Creating npm packages with Speakeasy and connecting to Hooked notifications

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Today I learned about creating npm packages and how Speakeasy connects beautifully with notifications through the new Hooked repository.

Creating Your First npm Package

The basics of npm package creation are straightforward:

# Create new directory and initialize
mkdir my-package
cd my-package
npm init -y

# Set up TypeScript (optional but recommended)
npm install -D typescript @types/node
npx tsc --init

Key Package.json Fields

For a successful npm package, focus on these essential fields:

{
  "name": "your-package-name",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "Clear, concise description",
  "main": "dist/index.js",
  "types": "dist/index.d.ts",
  "files": ["dist"],
  "scripts": {
    "build": "tsc",
    "prepublishOnly": "npm run build"
  },
  "keywords": ["relevant", "tags"],
  "repository": {
    "type": "git",
    "url": "https://github.com/username/repo.git"
  }
}

Speakeasy: A Real Example

Speakeasy (npm) shows practical npm package patterns:

import { speak } from '@arach/speakeasy';

await speak("Hello world!", {
  provider: 'elevenlabs',
  voice: 'alloy',
  priority: 'high'
});

Key patterns from Speakeasy:

The Hooked Connection

The Hooked repository contains the notification.ts hook that showcases Speakeasy in action. Hooked provides the Claude notification handler that leverages Speakeasy for voice notifications:

// From Hooked's notification handler
import { speak } from '@arach/speakeasy';

const message = `In ${projectName}, Claude ${getActionMessage(action)}`;
await speak(message, { 
  priority: 'high',
  provider: 'elevenlabs'
});

This integration shows how npm packages (Speakeasy TTS wrapper) can be consumed by other projects (Hooked notification handler) to build useful functionality.

Publishing Your Package

Before publishing:

# Build your package
npm run build

# Test locally
npm pack  # Creates .tgz file to inspect

# Publish to npm
npm publish

Why This Pattern Works

The Speakeasy → Hooked pattern demonstrates excellent software design:

  1. Single responsibility - Speakeasy wraps TTS engines, Hooked handles Claude notifications
  2. Composability - Easy to integrate and extend
  3. Reusability - Speakeasy can be used in any project needing TTS
  4. Clear interfaces - Simple, typed APIs make integration seamless

Pro Tips

The npm ecosystem thrives on small, focused packages that do one thing well. Speakeasy follows this approach as a TTS engine wrapper, and Hooked shows how these components can combine to create useful notification systems.

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