> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://anam.ai/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Director Notes with ElevenLabs

> Configure avatar expression with ElevenLabs audio tags, Anam Director Notes styles, and cue events for Cara 4 avatars.

Give your avatar more expression with cues that follow the agent's voice. Start with a working session from the [three-step quickstart](/docs/integrations/elevenlabs/agents#quickstart), then add Director Notes.

Director Notes give the avatar a baseline performance style and temporary expression cues. The [server route](/docs/integrations/elevenlabs/server-side-setup) starts with the `warm` preset at `0.5` expressivity. Expressivity accepts values from `0` to `1`; higher values strengthen both the active style and speech-driven motion.

<Warning>
  Director Notes are in beta and only work with Cara 4 avatars. Use a Cara 4 avatar ID and set `avatarModel` to `"cara-4"`, as shown in the [server route](/docs/integrations/elevenlabs/server-side-setup).
</Warning>

Select **Eleven v4 Turbo** (`eleven_v4_turbo`) in the ElevenLabs **Agent Voice** settings. Eleven v4 and v3 Conversational also support audio tags. Add a short rule to the agent's system prompt:

```text theme={"system"}
Use ElevenLabs audio tags sparingly when the delivery should change.
For testing, use tags such as [excited], [laughs], [whispers], [sighs],
[gasps], [angrily], [sarcastic], or [nervous].
Place each tag immediately before the words it should affect.
Do not explain or read the tags aloud.
```

[ElevenLabs uses the same audio tags for v3 and v4](https://elevenlabs.io/docs/help-center/product/core-capabilities/text-to-speech/how-do-audio-tags-work-with-eleven-v3-and-v4), including v4 Turbo. Anam recognizes the following provider tags and maps each group to one Director Note cue:

| Director Note cue | Recognized ElevenLabs tags |
| - | - |
| `happy` | `[excited]`, `[happily]`, `[cheerfully]`, `[elated]` |
| `laughter` | `[laugh]`, `[laughs]`, `[laughing]`, `[laughs harder]`, `[starts laughing]`, `[chuckles]`, `[chuckling]`, `[giggles]`, `[giggling]` |
| `warm` | `[whispers]`, `[whispering]`, `[quietly]` |
| `playful` | `[sarcastic]`, `[playfully]` |
| `curious` | `[curiously]`, `[quizzical]`, `[quizzically]` |
| `concerned` | `[sigh]`, `[sighs]`, `[exhales]` |
| `sad` | `[sadly]`, `[sorrowful]`, `[tearful]`, `[crying]` |
| `surprised` | `[gasp]`, `[gasps]`, `[startled]` |
| `angry` | `[angrily]`, `[furious]`, `[intensely]` |
| `distressed` | `[nervous]`, `[fearful]`, `[scared]` |

This table is the complete alias list that Anam recognizes. ElevenLabs supports other audio tags, but Anam does not map them to Director Notes. A recognized tag is removed from the transcript before it reaches the browser. An unknown bracketed tag remains ordinary transcript text.

To see whether the engine recognized and applied a tag, listen for `DIRECTOR_NOTE_CUE_APPLIED` in the [step 3 component](/docs/integrations/elevenlabs/start-session#working-component-example):

```typescript theme={"system"}
// In the component body
const [directorNoteActivity, setDirectorNoteActivity] = useState<{
  cueTag: string;
  correlationId: string;
} | null>(null);

// Inside start(), with the other listeners
anamClient.addListener(AnamEvent.DIRECTOR_NOTE_CUE_APPLIED, (evt) => {
  setDirectorNoteActivity({
    cueTag: evt.cueTag,
    correlationId: evt.correlationId,
  });
});

// In the returned JSX
{directorNoteActivity && <p>Last cue: {directorNoteActivity.cueTag}</p>}
```

The event contains the normalized Anam cue. For example, ElevenLabs `[laughs]` produces a `laughter` cue, while `[whispers]` produces `warm`. The [Anam Director Notes guide](/docs/personas/director-notes) covers baseline styles, expressivity, cue events, and Cara 4 requirements.

## Keep building

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Session customisation" icon="arrow-right" href="/docs/integrations/elevenlabs/session-customisation">
    Personalise conversations with user-specific variables and agent settings.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Client tools" icon="arrow-right" href="/docs/integrations/elevenlabs/client-tools">
    Let your agent trigger actions in your app.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>


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