---
summary: "Generate music via music_generate across Google Lyria, MiniMax, and ComfyUI workflows"
read_when:
  - Generating music or audio via the agent
  - Configuring music-generation providers and models
  - Understanding the music_generate tool parameters
title: "Music generation"
sidebarTitle: "Music generation"
---

The `music_generate` tool lets the agent create music or audio through the
shared music-generation capability with configured providers — Google,
MiniMax, and workflow-configured ComfyUI today.

For session-backed agent runs, OpenClaw starts music generation as a
background task, tracks it in the task ledger, then wakes the agent again
when the track is ready so the agent can post the finished audio back into
the original channel.

<Note>
The built-in shared tool only appears when at least one music-generation
provider is available. If you do not see `music_generate` in your agent's
tools, configure `agents.defaults.musicGenerationModel` or set up a
provider API key.
</Note>

## Quick start

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Shared provider-backed">
    <Steps>
      <Step title="Configure auth">
        Set an API key for at least one provider — for example
        `GEMINI_API_KEY` or `MINIMAX_API_KEY`.
      </Step>
      <Step title="Pick a default model (optional)">
        ```json5
        {
          agents: {
            defaults: {
              musicGenerationModel: {
                primary: "google/lyria-3-clip-preview",
              },
            },
          },
        }
        ```
      </Step>
      <Step title="Ask the agent">
        _"Generate an upbeat synthpop track about a night drive through a
        neon city."_

        The agent calls `music_generate` automatically. No tool
        allow-listing needed.
      </Step>
    </Steps>

    For direct synchronous contexts without a session-backed agent run,
    the built-in tool still falls back to inline generation and returns
    the final media path in the tool result.

  </Tab>
  <Tab title="ComfyUI workflow">
    <Steps>
      <Step title="Configure the workflow">
        Configure `plugins.entries.comfy.config.music` with a workflow
        JSON and prompt/output nodes.
      </Step>
      <Step title="Cloud auth (optional)">
        For Comfy Cloud, set `COMFY_API_KEY` or `COMFY_CLOUD_API_KEY`.
      </Step>
      <Step title="Call the tool">
        ```text
        /tool music_generate prompt="Warm ambient synth loop with soft tape texture"
        ```
      </Step>
    </Steps>
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

Example prompts:

```text
Generate a cinematic piano track with soft strings and no vocals.
```

```text
Generate an energetic chiptune loop about launching a rocket at sunrise.
```

## Supported providers

| Provider | Default model          | Reference inputs | Supported controls                                        | Auth                                   |
| -------- | ---------------------- | ---------------- | --------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------- |
| ComfyUI  | `workflow`             | Up to 1 image    | Workflow-defined music or audio                           | `COMFY_API_KEY`, `COMFY_CLOUD_API_KEY` |
| Google   | `lyria-3-clip-preview` | Up to 10 images  | `lyrics`, `instrumental`, `format`                        | `GEMINI_API_KEY`, `GOOGLE_API_KEY`     |
| MiniMax  | `music-2.6`            | None             | `lyrics`, `instrumental`, `durationSeconds`, `format=mp3` | `MINIMAX_API_KEY` or MiniMax OAuth     |

### Capability matrix

The explicit mode contract used by `music_generate`, contract tests, and the
shared live sweep:

| Provider | `generate` | `edit` | Edit limit | Shared live lanes                                                         |
| -------- | :--------: | :----: | ---------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| ComfyUI  |     ✓      |   ✓    | 1 image    | Not in the shared sweep; covered by `extensions/comfy/comfy.live.test.ts` |
| Google   |     ✓      |   ✓    | 10 images  | `generate`, `edit`                                                        |
| MiniMax  |     ✓      |   —    | None       | `generate`                                                                |

Use `action: "list"` to inspect available shared providers and models at
runtime:

```text
/tool music_generate action=list
```

Use `action: "status"` to inspect the active session-backed music task:

```text
/tool music_generate action=status
```

Direct generation example:

```text
/tool music_generate prompt="Dreamy lo-fi hip hop with vinyl texture and gentle rain" instrumental=true
```

## Tool parameters

<ParamField path="prompt" type="string" required>
  Music generation prompt. Required for `action: "generate"`.
</ParamField>
<ParamField path="action" type='"generate" | "status" | "list"' default="generate">
  `"status"` returns the current session task; `"list"` inspects providers.
</ParamField>
<ParamField path="model" type="string">
  Provider/model override (e.g. `google/lyria-3-pro-preview`,
  `comfy/workflow`).
</ParamField>
<ParamField path="lyrics" type="string">
  Optional lyrics when the provider supports explicit lyric input.
</ParamField>
<ParamField path="instrumental" type="boolean">
  Request instrumental-only output when the provider supports it.
</ParamField>
<ParamField path="image" type="string">
  Single reference image path or URL.
</ParamField>
<ParamField path="images" type="string[]">
  Multiple reference images (up to 10 on supporting providers).
</ParamField>
<ParamField path="durationSeconds" type="number">
  Target duration in seconds when the provider supports duration hints.
</ParamField>
<ParamField path="format" type='"mp3" | "wav"'>
  Output format hint when the provider supports it.
</ParamField>
<ParamField path="filename" type="string">Output filename hint.</ParamField>
<ParamField path="timeoutMs" type="number">Optional provider request timeout in milliseconds.</ParamField>

<Note>
Not all providers support all parameters. OpenClaw still validates hard
limits such as input counts before submission. When a provider supports
duration but uses a shorter maximum than the requested value, OpenClaw
clamps to the closest supported duration. Truly unsupported optional hints
are ignored with a warning when the selected provider or model cannot honor
them. Tool results report applied settings; `details.normalization`
captures any requested-to-applied mapping.
</Note>

## Async behavior

Session-backed music generation runs as a background task:

- **Background task:** `music_generate` creates a background task, returns a
  started/task response immediately, and posts the finished track later in
  a follow-up agent message.
- **Duplicate prevention:** while a task is `queued` or `running`, later
  `music_generate` calls in the same session return task status instead of
  starting another generation. Use `action: "status"` to check explicitly.
- **Status lookup:** `openclaw tasks list` or `openclaw tasks show <taskId>`
  inspects queued, running, and terminal status.
- **Completion wake:** OpenClaw injects an internal completion event back
  into the same session so the model can write the user-facing follow-up
  itself.
- **Prompt hint:** later user/manual turns in the same session get a small
  runtime hint when a music task is already in flight, so the model does
  not blindly call `music_generate` again.
- **No-session fallback:** direct/local contexts without a real agent
  session run inline and return the final audio result in the same turn.

### Task lifecycle

| State       | Meaning                                                                                        |
| ----------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `queued`    | Task created, waiting for the provider to accept it.                                           |
| `running`   | Provider is processing (typically 30 seconds to 3 minutes depending on provider and duration). |
| `succeeded` | Track ready; the agent wakes and posts it to the conversation.                                 |
| `failed`    | Provider error or timeout; the agent wakes with error details.                                 |

Check status from the CLI:

```bash
openclaw tasks list
openclaw tasks show <taskId>
openclaw tasks cancel <taskId>
```

## Configuration

### Model selection

```json5
{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      musicGenerationModel: {
        primary: "google/lyria-3-clip-preview",
        fallbacks: ["minimax/music-2.6"],
      },
    },
  },
}
```

### Provider selection order

OpenClaw tries providers in this order:

1. `model` parameter from the tool call (if the agent specifies one).
2. `musicGenerationModel.primary` from config.
3. `musicGenerationModel.fallbacks` in order.
4. Auto-detection using auth-backed provider defaults only:
   - current default provider first;
   - remaining registered music-generation providers in provider-id order.

If a provider fails, the next candidate is tried automatically. If all
fail, the error includes details from each attempt.

Set `agents.defaults.mediaGenerationAutoProviderFallback: false` to use only
explicit `model`, `primary`, and `fallbacks` entries.

## Provider notes

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="ComfyUI">
    Workflow-driven and depends on the configured graph plus node mapping
    for prompt/output fields. The bundled `comfy` plugin plugs into the
    shared `music_generate` tool through the music-generation provider
    registry.
  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="Google (Lyria 3)">
    Uses Lyria 3 batch generation. The current bundled flow supports
    prompt, optional lyrics text, and optional reference images.
  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="MiniMax">
    Uses the batch `music_generation` endpoint. Supports prompt, optional
    lyrics, instrumental mode, duration steering, and mp3 output through
    either `minimax` API-key auth or `minimax-portal` OAuth.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Choosing the right path

- **Shared provider-backed** when you want model selection, provider
  failover, and the built-in async task/status flow.
- **Plugin path (ComfyUI)** when you need a custom workflow graph or a
  provider that is not part of the shared bundled music capability.

If you are debugging ComfyUI-specific behavior, see
[ComfyUI](/providers/comfy). If you are debugging shared provider
behavior, start with [Google (Gemini)](/providers/google) or
[MiniMax](/providers/minimax).

## Provider capability modes

The shared music-generation contract supports explicit mode declarations:

- `generate` for prompt-only generation.
- `edit` when the request includes one or more reference images.

New provider implementations should prefer explicit mode blocks:

```typescript
capabilities: {
  generate: {
    maxTracks: 1,
    supportsLyrics: true,
    supportsFormat: true,
  },
  edit: {
    enabled: true,
    maxTracks: 1,
    maxInputImages: 1,
    supportsFormat: true,
  },
}
```

Legacy flat fields such as `maxInputImages`, `supportsLyrics`, and
`supportsFormat` are **not** enough to advertise edit support. Providers
should declare `generate` and `edit` explicitly so live tests, contract
tests, and the shared `music_generate` tool can validate mode support
deterministically.

## Live tests

Opt-in live coverage for the shared bundled providers:

```bash
OPENCLAW_LIVE_TEST=1 pnpm test:live -- extensions/music-generation-providers.live.test.ts
```

Repo wrapper:

```bash
pnpm test:live:media music
```

This live file loads missing provider env vars from `~/.profile`, prefers
live/env API keys ahead of stored auth profiles by default, and runs both
`generate` and declared `edit` coverage when the provider enables edit
mode. Coverage today:

- `google`: `generate` plus `edit`
- `minimax`: `generate` only
- `comfy`: separate Comfy live coverage, not the shared provider sweep

Opt-in live coverage for the bundled ComfyUI music path:

```bash
OPENCLAW_LIVE_TEST=1 COMFY_LIVE_TEST=1 pnpm test:live -- extensions/comfy/comfy.live.test.ts
```

The Comfy live file also covers comfy image and video workflows when those
sections are configured.

## Related

- [Background tasks](/automation/tasks) — task tracking for detached `music_generate` runs
- [ComfyUI](/providers/comfy)
- [Configuration reference](/gateway/config-agents#agent-defaults) — `musicGenerationModel` config
- [Google (Gemini)](/providers/google)
- [MiniMax](/providers/minimax)
- [Models](/concepts/models) — model configuration and failover
- [Tools overview](/tools)
