diff --git a/packages/core/src/index.ts b/packages/core/src/index.ts
index 47af5f76e1..e035dc4502 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/index.ts
@@ -219,5 +219,8 @@ export * from './agents/types.js';
 export * from './utils/stdio.js';
 export * from './utils/terminal.js';
 
+// Export voice utilities
+export * from './voice/responseFormatter.js';
+
 // Export types from @google/genai
 export type { Content, Part, FunctionCall } from '@google/genai';
diff --git a/packages/core/src/voice/responseFormatter.test.ts b/packages/core/src/voice/responseFormatter.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..679ff1b89c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/core/src/voice/responseFormatter.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,288 @@
+/**
+ * @license
+ * Copyright 2026 Google LLC
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ */
+
+import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
+import { formatForSpeech } from './responseFormatter.js';
+
+describe('formatForSpeech', () => {
+  describe('edge cases', () => {
+    it('should return empty string for empty input', () => {
+      expect(formatForSpeech('')).toBe('');
+    });
+
+    it('should return plain text unchanged', () => {
+      expect(formatForSpeech('Hello world')).toBe('Hello world');
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('ANSI escape codes', () => {
+    it('should strip color codes', () => {
+      expect(formatForSpeech('\x1b[31mError\x1b[0m')).toBe('Error');
+    });
+
+    it('should strip bold/dim codes', () => {
+      expect(formatForSpeech('\x1b[1mBold\x1b[22m text')).toBe('Bold text');
+    });
+
+    it('should strip cursor movement codes', () => {
+      expect(formatForSpeech('line1\x1b[2Kline2')).toBe('line1line2');
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('markdown stripping', () => {
+    it('should strip bold markers **text**', () => {
+      expect(formatForSpeech('**Error**: something went wrong')).toBe(
+        'Error: something went wrong',
+      );
+    });
+
+    it('should strip bold markers __text__', () => {
+      expect(formatForSpeech('__Error__: something')).toBe('Error: something');
+    });
+
+    it('should strip italic markers *text*', () => {
+      expect(formatForSpeech('*note*: pay attention')).toBe(
+        'note: pay attention',
+      );
+    });
+
+    it('should strip inline code backticks', () => {
+      expect(formatForSpeech('Run `npm install` first')).toBe(
+        'Run npm install first',
+      );
+    });
+
+    it('should strip blockquote prefix', () => {
+      expect(formatForSpeech('> This is a quote')).toBe('This is a quote');
+    });
+
+    it('should strip heading markers', () => {
+      expect(formatForSpeech('# Results\n## Details')).toBe('Results\nDetails');
+    });
+
+    it('should replace markdown links with link text', () => {
+      expect(formatForSpeech('[Gemini API](https://ai.google.dev)')).toBe(
+        'Gemini API',
+      );
+    });
+
+    it('should strip unordered list markers', () => {
+      expect(formatForSpeech('- item one\n- item two')).toBe(
+        'item one\nitem two',
+      );
+    });
+
+    it('should strip ordered list markers', () => {
+      expect(formatForSpeech('1. first\n2. second')).toBe('first\nsecond');
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('fenced code blocks', () => {
+    it('should unwrap a plain code block', () => {
+      expect(formatForSpeech('```\nconsole.log("hi")\n```')).toBe(
+        'console.log("hi")',
+      );
+    });
+
+    it('should unwrap a language-tagged code block', () => {
+      expect(formatForSpeech('```typescript\nconst x = 1;\n```')).toBe(
+        'const x = 1;',
+      );
+    });
+
+    it('should summarise a JSON object code block above threshold', () => {
+      const json = JSON.stringify({ status: 'ok', count: 42, items: [] });
+      // Pass jsonThreshold lower than the json string length (38 chars)
+      const result = formatForSpeech(`\`\`\`json\n${json}\n\`\`\``, {
+        jsonThreshold: 10,
+      });
+      expect(result).toBe('(JSON object with 3 keys)');
+    });
+
+    it('should summarise a JSON array code block above threshold', () => {
+      const json = JSON.stringify([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]);
+      // Pass jsonThreshold lower than the json string length (23 chars)
+      const result = formatForSpeech(`\`\`\`\n${json}\n\`\`\``, {
+        jsonThreshold: 10,
+      });
+      expect(result).toBe('(JSON array with 10 items)');
+    });
+
+    it('should summarise a large JSON object using default threshold', () => {
+      // Build a JSON object whose stringified form exceeds the default 80-char threshold
+      const big = {
+        status: 'success',
+        count: 42,
+        items: ['alpha', 'beta', 'gamma'],
+        meta: { page: 1, totalPages: 10 },
+        timestamp: '2026-03-03T00:00:00Z',
+      };
+      const json = JSON.stringify(big);
+      expect(json.length).toBeGreaterThan(80);
+      const result = formatForSpeech(`\`\`\`json\n${json}\n\`\`\``);
+      expect(result).toBe('(JSON object with 5 keys)');
+    });
+
+    it('should not summarise a tiny JSON value', () => {
+      // Below the default 80-char threshold → keep as-is
+      const result = formatForSpeech('```json\n{"a":1}\n```', {
+        jsonThreshold: 80,
+      });
+      expect(result).toBe('{"a":1}');
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('path abbreviation', () => {
+    it('should abbreviate a deep Unix path (default depth 3)', () => {
+      const result = formatForSpeech(
+        'at /home/user/project/packages/core/src/tools/file.ts',
+      );
+      expect(result).toContain('\u2026/src/tools/file.ts');
+      expect(result).not.toContain('/home/user/project');
+    });
+
+    it('should convert :line suffix to "line N"', () => {
+      const result = formatForSpeech(
+        'Error at /home/user/project/src/tools/file.ts:142',
+      );
+      expect(result).toContain('line 142');
+    });
+
+    it('should drop column from :line:col suffix', () => {
+      const result = formatForSpeech(
+        'Error at /home/user/project/src/tools/file.ts:142:7',
+      );
+      expect(result).toContain('line 142');
+      expect(result).not.toContain(':7');
+    });
+
+    it('should respect custom pathDepth option', () => {
+      const result = formatForSpeech(
+        '/home/user/project/packages/core/src/file.ts',
+        { pathDepth: 2 },
+      );
+      expect(result).toContain('\u2026/src/file.ts');
+    });
+
+    it('should not abbreviate a short path within depth', () => {
+      const result = formatForSpeech('/src/file.ts', { pathDepth: 3 });
+      // Only 2 segments — no abbreviation needed
+      expect(result).toBe('/src/file.ts');
+    });
+
+    it('should abbreviate a Windows path on a non-C drive', () => {
+      const result = formatForSpeech(
+        'D:\\Users\\project\\packages\\core\\src\\file.ts',
+        { pathDepth: 3 },
+      );
+      expect(result).toContain('\u2026/core/src/file.ts');
+      expect(result).not.toContain('D:\\Users\\project');
+    });
+
+    it('should convert :line on a Windows path on a non-C drive', () => {
+      const result = formatForSpeech(
+        'Error at D:\\Users\\project\\src\\tools\\file.ts:55',
+      );
+      expect(result).toContain('line 55');
+      expect(result).not.toContain('D:\\Users\\project');
+    });
+
+    it('should abbreviate a Unix path containing a scoped npm package segment', () => {
+      const result = formatForSpeech(
+        'at /home/user/project/node_modules/@google/gemini-cli-core/src/index.ts:12:3',
+        { pathDepth: 5 },
+      );
+      expect(result).toContain('line 12');
+      expect(result).not.toContain(':3');
+      expect(result).toContain('@google');
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('stack trace collapsing', () => {
+    it('should collapse a multi-frame stack trace', () => {
+      const trace = [
+        'Error: ENOENT',
+        '    at Object.open (/project/src/file.ts:10:5)',
+        '    at Module._load (/project/node_modules/loader.js:20:3)',
+        '    at Function.Module._load (/project/node_modules/loader.js:30:3)',
+      ].join('\n');
+
+      const result = formatForSpeech(trace);
+      expect(result).toContain('and 2 more frames');
+      expect(result).not.toContain('Module._load');
+    });
+
+    it('should not collapse a single stack frame', () => {
+      const trace =
+        'Error: ENOENT\n    at Object.open (/project/src/file.ts:10:5)';
+      const result = formatForSpeech(trace);
+      expect(result).not.toContain('more frames');
+    });
+
+    it('should preserve surrounding text when collapsing a stack trace', () => {
+      const input = [
+        'Operation failed.',
+        '    at Object.open (/project/src/file.ts:10:5)',
+        '    at Module._load (/project/node_modules/loader.js:20:3)',
+        '    at Function.load (/project/node_modules/loader.js:30:3)',
+        'Please try again.',
+      ].join('\n');
+
+      const result = formatForSpeech(input);
+      expect(result).toContain('Operation failed.');
+      expect(result).toContain('Please try again.');
+      expect(result).toContain('and 2 more frames');
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('truncation', () => {
+    it('should truncate output longer than maxLength', () => {
+      const long = 'word '.repeat(200);
+      const result = formatForSpeech(long, { maxLength: 50 });
+      expect(result.length).toBeLessThanOrEqual(
+        50 + '\u2026 (1000 chars total)'.length,
+      );
+      expect(result).toContain('\u2026');
+      expect(result).toContain('chars total');
+    });
+
+    it('should not truncate output within maxLength', () => {
+      const short = 'Hello world';
+      expect(formatForSpeech(short, { maxLength: 500 })).toBe('Hello world');
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('whitespace normalisation', () => {
+    it('should collapse more than two consecutive blank lines', () => {
+      const result = formatForSpeech('para1\n\n\n\n\npara2');
+      expect(result).toBe('para1\n\npara2');
+    });
+
+    it('should trim leading and trailing whitespace', () => {
+      expect(formatForSpeech('  hello  ')).toBe('hello');
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('real-world examples', () => {
+    it('should clean an ENOENT error with markdown and path', () => {
+      const input =
+        '**Error**: `ENOENT: no such file or directory`\n> at /home/user/project/packages/core/src/tools/file-utils.ts:142:7';
+      const result = formatForSpeech(input);
+      expect(result).not.toContain('**');
+      expect(result).not.toContain('`');
+      expect(result).not.toContain('>');
+      expect(result).toContain('Error');
+      expect(result).toContain('ENOENT');
+      expect(result).toContain('line 142');
+    });
+
+    it('should clean a heading + list response', () => {
+      const input = '# Results\n- item one\n- item two\n- item three';
+      const result = formatForSpeech(input);
+      expect(result).toBe('Results\nitem one\nitem two\nitem three');
+    });
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/core/src/voice/responseFormatter.ts b/packages/core/src/voice/responseFormatter.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..dc1cbac4c4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/core/src/voice/responseFormatter.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,185 @@
+/**
+ * @license
+ * Copyright 2026 Google LLC
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ */
+
+/**
+ * Options for formatForSpeech().
+ */
+export interface FormatForSpeechOptions {
+  /**
+   * Maximum output length in characters before truncating.
+   * @default 500
+   */
+  maxLength?: number;
+  /**
+   * Number of trailing path segments to keep when abbreviating absolute paths.
+   * @default 3
+   */
+  pathDepth?: number;
+  /**
+   * Maximum number of characters in a JSON value before summarising it.
+   * @default 80
+   */
+  jsonThreshold?: number;
+}
+
+// ANSI escape sequences (CSI, OSC, etc.)
+// eslint-disable-next-line no-control-regex
+const ANSI_RE = /\x1b(?:\[[0-9;]*[mGKHF]|\][^\x07\x1b]*\x07|[()][AB012])/g;
+
+// Fenced code blocks  ```lang\n...\n```
+const CODE_FENCE_RE = /```[^\n]*\n([\s\S]*?)```/g;
+
+// Inline code  `...`
+const INLINE_CODE_RE = /`([^`]+)`/g;
+
+// Bold/italic markers  **text**, *text*, __text__, _text_
+// Exclude newlines so the pattern cannot span multiple lines and accidentally
+// consume list markers that haven't been stripped yet.
+const BOLD_ITALIC_RE = /\*{1,2}([^*\n]+)\*{1,2}|_{1,2}([^_\n]+)_{1,2}/g;
+
+// Blockquote prefix  "> "
+const BLOCKQUOTE_RE = /^>\s?/gm;
+
+// ATX headings  # heading
+const HEADING_RE = /^#{1,6}\s+/gm;
+
+// Markdown links  [text](url)
+const LINK_RE = /\[([^\]]+)\]\([^)]+\)/g;
+
+// Markdown list markers  "- " or "* " or "N. " at line start
+const LIST_MARKER_RE = /^[ \t]*(?:[-*]|\d+\.)\s+/gm;
+
+// Two or more consecutive stack-trace frames (Node.js style "    at …" lines).
+// Matching blocks of ≥2 lets us replace each group in-place, preserving any
+// text that follows the trace rather than appending it to the end.
+const STACK_BLOCK_RE = /(?:^[ \t]+at [^\n]+(?:\n|$)){2,}/gm;
+
+// Absolute Unix paths optionally ending with :line or :line:col
+// Hyphen placed at start of char class to avoid useless-escape lint error
+const UNIX_PATH_RE =
+  /(?:^|(?<=\s|[(`"']))(\/[-\w.@]+(?:\/[-\w.@]+)*)(:\d+(?::\d+)?)?/g;
+
+// Absolute Windows paths  C:\...  or  C:/...  (any drive letter)
+const WIN_PATH_RE =
+  /(?:^|(?<=\s|[(`"']))([A-Za-z]:[/\\][-\w. ]+(?:[/\\][-\w. ]+)*)(:\d+(?::\d+)?)?/g;
+
+/**
+ * Abbreviates an absolute path to at most `depth` trailing segments,
+ * prefixed with "…". Optionally converts `:line` suffix to `line N`.
+ */
+function abbreviatePath(
+  full: string,
+  suffix: string | undefined,
+  depth: number,
+): string {
+  const segments = full.split(/[/\\]/).filter(Boolean);
+  const kept = segments.length > depth ? segments.slice(-depth) : segments;
+  const abbreviated =
+    segments.length > depth ? `\u2026/${kept.join('/')}` : full;
+
+  if (!suffix) return abbreviated;
+  // Convert ":142" → " line 142", ":142:7" → " line 142"
+  const lineNum = suffix.split(':').filter(Boolean)[0];
+  return `${abbreviated} line ${lineNum}`;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Summarises a JSON string as "(JSON object with N keys)" or
+ * "(JSON array with N items)", falling back to the original if parsing fails.
+ */
+function summariseJson(jsonStr: string): string {
+  try {
+    const parsed: unknown = JSON.parse(jsonStr);
+    if (Array.isArray(parsed)) {
+      return `(JSON array with ${parsed.length} item${parsed.length === 1 ? '' : 's'})`;
+    }
+    if (parsed !== null && typeof parsed === 'object') {
+      const keys = Object.keys(parsed).length;
+      return `(JSON object with ${keys} key${keys === 1 ? '' : 's'})`;
+    }
+  } catch {
+    // not valid JSON — leave as-is
+  }
+  return jsonStr;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Transforms a markdown/ANSI-formatted string into speech-ready plain text.
+ *
+ * Transformations applied (in order):
+ * 1. Strip ANSI escape codes
+ * 2. Collapse fenced code blocks to their content (or a JSON summary)
+ * 3. Collapse stack traces to first frame + count
+ * 4. Strip markdown syntax (bold, italic, blockquotes, headings, links, lists, inline code)
+ * 5. Abbreviate deep absolute paths
+ * 6. Normalise whitespace
+ * 7. Truncate to maxLength
+ */
+export function formatForSpeech(
+  text: string,
+  options?: FormatForSpeechOptions,
+): string {
+  const maxLength = options?.maxLength ?? 500;
+  const pathDepth = options?.pathDepth ?? 3;
+  const jsonThreshold = options?.jsonThreshold ?? 80;
+
+  if (!text) return '';
+
+  let out = text;
+
+  // 1. Strip ANSI escape codes
+  out = out.replace(ANSI_RE, '');
+
+  // 2. Fenced code blocks — try to summarise JSON content, else keep text
+  out = out.replace(CODE_FENCE_RE, (_match, body: string) => {
+    const trimmed = body.trim();
+    if (trimmed.length > jsonThreshold) {
+      const summary = summariseJson(trimmed);
+      if (summary !== trimmed) return summary;
+    }
+    return trimmed;
+  });
+
+  // 3. Collapse stack traces: replace each contiguous block of ≥2 frames
+  //    in-place so that any text after the trace is preserved in order.
+  out = out.replace(STACK_BLOCK_RE, (block) => {
+    const lines = block
+      .trim()
+      .split('\n')
+      .map((l) => l.trim());
+    const rest = lines.length - 1;
+    return `${lines[0]} (and ${rest} more frame${rest === 1 ? '' : 's'})\n`;
+  });
+
+  // 4. Strip markdown syntax
+  out = out
+    .replace(INLINE_CODE_RE, '$1')
+    .replace(BOLD_ITALIC_RE, (_m, g1?: string, g2?: string) => g1 ?? g2 ?? '')
+    .replace(BLOCKQUOTE_RE, '')
+    .replace(HEADING_RE, '')
+    .replace(LINK_RE, '$1')
+    .replace(LIST_MARKER_RE, '');
+
+  // 5. Abbreviate absolute paths
+  //    Windows paths first to avoid the leading letter being caught by Unix RE
+  out = out.replace(WIN_PATH_RE, (_m, full: string, suffix?: string) =>
+    abbreviatePath(full, suffix, pathDepth),
+  );
+  out = out.replace(UNIX_PATH_RE, (_m, full: string, suffix?: string) =>
+    abbreviatePath(full, suffix, pathDepth),
+  );
+
+  // 6. Normalise whitespace: collapse multiple blank lines, trim
+  out = out.replace(/\n{3,}/g, '\n\n').trim();
+
+  // 7. Truncate
+  if (out.length > maxLength) {
+    const total = out.length;
+    out = out.slice(0, maxLength).trimEnd() + `\u2026 (${total} chars total)`;
+  }
+
+  return out;
+}