platform, this.#sampleRate);
+		for (let command = this.#candidates.shift(); command; command = this.#candidates.shift()) {
+			const { cmd, args } = command;
 			try {
-				const proc = Bun.spawn([command.cmd, ...command.args], {
+				const proc = Bun.spawn([cmd, ...args], {
 					stdin: "pipe",
 					stdout: "ignore",
 					stderr: "ignore",
 				});
 				this.#proc = proc;
 				this.#sink = proc.stdin;
+				void proc.exited.then(code => {
+					if (this.#proc !== proc || this.#stopped || this.#inputClosed) return;
+					logger.debug("tts: streaming backend exited early; trying next backend", { cmd, code });
+					this.#proc = null;
+					this.#sink = null;
+					this.#mode = this.#spawnStream() ? "stream" : "file";
+				});
 				return true;
 			} catch (error) {
 				logger.debug("tts: streaming player spawn failed", {
-					cmd: command.cmd,
+					cmd,
 					error: error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error),
 				});
 			}
@@ -184,8 +217,20 @@ export class StreamingAudioPlayer {
 						await Bun.sleep((ahead - LEAD_SECONDS) * 1000);
 						if (this.#stopped) return;
 					}
-					this.#writeStream(chunk);
-					this.#writtenSec += chunk.length / this.#sampleRate;
+					if (this.#writeStream(chunk)) {
+						this.#writtenSec += chunk.length / this.#sampleRate;
+						continue;
+					}
+					// Backend died mid-write: move to the next streaming candidate
+					// (or the file path) and replay this exact chunk so nothing is
+					// dropped.
+					this.#mode = this.#spawnStream() ? "stream" : "file";
+					if (this.#mode === "stream" && this.#writeStream(chunk)) {
+						this.#writtenSec += chunk.length / this.#sampleRate;
+					} else {
+						this.#mode = "file";
+						await this.#playFile(chunk);
+					}
 				} else {
 					await this.#playFile(chunk);
 				}
@@ -219,16 +264,19 @@ export class StreamingAudioPlayer {
 		return promise;
 	}
 
-	#writeStream(pcm: Float32Array): void {
+	/** Write one chunk into the backend's stdin; false when the sink is gone or broken. */
+	#writeStream(pcm: Float32Array): boolean {
 		const sink = this.#sink;
-		if (!sink) return;
+		if (!sink) return false;
 		try {
 			sink.write(this.#bytes(pcm));
 			sink.flush();
+			return true;
 		} catch (error) {
 			logger.debug("tts: streaming write failed", {
 				error: error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error),
 			});
+			return false;
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/packages/coding-agent/src/tts/tts-client.ts b/packages/coding-agent/src/tts/tts-client.ts
index df452c797..4dfebdc0f 100644
--- a/packages/coding-agent/src/tts/tts-client.ts
+++ b/packages/coding-agent/src/tts/tts-client.ts
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ export interface TtsStreamOptions {
 	signal?: AbortSignal;
 }
 
-/** One synthesized sentence of a streaming session, in emission order. */
+/** One synthesized segment of a streaming session, in emission order. */
 export interface TtsAudioChunk {
 	index: number;
 	text: string;
@@ -51,10 +51,10 @@ export interface TtsAudioChunk {
 }
 
 /**
- * A live streaming-synthesis session. Feed text incrementally with {@link push}
- * and close the input with {@link end}; `chunks` yields each synthesized
- * sentence's audio as soon as it is ready, then completes once the worker
- * finishes draining the closed input.
+ * A live streaming-synthesis session. Feed complete speakable segments with
+ * {@link push} (the worker synthesizes each push as-is) and close the input
+ * with {@link end}; `chunks` yields each segment's audio as soon as it is
+ * ready, then completes once the worker finishes draining the closed input.
  */
 export interface TtsStreamHandle {
 	push(text: string): void;
@@ -239,11 +239,12 @@ export class TtsClient {
 	}
 
 	/**
-	 * Open a streaming-synthesis session. Text is fed incrementally through the
-	 * returned handle's `push`/`end`; audio is emitted one synthesized sentence at
-	 * a time via `chunks`, so playback can begin before the full text is known.
-	 * Returns an inert handle (immediately-ended `chunks`) for unknown models or
-	 * an already-aborted signal, and fails the iterator if the worker cannot spawn.
+	 * Open a streaming-synthesis session. Complete speakable segments are fed
+	 * through the returned handle's `push`/`end`; audio is emitted one segment
+	 * at a time via `chunks`, so playback can begin before the full text is
+	 * known. Returns an inert handle (immediately-ended `chunks`) for unknown
+	 * models or an already-aborted signal, and fails the iterator if the worker
+	 * cannot spawn.
 	 */
 	synthesizeStream(modelKey: string, options: TtsStreamOptions = {}): TtsStreamHandle {
 		if (!isTtsLocalModelKey(modelKey) || options.signal?.aborted) {
diff --git a/packages/coding-agent/src/tts/tts-protocol.ts b/packages/coding-agent/src/tts/tts-protocol.ts
index 3d9613d2e..5e88f4dbe 100644
--- a/packages/coding-agent/src/tts/tts-protocol.ts
+++ b/packages/coding-agent/src/tts/tts-protocol.ts
@@ -24,10 +24,12 @@ export type TtsWorkerInbound =
 	| { type: "ping"; id: string }
 	| { type: "synthesize"; id: string; modelKey: TtsLocalModelKey; text: string; voice?: string }
 	| { type: "download"; id: string; modelKey: TtsLocalModelKey }
-	// Streaming synthesis: a session is opened with `stream-start`, fed incrementally
-	// with `stream-push`, and closed with `stream-end`. `stream-cancel` interrupts
-	// without a final drain. The worker emits an `audio-chunk` per synthesized
-	// sentence and a final `stream-done` only for non-cancelled sessions.
+	// Streaming synthesis: a session is opened with `stream-start`, fed complete
+	// speakable segments with `stream-push` (the parent's SpeakableStream does all
+	// splitting/normalization; the worker synthesizes each push as-is), and closed
+	// with `stream-end`. `stream-cancel` interrupts without a final drain. The
+	// worker emits an `audio-chunk` per segment and a final `stream-done` only for
+	// non-cancelled sessions.
 	| { type: "stream-start"; id: string; modelKey: TtsLocalModelKey; voice?: string }
 	| { type: "stream-push"; id: string; text: string }
 	| { type: "stream-end"; id: string }
@@ -40,7 +42,7 @@ export type TtsWorkerOutbound =
 	| { type: "error"; id: string; error: string }
 	| { type: "progress"; id: string; event: TtsProgressEvent }
 	| { type: "log"; level: "debug" | "warn" | "error"; msg: string; meta?: Record<string, unknown> }
-	// One synthesized sentence of a streaming session, in emission order, followed
+	// One synthesized segment of a streaming session, in emission order, followed
 	// by a single `stream-done` once the input stream is closed and drained.
 	| { type: "audio-chunk"; id: string; index: number; text: string; pcm: Float32Array; sampleRate: number }
 	| { type: "stream-done"; id: string };
@@ -56,5 +58,12 @@ export type TtsWorkerOutbound =
  */
 export interface TtsTransport {
 	send(message: TtsWorkerOutbound): void;
+	/**
+	 * Send and resolve once the message has drained into the IPC channel.
+	 * Streaming synthesis awaits this per audio chunk: ONNX inference blocks
+	 * the worker's event loop for seconds at a time, so fire-and-forget sends
+	 * queue unflushed until the session ends and arrive as one burst.
+	 */
+	sendAndFlush(message: TtsWorkerOutbound): Promise<void>;
 	onMessage(handler: (message: TtsWorkerInbound) => void): () => void;
 }
diff --git a/packages/coding-agent/src/tts/tts-worker.ts b/packages/coding-agent/src/tts/tts-worker.ts
index 04a659bef..00892173e 100644
--- a/packages/coding-agent/src/tts/tts-worker.ts
+++ b/packages/coding-agent/src/tts/tts-worker.ts
@@ -39,20 +39,6 @@ type KokoroDevice = "cpu" | "wasm" | "webgpu";
 /** A loaded Kokoro voice synthesizer (subset of `kokoro-js`'s `KokoroTTS`). */
 interface KokoroTtsInstance {
 	generate(text: string, options: { voice: string }): Promise<RawAudio>;
-	stream(
-		text: string | TextSplitterStreamInstance,
-		options: { voice: string },
-	): AsyncGenerator<{ text: string; phonemes: string; audio: RawAudio }, void, void>;
-}
-
-/**
- * Incremental text source for {@link KokoroTtsInstance.stream} (subset of
- * `kokoro-js`'s `TextSplitterStream`). Text pushed at any time is split into
- * complete sentences; `close` flushes the trailing buffer and ends the stream.
- */
-interface TextSplitterStreamInstance {
-	push(...texts: string[]): void;
-	close(): void;
 }
 
 /** `KokoroTTS` static surface used to load a model from the Hugging Face Hub. */
@@ -67,7 +53,6 @@ interface KokoroRuntime {
 			},
 		): Promise<KokoroTtsInstance>;
 	};
-	TextSplitterStream: new () => TextSplitterStreamInstance;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -96,15 +81,18 @@ const kokoroRuntime = new MemoizedRuntime<KokoroRuntime>();
 
 /**
  * In-flight streaming sessions keyed by request id. A session is created on
- * `stream-start` and torn down when its generator finishes. Text pushed before
- * the model finishes loading is held in `buffered` and flushed into the splitter
- * once it exists; pushes after that go straight to the live splitter.
+ * `stream-start` and torn down when its run loop finishes. Each `stream-push`
+ * carries one complete speakable segment (the parent's `SpeakableStream` does
+ * all splitting and normalization); segments queue here and the run loop
+ * synthesizes them in arrival order, waking via `wake` when idle.
  */
 interface StreamSession {
 	modelKey: TtsLocalModelKey;
 	voice: string | undefined;
-	buffered: string[];
-	splitter: TextSplitterStreamInstance | null;
+	/** Speakable segments awaiting synthesis, in arrival order. */
+	queue: string[];
+	/** Resolves the run loop's idle wait when a push/end/cancel arrives. */
+	wake: (() => void) | null;
 	ended: boolean;
 	cancelled: boolean;
 }
@@ -316,43 +304,51 @@ async function handleQueuedRequest(
 }
 
 /**
- * Drive one streaming session to completion: load the model, create the
- * splitter, flush any text pushed before the model was ready, then emit one
- * `audio-chunk` per synthesized sentence followed by a single `stream-done`.
- * Serialized through {@link synthesizeQueue} so it never interleaves model
- * access with a batch synthesize/download.
+ * Drive one streaming session to completion: load the model, then synthesize
+ * each queued segment in arrival order — one `audio-chunk` per segment,
+ * followed by a single `stream-done`. Chunk sends are drained before the next
+ * segment's inference (see the comment at the send site). Serialized through
+ * {@link synthesizeQueue} so it never interleaves model access with a batch
+ * synthesize/download.
  */
 async function runStreamSession(transport: TtsTransport, id: string, session: StreamSession): Promise<void> {
 	try {
-		if (session.cancelled) return;
-		const runtime = await loadKokoroRuntime(transport, id, session.modelKey);
 		if (session.cancelled) return;
 		const synthesizer = await loadModel(session.modelKey, transport, id);
 		if (session.cancelled) return;
 		const spec = getTtsLocalModelSpec(session.modelKey);
-		const splitter = new runtime.TextSplitterStream();
-		// Flush buffered text before exposing the splitter so a push racing this
-		// block can't slip ahead of the already-queued fragments.
-		for (const text of session.buffered) {
-			if (session.cancelled) return;
-			splitter.push(text);
-		}
-		session.buffered = [];
-		session.splitter = splitter;
-		if (session.ended || session.cancelled) splitter.close();
 		const voice = resolveTtsVoice(session.modelKey, session.voice);
 		let index = 0;
-		for await (const chunk of synthesizer.stream(splitter, { voice })) {
+		while (!session.cancelled) {
+			const segment = session.queue.shift();
+			if (segment === undefined) {
+				if (session.ended) break;
+				const { promise, resolve } = Promise.withResolvers<void>();
+				session.wake = resolve;
+				// Re-check after arming: a push/end/cancel racing the empty shift.
+				if (session.queue.length > 0 || session.ended || session.cancelled) {
+					session.wake = null;
+					resolve();
+				}
+				await promise;
+				continue;
+			}
+			const output = await synthesizer.generate(segment, { voice });
 			if (session.cancelled) break;
-			const audio = Array.isArray(chunk.audio.audio) ? chunk.audio.audio[0] : chunk.audio.audio;
+			const audio = Array.isArray(output.audio) ? output.audio[0] : output.audio;
 			if (!audio) continue;
-			transport.send({
+			// Drain the IPC write before the next segment's inference: ONNX
+			// blocks this event loop for seconds at a time, so a fire-and-forget
+			// send would sit in the pipe queue until the session ends and every
+			// chunk would arrive in one burst (long silence, then all segments
+			// at once) instead of streaming per-segment.
+			await transport.sendAndFlush({
 				type: "audio-chunk",
 				id,
 				index: index++,
-				text: chunk.text,
+				text: segment,
 				pcm: audio,
-				sampleRate: chunk.audio.sampling_rate || spec?.sampleRate || 24_000,
+				sampleRate: output.sampling_rate || spec?.sampleRate || 24_000,
 			});
 		}
 		if (!session.cancelled) transport.send({ type: "stream-done", id });
@@ -370,8 +366,8 @@ function startStreamSession(
 	const session: StreamSession = {
 		modelKey: message.modelKey,
 		voice: message.voice,
-		buffered: [],
-		splitter: null,
+		queue: [],
+		wake: null,
 		ended: false,
 		cancelled: false,
 	};
@@ -382,26 +378,33 @@ function startStreamSession(
 	);
 }
 
+/** Wake the session's run loop if it is parked on an empty queue. */
+function wakeStreamSession(session: StreamSession): void {
+	const wake = session.wake;
+	session.wake = null;
+	wake?.();
+}
+
 function pushToStreamSession(id: string, text: string): void {
 	const session = streamSessions.get(id);
 	if (!session || session.cancelled) return;
-	if (session.splitter) session.splitter.push(text);
-	else session.buffered.push(text);
+	session.queue.push(text);
+	wakeStreamSession(session);
 }
 
 function endStreamSession(id: string): void {
 	const session = streamSessions.get(id);
 	if (!session || session.cancelled) return;
 	session.ended = true;
-	session.splitter?.close();
+	wakeStreamSession(session);
 }
 
 function cancelStreamSession(id: string): void {
 	const session = streamSessions.get(id);
 	if (!session) return;
 	session.cancelled = true;
-	session.buffered = [];
-	session.splitter?.close();
+	session.queue.length = 0;
+	wakeStreamSession(session);
 	streamSessions.delete(id);
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/coding-agent/src/tts/vocalizer.ts b/packages/coding-agent/src/tts/vocalizer.ts
index 35507e266..89eee0e95 100644
--- a/packages/coding-agent/src/tts/vocalizer.ts
+++ b/packages/coding-agent/src/tts/vocalizer.ts
@@ -2,12 +2,17 @@
  * Streaming assistant speech-vocalization.
  *
  * The vocalizer turns the assistant's STREAMING output into spoken audio as a
- * side effect of the normal turn. Text deltas are streamed *straight into the
- * TTS engine* ({@link Vocalizer.pushDelta} → the worker's incremental text
- * input): the engine splits the running text at sentence boundaries and emits
- * one audio chunk per sentence, which a single {@link StreamingAudioPlayer}
- * plays back gaplessly. So the assistant starts speaking sentence 1 while later
- * sentences are still being generated — low latency, never overlapping.
+ * side effect of the normal turn. Text deltas run through a
+ * {@link SpeakableStream} — which drops code/tables/markup, speaks link labels
+ * and URL hosts instead of raw URLs, and cuts speakable segments the moment a
+ * boundary appears — and each ready segment is pushed to the TTS worker, which
+ * synthesizes it into one audio chunk. A single {@link StreamingAudioPlayer}
+ * plays the chunks back gaplessly, so the assistant starts speaking the first
+ * clause while later sentences are still being generated.
+ *
+ * An idle timer covers generation stalls: when no delta arrives for
+ * {@link IDLE_FLUSH_MS} (tool call, thinking block) the buffered partial
+ * sentence is spoken rather than held silent.
  *
  * Overspeech control:
  * - {@link clear} stops playback instantly (kills the player) and aborts
@@ -25,9 +30,13 @@
 import { logger } from "@oh-my-pi/pi-utils";
 import { settings } from "../config/settings";
 import { DEFAULT_TTS_VOICE } from "./models";
+import { SpeakableStream } from "./speakable";
 import { createStreamingPlayer, DUCK_GAIN } from "./streaming-player";
 import { type TtsStreamHandle, ttsClient } from "./tts-client";
 
+/** Quiet time on the delta stream before the buffered partial is spoken. */
+const IDLE_FLUSH_MS = 1000;
+
 export interface VocalizerPlayer {
 	start(sampleRate: number): void;
 	write(pcm: Float32Array): void;
@@ -39,6 +48,10 @@ export interface VocalizerPlayer {
 export class Vocalizer {
 	/** Open stream session for the current utterance; null when none is active. */
 	#handle: TtsStreamHandle | null = null;
+	/** Markdown → speakable-segment transform for the current utterance. */
+	#speakable: SpeakableStream | null = null;
+	/** Fires when the delta stream goes quiet mid-sentence; speaks the partial. */
+	#idleTimer: NodeJS.Timeout | null = null;
 	/** Aborts the in-flight session on {@link clear}; replaced per session. */
 	#abort: AbortController | null = null;
 	/** The current session's player; stopped on {@link clear}, gain-tracked for ducking. */
@@ -54,22 +67,30 @@ export class Vocalizer {
 	}
 
 	/**
-	 * Stream a delta of assistant text into the engine. No-op when vocalization
-	 * is disabled. The engine buffers the running text and emits audio for each
-	 * complete sentence; the trailing partial is flushed by {@link flush}.
+	 * Stream a delta of assistant text into the pipeline. No-op when
+	 * vocalization is disabled. The synthesis session (worker, player) is only
+	 * opened once the first speakable segment exists, so a reply that
+	 * normalizes to silence (pure code, tables, URLs) costs nothing. The
+	 * trailing partial is flushed by {@link flush} or the idle timer.
 	 */
 	pushDelta(text: string): void {
 		if (!settings.get("speech.enabled")) return;
 		if (!text) return;
-		this.#ensureSession().push(text);
+		this.#speakable ??= new SpeakableStream();
+		this.#pushSegments(this.#speakable.push(text));
+		this.#armIdleFlush(this.#speakable);
 	}
 
 	/**
-	 * Close the current input stream (call at message/turn end). The engine
-	 * flushes its trailing partial as a final chunk; the player keeps draining
-	 * queued audio until it completes.
+	 * Close the current input stream (call at message/turn end). Drains the
+	 * trailing partial as final segments; the player keeps draining queued
+	 * audio until it completes.
 	 */
 	flush(): void {
+		this.#clearIdleTimer();
+		const speakable = this.#speakable;
+		this.#speakable = null;
+		if (speakable) this.#pushSegments(speakable.flush());
 		this.#handle?.end();
 		this.#handle = null;
 	}
@@ -79,9 +100,7 @@ export class Vocalizer {
 	 * message): stream it in and immediately close the input. No-op when disabled.
 	 */
 	speak(text: string): void {
-		if (!settings.get("speech.enabled")) return;
-		if (!text) return;
-		this.#ensureSession().push(text);
+		this.pushDelta(text);
 		this.flush();
 	}
 
@@ -90,6 +109,8 @@ export class Vocalizer {
 	 * synthesis (new turn / user message / Esc interrupt). Audio stops at once.
 	 */
 	clear(): void {
+		this.#clearIdleTimer();
+		this.#speakable = null;
 		this.#handle = null;
 		this.#abort?.abort();
 		this.#abort = null;
@@ -114,9 +135,17 @@ export class Vocalizer {
 		return this.#chain;
 	}
 
+	/** Feed ready segments to the synthesizer, opening the session lazily. */
+	#pushSegments(segments: string[]): void {
+		if (segments.length === 0) return;
+		const handle = this.#ensureSession();
+		for (const segment of segments) handle.push(segment);
+	}
+
 	/**
-	 * Open a streaming-synthesis session lazily on the first delta and chain its
-	 * playback after any prior session's, so sequential utterances never overlap.
+	 * Open a streaming-synthesis session lazily on the first speakable segment
+	 * and chain its playback after any prior session's, so sequential
+	 * utterances never overlap.
 	 */
 	#ensureSession(): TtsStreamHandle {
 		if (this.#handle) return this.#handle;
@@ -133,6 +162,28 @@ export class Vocalizer {
 		return handle;
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * (Re)arm the stall timer: if no delta arrives for {@link IDLE_FLUSH_MS},
+	 * speak the buffered partial sentence instead of holding it through a tool
+	 * call or thinking block. No-op by the time it fires if the utterance moved on.
+	 */
+	#armIdleFlush(speakable: SpeakableStream): void {
+		this.#clearIdleTimer();
+		const timer = setTimeout(() => {
+			this.#idleTimer = null;
+			if (this.#speakable !== speakable) return;
+			this.#pushSegments(speakable.flushIdle());
+		}, IDLE_FLUSH_MS);
+		timer.unref?.();
+		this.#idleTimer = timer;
+	}
+
+	#clearIdleTimer(): void {
+		if (this.#idleTimer === null) return;
+		clearTimeout(this.#idleTimer);
+		this.#idleTimer = null;
+	}
+
 	/** Feed each synthesized sentence into the player in arrival order; abort stops it. */
 	async #play(handle: TtsStreamHandle, player: VocalizerPlayer, signal: AbortSignal): Promise<void> {
 		let started = false;
diff --git a/packages/coding-agent/test/tts/speakable.test.ts b/packages/coding-agent/test/tts/speakable.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..26d3dcbf1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/coding-agent/test/tts/speakable.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,133 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "bun:test";
+import { SpeakableStream } from "@oh-my-pi/pi-coding-agent/tts/speakable";
+
+/** Push each delta in order, then flush; returns per-push segments plus the flush tail. */
+function speak(...deltas: string[]): { pushed: string[][]; all: string[] } {
+	const stream = new SpeakableStream();
+	const pushed = deltas.map(delta => stream.push(delta));
+	const flushed = stream.flush();
+	return { pushed, all: [...pushed.flat(), ...flushed] };
+}
+
+describe("SpeakableStream code fences", () => {
+	it("silences a fenced block while speaking the prose around it", () => {
+		const { all } = speak("Here is the code:\n```ts\nconst x = 1;\nconsole.log(x);\n```\nAnd that is all of it now.\n");
+		expect(all).toEqual(["Here is the code:", "And that is all of it now."]);
+	});
+
+	it("silences a block whose opening and closing fences are split across deltas", () => {
+		const { pushed, all } = speak("Intro line here.\n``", "`ts\nconst hidden = 42;\n``", "`\nOutro after code block.\n");
+		expect(pushed[0]).toEqual(["Intro line here."]);
+		expect(pushed[1]).toEqual([]);
+		expect(all).toEqual(["Intro line here.", "Outro after code block."]);
+	});
+});
+
+describe("SpeakableStream tables", () => {
+	it("silences | rows while speaking surrounding prose", () => {
+		const { all } = speak("Results below.\n| a | b |\n| --- | --- |\n| 1 | 2 |\nDone with the table now.\n");
+		expect(all).toEqual(["Results below.", "Done with the table now."]);
+	});
+});
+
+describe("SpeakableStream links and URLs", () => {
+	it("speaks only the label of a markdown link split across deltas, with no early mid-link cut", () => {
+		const { pushed, all } = speak("See [the do", "cs](https://exam", "ple.com/path) for details.\n");
+		expect(pushed[0]).toEqual([]);
+		expect(pushed[1]).toEqual([]);
+		expect(all).toEqual(["See the docs for details."]);
+	});
+
+	it.each([
+		["bare https URL speaks only the host", "Repo lives at https://github.com/foo/bar?x for now.\n", "Repo lives at github.com for now."],
+		["www URL speaks the host without the www prefix or path", "Visit www.example.com/path when you can.\n", "Visit example.com when you can."],
+	])("%s", (_name, input, spoken) => {
+		expect(speak(input).all).toEqual([spoken]);
+	});
+});
+
+describe("SpeakableStream inline markup and line markers", () => {
+	it.each([
+		["inline code speaks the identifier without ticks", "Call `parseConfig` before use today.\n", ["Call parseConfig before use today."]],
+		["bold, italic, and strikethrough markers are stripped", "This **bold** and *ital* and ~~struck~~ text stays.\n", ["This bold and ital and struck text stays."]],
+		["heading markers are stripped but the title speaks", "## Release Notes\nBody text follows here.\n", ["Release Notes", "Body text follows here."]],
+		["bullet markers are stripped", "- item one is ready\n- item two is ready\n", ["item one is ready", "item two is ready"]],
+		["numbered list markers speak as a numeric prefix", "1. First\n", ["1, First"]],
+	])("%s", (_name, input, spoken) => {
+		expect(speak(input).all).toEqual(spoken);
+	});
+});
+
+describe("SpeakableStream file paths", () => {
+	it("collapses a multi-directory path to its basename", () => {
+		const { all } = speak("Edit packages/coding-agent/src/tts/vocalizer.ts to fix it.\n");
+		expect(all).toEqual(["Edit vocalizer.ts to fix it."]);
+	});
+
+	it("leaves two-component tokens like and/or untouched", () => {
+		const { all } = speak("Use and/or as needed today.\n");
+		expect(all).toEqual(["Use and/or as needed today."]);
+	});
+});
+
+describe("SpeakableStream streaming latency", () => {
+	it("emits a completed sentence from push() itself, without waiting for the next sentence", () => {
+		const stream = new SpeakableStream();
+		expect(stream.push("First sentence is long enough here. ")).toEqual(["First sentence is long enough here."]);
+		expect(stream.flush()).toEqual([]);
+	});
+});
+
+describe("SpeakableStream silent replies", () => {
+	it("yields zero segments for a reply that is only markup, whitespace, and label-less link markup", () => {
+		const stream = new SpeakableStream();
+		expect(stream.push("---\n\n   \n**\n![](https://x.com/a.png)\n```\nlet a = 1;\n```\n| a |\n")).toEqual([]);
+		expect(stream.flush()).toEqual([]);
+	});
+});
+
+describe("SpeakableStream flush and flushIdle", () => {
+	it("flush() drains a trailing partial sentence that push() held back", () => {
+		const stream = new SpeakableStream();
+		expect(stream.push("This is a trailing partial")).toEqual([]);
+		expect(stream.flush()).toEqual(["This is a trailing partial"]);
+	});
+
+	it("flushIdle() refuses a short mid-sentence fragment, which a later flush() still drains", () => {
+		const stream = new SpeakableStream();
+		expect(stream.push("The")).toEqual([]);
+		expect(stream.flushIdle()).toEqual([]);
+		expect(stream.flush()).toEqual(["The"]);
+	});
+
+	it("flushIdle() drains a short but complete thought", () => {
+		const stream = new SpeakableStream();
+		expect(stream.push("Done here now.")).toEqual([]);
+		expect(stream.flushIdle()).toEqual(["Done here now."]);
+		expect(stream.flush()).toEqual([]);
+	});
+});
+
+describe("SpeakableStream segment length cap", () => {
+	it("force-splits an unpunctuated 1000+ char run into <=280-char segments that preserve every word", () => {
+		const run = Array.from({ length: 200 }, (_, i) => `word${i}`).join(" ");
+		expect(run.length).toBeGreaterThan(1000);
+		const { all } = speak(run);
+		expect(all.length).toBeGreaterThan(1);
+		for (const segment of all) expect(segment.length).toBeLessThanOrEqual(280);
+		expect(all.join(" ")).toBe(run);
+	});
+});
+
+describe("SpeakableStream abbreviations", () => {
+	it.each([
+		['"e.g. " near the start does not end the first segment', "See e.g. the docs for more. ", "See e.g. the docs for more."],
+		// The abbreviation here sits past the first-segment minimum, so only the
+		// abbreviation guard (not the length floor) prevents a cut after "e.g. ".
+		['"e.g. " past the minimum cut length still does not split the sentence', "See the docs e.g. the guide for more info. ", "See the docs e.g. the guide for more info."],
+	])("%s", (_name, input, spoken) => {
+		const stream = new SpeakableStream();
+		expect(stream.push(input)).toEqual([spoken]);
+		expect(stream.flush()).toEqual([]);
+	});
+});