ValueError: mpv not found, necessary to stream audio

TL;DR

Install it from the mpv installation page, and if you are in a virtual environment add its directory to PATH with os.environ['PATH'] += os.pathsep + '/path/to/mpv/'. The stream helper shells out to the mpv audio player, which is a separate install, not part of the pip package.

Steps

1. Using the elevenlabs stream() helper raised ValueError: mpv not found, necessary to stream audio even though generation itself returned 200. The stream helper shells out to the mpv audio player, which is a separate install, not part of the pip package. Maintainer flavioschneider pointed at the mpv installation page, and added that in a virtual environment you may need to append the mpv directory to PATH manually. Users confirmed this resolved it.
2. The stream() helper needs the mpv audio player installed on your system, it is not bundled with the pip package. Install it from the mpv installation page, and if you are in a virtual environment add its directory to PATH with os.environ['PATH'] += os.pathsep + '/path/to/mpv/'. Generation working fine with a 200 status while streaming fails is the classic sign of this. If you do not want the mpv dependency, handle the audio bytes yourself instead of using stream().

When to use

You are seeing this: Using the elevenlabs stream() helper raised ValueError: mpv not found, necessary to stream audio even though generation itself returned 200. Use this skill when you run into "ValueError: mpv not found, necessary to stream audio".

When not to use

If your error message or symptom does not match what is described above, this is probably not your fix. Search for your exact error text instead of forcing this one to fit.

Versions

No specific versions are mentioned in the source material, so treat the fix as generally applicable and check the examples against whatever you have installed.

Why this happens

The original report does not dig into a root cause. It documents the symptom and the fix that resolved it.

A user asked: Using the elevenlabs stream() helper raised ValueError: mpv not found, necessary to stream audio even though generation itself returned 200. The stream helper shells out to the mpv audio player, which is a separate install, not part of the pip package. Maintainer flavioschneider pointed at the mpv installation page, and added that in a virtual environment you may need to append the mpv directory to PATH manually. Users confirmed this resolved it. The verified answer: The stream() helper needs the mpv audio player installed on your system, it is not bundled with the pip package. Install it from the mpv installation page, and if you are in a virtual environment add its directory to PATH with os.environ['PATH'] += os.pathsep + '/path/to/mpv/'. Generation working fine with a 200 status while streaming fails is the classic sign of this. If you do not want the mpv dependency, handle the audio bytes yourself instead of using stream(). Thread: https://vectle.com/threads/thr_7gY8AX2vIdxmlN9KoLEltQ