ElevenLabs Install & Auth

Overview

Set up the ElevenLabs SDK and configure API key authentication. ElevenLabs uses a single API key (xi-api-key header) for all endpoints at api.elevenlabs.io.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+ or Python 3.10+
• ElevenLabs account (free tier works) at https://elevenlabs.io
• API key from Profile > API Keys in the ElevenLabs dashboard

Instructions

Step 1: Install the SDK

Node.js (official package: @elevenlabs/elevenlabs-js):

npm install @elevenlabs/elevenlabs-js
# or
pnpm add @elevenlabs/elevenlabs-js

Python (official package: elevenlabs):

pip install elevenlabs

Step 2: Configure API Key

# Set environment variable (all SDKs auto-detect this)
export ELEVENLABS_API_KEY="sk_your_key_here"

# Or create .env file
echo 'ELEVENLABS_API_KEY=sk_your_key_here' >> .env

Add to .gitignore:

.env
.env.local
.env.*.local

Step 3: Initialize the Client

Both SDKs auto-detect ELEVENLABS_API_KEY. Minimal TypeScript skeleton:

import { ElevenLabsClient } from "@elevenlabs/elevenlabs-js";

const client = new ElevenLabsClient({
  apiKey: process.env.ELEVENLABS_API_KEY,
});

The Python client mirrors this with ElevenLabsClient(api_key=...). For retry, timeout, and the full Python skeleton, see implementation.md.

Step 4: Verify Connection

Confirm auth by listing voices — a successful call proves the key is valid and not over quota:

const voices = await client.voices.getAll();
console.log(`Connected. ${voices.voices.length} voices available.`);

Full TypeScript + Python + cURL verification (including subscription/quota inspection) is in implementation.md.

Output

• SDK installed in node_modules or site-packages
• API key stored in .env (git-ignored)
• Successful voice listing confirms authentication
• Subscription tier and character quota displayed

Error Handling

Examples

Two full setup walkthroughs (Node.js and Python) plus a no-SDK CI smoke test live in examples.md. The shortest complete path for a new Node.js project:

npm install @elevenlabs/elevenlabs-js
echo 'ELEVENLABS_API_KEY=sk_your_key_here' >> .env
printf '.env\n' >> .gitignore

import "dotenv/config";
import { ElevenLabsClient } from "@elevenlabs/elevenlabs-js";

const client = new ElevenLabsClient({ apiKey: process.env.ELEVENLABS_API_KEY });
const voices = await client.voices.getAll();
console.log(`Connected. ${voices.voices.length} voices available.`);

See examples.md for the Python equivalent and the curl-only pipeline gate.

API Key Best Practices

• Never hardcode keys in source files
• Use separate keys for dev/staging/prod
• Rotate keys quarterly via the dashboard
• Free tier: 10,000 characters/month, Starter: 30,000, Creator: 100,000

Full best-practices notes are in implementation.md.

Resources

• ElevenLabs API Introduction
• ElevenLabs JS SDK
• ElevenLabs Python SDK
• API Key Management

Next Steps

After auth is confirmed, proceed to the elevenlabs-hello-world skill for your first text-to-speech generation, then explore voice listing and streaming in the rest of the ElevenLabs pack.