How to install skills?¶
Two different methods are supported by ovos-docker to install Open Voice OS's skills, each of them having pros and cons .
Slow hardware
When running Open Voice OS on slow hardware such as Raspberry Pi 3B+, it is recommended to install skills using the "As part of ovos_core container" method in order to reduce the memory consumption.
As part of ovos_core container¶
The first method is to use a skills.list file within the ~/ovos/config/ directory (it does not exist by default), this file acts as a Python requirements.txt file.
When ovos_core container starts, it will look for a skills.list file and install the skills defined in there.
Skill requirements
The skill has to be compatible with the pip install method which requires a setup.py file.
ovos-skill-stop # Latest skill version on PyPi
ovos-skill-volume==0.0.1 # Specific skill version on PyPi
git+https://github.com/OpenVoiceOS/skill-ovos-wikipedia.git@fix/whatever # Specific skill's branch on GitHub
If the ovos_core container is wiped for any reasons (like an update), the skill(s) will be automatically reprovisioned.
Not only for skills
The skills.list file can also be used to install extra Python libraries, e.g., SoCo, RPi.GPIO. Just make sure to avoid empty lines.
The main advantage of this method is the simplicity but the downside will be more Python dependencies (libraries) within the ovos_core container, potential conflicts across them, a lack of isolation and a slower start of the container.
Once the ~/ovos/config/skills.list file is populated with the wanted skills, the ovos_core container must be restarted to handle the new requirements.
Podman users 
If you are running Podman instead of Docker, replace docker compose with podman-compose.
Compose file names
The file names below are examples. Use the compose files provided by your
installer or your own bundle names. If you cloned ovos-docker, the bundles
live under compose/.
Extra skills
To include the optional skill bundle, add --file docker-compose.skills-extra.yml
to the commands below.
As standalone container (recommended)¶
The second method is to leverage the ovos-workshop component by running a skill as standalone, it means the skill will not be part of ovos_core container but it will be running inside its own container.
The main advantage is that each skill is isolated which provide more flexibility about Python dependencies (libraries), packages. It is easier to update and more secure but the downside will be that more system resources will be consumed and a container image has to be built for each skill.
Podman users
If you are running Podman instead of Docker, replace docker compose with podman-compose.
Depending on your Internet speed, your Wi-Fi or Ethernet connection speed, and your hardware (I/O), the whole process could take several minutes.
| Hardware | Time |
|---|---|
| Raspberry Pi 3B+ with USB drive | ~12 minutes |
| Raspberry Pi 4B with USB drive | ~48 seconds |
| MacBook Air i7 Early 2015 with SSD | ~50 seconds |
| AMD Ryzen 7 5800 with NVMe drive | ~15 seconds |
Resources overhead
To reduce the potential resources overhead due to image downloads and extractions, the --parallel x option can be added to the command in order to process the images in batches of x (where x is an integer).
If the ovos_core container is restarted or even deleted, the skill containers will automatically register again to it.
Optional skills bundle¶
If you add docker-compose.skills-extra.yml, the following extra skill images
are included:
| Skill image | Notes |
|---|---|
ovos-skill-camera |
Requires camera access |
ovos-skill-easter-eggs |
Optional fun responses |
ovos-skill-jokes |
Joke responses |
ovos-skill-parrot |
Repeat-back skill |
ovos-skill-randomness |
Randomness utilities |
ovos-skill-wikihow |
WikiHow responses |
ovos-skill-wolfie |
Wolfie skill |
Add the bundle to your compose command:
docker compose --project-name ovos --file docker-compose.yml --file docker-compose.skills.yml --file docker-compose.skills-extra.yml up --detach
On Mac OS or Windows WSL2, include the env file:
docker compose --project-name ovos --file docker-compose.macos.yml --file docker-compose.skills.yml --file docker-compose.skills-extra.yml --env-file .env up --detach
Containers status¶
At this point of the installation, here are the containers that should be up and running.
docker container list --all --filter 'name=ovos'
CONTAINER ID IMAGE COMMAND CREATED STATUS PORTS NAMES
1446b87d7a32 docker.io/smartgic/ovos-skill-wikipedia:alpha "ovos-skill-launcher…" 18 hours ago Up 8 hours ovos_skill_wikipedia
7ad46a871661 docker.io/smartgic/ovos-skill-weather:alpha "ovos-skill-launcher…" 18 hours ago Up 8 hours ovos_skill_weather
b43b8cf31a43 docker.io/smartgic/ovos-skill-volume:alpha "ovos-skill-launcher…" 18 hours ago Up 8 hours ovos_skill_volume
f27d3fceecec docker.io/smartgic/ovos-skill-date-time:alpha "ovos-skill-launcher…" 18 hours ago Up 8 hours ovos_skill_date_time
30b70c9e72ef docker.io/smartgic/ovos-skill-personal:alpha "ovos-skill-launcher…" 18 hours ago Up 8 hours ovos_skill_personal
5760fb22deb9 docker.io/smartgic/ovos-skill-fallback-unknown:alpha "ovos-skill-launcher…" 18 hours ago Up 8 hours ovos_skill_fallback_unknown
73f4d4b0a091 docker.io/smartgic/ovos-skill-hello-world:alpha "ovos-skill-launcher…" 18 hours ago Up 8 hours ovos_skill_hello_world
219eb6254d32 docker.io/smartgic/ovos-skill-alerts:alpha "ovos-skill-launcher…" 18 hours ago Up 8 hours ovos_skill_alerts
31f5d5e7a1ec docker.io/smartgic/ovos-skill-ggwave:alpha "ovos-skill-launcher…" 18 hours ago Up 8 hours ovos_skill_ggwave
05e94905b867 docker.io/smartgic/ovos-skill-duckduckgo:alpha "ovos-skill-launcher…" 18 hours ago Up 8 hours ovos_skill_duckduckgo
d256c2e7b6f3 docker.io/smartgic/ovos-skill-wordnet:alpha "ovos-skill-launcher…" 18 hours ago Up 8 hours ovos_skill_wordnet
a4db13a597a4 docker.io/smartgic/ovos-listener:alpha "/bin/bash /usr/loca…" 18 hours ago Up 8 hours ovos_listener
d157740c9965 docker.io/smartgic/ovos-audio:alpha "/bin/bash /usr/loca…" 18 hours ago Up 8 hours ovos_audio
6e3536dcfae5 docker.io/smartgic/ovos-core:alpha "/bin/bash /usr/loca…" 18 hours ago Up 8 hours ovos_core
12c2b6d4f6e7 docker.io/smartgic/ovos-phal:alpha "/bin/bash /usr/loca…" 18 hours ago Up 8 hours ovos_phal
98110d0b4b97 docker.io/smartgic/ovos-phal-admin:alpha "/bin/bash /usr/loca…" 25 hours ago Up 8 hours ovos_phal_admin
8a179e135a6f docker.io/smartgic/ovos-messagebus:alpha "/bin/bash -c ovos-m…" 25 hours ago Up 8 hours (healthy) ovos_messagebus
9c5fbad6c50d docker.io/smartgic/ovos-cli:alpha "sleep infinity" 25 hours ago Up 8 hours ovos_cli
f0a451e1b14d docker.io/smartgic/ovos-plugin-ggwave:alpha "sleep infinity" 25 hours ago Up 8 hours ovos_plugin_ggwave
podman container list --all --filter 'name=ovos'
CONTAINER ID IMAGE COMMAND CREATED STATUS PORTS NAMES
1446b87d7a32 docker.io/smartgic/ovos-skill-wikipedia:alpha "ovos-skill-launcher…" 18 hours ago Up 8 hours ovos_skill_wikipedia
7ad46a871661 docker.io/smartgic/ovos-skill-weather:alpha "ovos-skill-launcher…" 18 hours ago Up 8 hours ovos_skill_weather
b43b8cf31a43 docker.io/smartgic/ovos-skill-volume:alpha "ovos-skill-launcher…" 18 hours ago Up 8 hours ovos_skill_volume
f27d3fceecec docker.io/smartgic/ovos-skill-date-time:alpha "ovos-skill-launcher…" 18 hours ago Up 8 hours ovos_skill_date_time
30b70c9e72ef docker.io/smartgic/ovos-skill-personal:alpha "ovos-skill-launcher…" 18 hours ago Up 8 hours ovos_skill_personal
5760fb22deb9 docker.io/smartgic/ovos-skill-fallback-unknown:alpha "ovos-skill-launcher…" 18 hours ago Up 8 hours ovos_skill_fallback_unknown
73f4d4b0a091 docker.io/smartgic/ovos-skill-hello-world:alpha "ovos-skill-launcher…" 18 hours ago Up 8 hours ovos_skill_hello_world
219eb6254d32 docker.io/smartgic/ovos-skill-alerts:alpha "ovos-skill-launcher…" 18 hours ago Up 8 hours ovos_skill_alerts
31f5d5e7a1ec docker.io/smartgic/ovos-skill-ggwave:alpha "ovos-skill-launcher…" 18 hours ago Up 8 hours ovos_skill_ggwave
05e94905b867 docker.io/smartgic/ovos-skill-duckduckgo:alpha "ovos-skill-launcher…" 18 hours ago Up 8 hours ovos_skill_duckduckgo
d256c2e7b6f3 docker.io/smartgic/ovos-skill-wordnet:alpha "ovos-skill-launcher…" 18 hours ago Up 8 hours ovos_skill_wordnet
a4db13a597a4 docker.io/smartgic/ovos-listener:alpha "/bin/bash /usr/loca…" 18 hours ago Up 8 hours ovos_listener
d157740c9965 docker.io/smartgic/ovos-audio:alpha "/bin/bash /usr/loca…" 18 hours ago Up 8 hours ovos_audio
6e3536dcfae5 docker.io/smartgic/ovos-core:alpha "/bin/bash /usr/loca…" 18 hours ago Up 8 hours ovos_core
12c2b6d4f6e7 docker.io/smartgic/ovos-phal:alpha "/bin/bash /usr/loca…" 18 hours ago Up 8 hours ovos_phal
98110d0b4b97 docker.io/smartgic/ovos-phal-admin:alpha "/bin/bash /usr/loca…" 25 hours ago Up 8 hours ovos_phal_admin
8a179e135a6f docker.io/smartgic/ovos-messagebus:alpha "/bin/bash -c ovos-m…" 25 hours ago Up 8 hours (healthy) ovos_messagebus
9c5fbad6c50d docker.io/smartgic/ovos-cli:alpha "sleep infinity" 25 hours ago Up 8 hours ovos_cli
f0a451e1b14d docker.io/smartgic/ovos-plugin-ggwave:alpha "sleep infinity" 25 hours ago Up 8 hours ovos_plugin_ggwave