diff --git a/tests/tools/test_tts_edge_no_ogg_cli.py b/tests/tools/test_tts_edge_no_ogg_cli.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..2e9402322678
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/tools/test_tts_edge_no_ogg_cli.py
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+"""Regression tests for Edge TTS keeping MP3 on non-Telegram platforms (#26404).
+
+Edge TTS writes MP3 natively. Pre-fix, `text_to_speech_tool` unconditionally
+re-encoded that MP3 to OGG/Opus regardless of the delivery platform, which
+broke local playback via `afplay` on macOS CLI (and any other tool that
+expects the original MP3).
+
+These tests assert that the post-generation `_convert_to_opus` call is
+gated on the Telegram delivery predicate (``want_opus``).
+"""
+
+import asyncio
+import json
+from pathlib import Path
+from unittest.mock import AsyncMock, MagicMock, patch
+
+import pytest
+
+from tools import tts_tool
+from tools.tts_tool import text_to_speech_tool
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def edge_stub(monkeypatch):
+    """Stub Edge TTS so it writes a fake MP3 at the output path without
+    network access."""
+    mock_comm = MagicMock()
+
+    async def _fake_save(output_path):
+        Path(output_path).write_bytes(b"ID3fake-mp3-bytes")
+
+    mock_comm.save = AsyncMock(side_effect=_fake_save)
+    mock_edge = MagicMock()
+    mock_edge.Communicate = MagicMock(return_value=mock_comm)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(tts_tool, "_import_edge_tts", lambda: mock_edge)
+
+    cfg = {"provider": "edge"}
+    monkeypatch.setattr(tts_tool, "_load_tts_config", lambda: cfg)
+
+
+class TestEdgeTtsOpusGating:
+    def test_cli_platform_keeps_mp3_and_skips_conversion(self, edge_stub, tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+        """When HERMES_SESSION_PLATFORM is unset (CLI), Edge TTS output
+        must stay as `.mp3` and `_convert_to_opus` must NOT be invoked."""
+        monkeypatch.delenv("HERMES_SESSION_PLATFORM", raising=False)
+
+        out = tmp_path / "clip.mp3"
+
+        def fake_convert(mp3_path):
+            # If this is invoked at all, the gating regressed. Produce a real
+            # .ogg sidecar so the rest of the function continues and the
+            # post-condition assertions surface the regression cleanly instead
+            # of masking it as a JSON-serialisation error.
+            ogg_path = mp3_path.rsplit(".", 1)[0] + ".ogg"
+            Path(ogg_path).write_bytes(b"OggS-fake-opus")
+            return ogg_path
+
+        with patch.object(tts_tool, "_convert_to_opus", side_effect=fake_convert) as mock_convert:
+            result = text_to_speech_tool(text="hello", output_path=str(out))
+
+        data = json.loads(result)
+        assert data["success"] is True, data
+        assert data["provider"] == "edge"
+        mock_convert.assert_not_called()
+        assert data["file_path"].endswith(".mp3"), (
+            f"Edge TTS should keep .mp3 on CLI but returned {data['file_path']}"
+        )
+
+    def test_telegram_platform_still_converts_to_ogg(self, edge_stub, tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+        """Regression guard: Telegram delivery (the only legit use-case for
+        OGG/Opus conversion) must still trigger `_convert_to_opus`."""
+        monkeypatch.setenv("HERMES_SESSION_PLATFORM", "telegram")
+
+        out = tmp_path / "clip.mp3"
+
+        def fake_convert(mp3_path):
+            ogg_path = mp3_path.rsplit(".", 1)[0] + ".ogg"
+            Path(ogg_path).write_bytes(b"OggS-fake-opus")
+            return ogg_path
+
+        with patch.object(tts_tool, "_convert_to_opus", side_effect=fake_convert) as mock_convert:
+            result = text_to_speech_tool(text="hello", output_path=str(out))
+
+        data = json.loads(result)
+        assert data["success"] is True, data
+        mock_convert.assert_called_once()
+        assert data["file_path"].endswith(".ogg"), (
+            f"Telegram delivery should convert to .ogg but returned {data['file_path']}"
+        )
diff --git a/tools/tts_tool.py b/tools/tts_tool.py
index 57907f768336..eac75b6c4730 100644
--- a/tools/tts_tool.py
+++ b/tools/tts_tool.py
@@ -1844,7 +1844,9 @@ def text_to_speech_tool(
                     if opus_path:
                         file_str = opus_path
                 voice_compatible = file_str.endswith(".ogg")
-        elif provider in {"edge", "neutts", "minimax", "xai", "kittentts", "piper"} and not file_str.endswith(".ogg"):
+        # Gate OGG/Opus conversion on want_opus (Telegram delivery) so CLI/macOS
+        # users keep the native MP3/WAV output and afplay-compatible playback (#26404).
+        elif want_opus and provider in {"edge", "neutts", "minimax", "xai", "kittentts", "piper"} and not file_str.endswith(".ogg"):
             opus_path = _convert_to_opus(file_str)
             if opus_path:
                 file_str = opus_path