Node-RED Browser Audio Player

The node-red-contrib-play-audio package (current stable version 2.5.0) provides a Node-RED node designed for playing audio directly within the client-side browser context where the Node-RED dashboard or editor is viewed. It specifically leverages the Web Audio API to play raw audio buffers, making it suitable for integrations with other nodes that output audio data, such as Text-to-Speech (TTS) services (e.g., the Watson Text to Speech node). Additionally, it offers basic browser-native Text-to-Speech capabilities for simple string inputs, provided the browser supports this feature. This node is a key component for adding client-side audio feedback or announcements to Node-RED applications, operating exclusively in the browser environment rather than on the Node.js server. Its release cadence follows contributions and updates to Node-RED compatibility.