JavaScript SDK
API reference for @deepgram/agents — the core WebSocket session, microphone capture, and audio playback with volume and frequency analysis for browser-based voice agents.
Installation
Section titled “Installation”npm install @deepgram/agentsConnect to a Deepgram voice agent, capture microphone audio, and play back the agent's speech:
import { AgentSession, AgentMicrophone, AgentPlayer } from "@deepgram/agents";
const session = new AgentSession({
auth: {
tokenFactory: () => fetch("/api/deepgram-token").then((r) => r.text()),
},
agent: "YOUR_AGENT_ID",
});
const player = new AgentPlayer();
const mic = new AgentMicrophone((data) => session.sendAudio(data));
// Play agent audio
session.on("audio", (chunk) => player.queue(chunk));
// Interrupt playback when the user speaks (barge-in)
session.on("user-started-speaking", () => player.interrupt());
// Log conversation turns
session.on("conversation-text", (msg) => {
console.log(`${msg.role}: ${msg.content}`);
});
await session.connect();
await mic.start();Replace YOUR_AGENT_ID with a Reusable Agent Configuration UUID, or pass an inline agent config object instead. See Agent Configuration for both patterns.
AgentSession
Section titled “AgentSession”The core class that manages the WebSocket connection to the Voice Agent API. It handles authentication, automatic reconnection with exponential backoff, keep-alive pings, and audio buffering before the server acknowledges settings.
import { AgentSession } from "@deepgram/agents";
const session = new AgentSession(config);Configuration
Section titled “Configuration”const session = new AgentSession({
// Required — authentication
auth: {
tokenFactory: () => fetch("/api/token").then((r) => r.text()),
},
// Required — agent ID or inline settings
agent: "YOUR_AGENT_ID",
// Optional — audio format
audio: {
input: { encoding: "linear16", sampleRate: 16_000 },
output: { encoding: "linear16", sampleRate: 24_000 },
},
// Optional — reconnection behavior
reconnect: {
enabled: true,
maxAttempts: 8,
baseDelay: 500,
maxDelay: 30_000,
jitter: true,
},
// Optional — keep-alive ping interval (ms)
keepAliveInterval: 10_000,
// Optional — custom WebSocket URL (for proxies)
url: undefined,
});Auth options:
| Option | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
tokenFactory |
() => Promise<string> |
Returns a short-lived bearer token from your backend. Called at connect-time and before every reconnect. Tokens are cached internally until near expiry. |
apiKey |
string |
Raw Deepgram API key. Server-side or local development only. Never expose in production browser bundles. |
Agent options:
The agent field accepts either a string agent ID from the Deepgram Console or an inline AgentSettingsObject with listen, think, and speak configuration.
Audio options:
| Option | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
input.encoding |
"linear16" |
Audio encoding sent to the server. Supported: linear16, linear32, flac, alaw, mulaw, amr-nb, amr-wb, opus, ogg-opus, speex, g729. |
input.sampleRate |
16000 |
Input sample rate in Hz. |
output.encoding |
"linear16" |
Audio encoding received from the server. Supported: linear16, mulaw, alaw. |
output.sampleRate |
24000 |
Output sample rate in Hz. |
Reconnection options:
| Option | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
enabled |
true |
Automatically reconnect on unexpected disconnections. |
maxAttempts |
8 |
Maximum number of reconnection attempts before giving up. |
baseDelay |
500 |
Initial delay in ms before the first retry. |
maxDelay |
30000 |
Maximum delay in ms between retries. Delays grow via exponential backoff. |
jitter |
true |
Add randomization (plus or minus 20%) to each delay to avoid thundering herd. |
Connection States
Section titled “Connection States”The state property reflects the current connection lifecycle:
session.state; // "idle" | "connecting" | "connected" | "reconnecting" | "disconnected"idle— session created butconnect()has not been called.connecting— WebSocket connection attempt in progress.connected— WebSocket is open and the session is active.reconnecting— connection lost; attempting to reconnect with backoff.disconnected— connection closed and no further reconnection attempts will be made.
Methods
Section titled “Methods”connect(): Promise<void> — establish the WebSocket connection to the agent. Resolves when the socket is open. The SDK automatically sends a Settings message after receiving the Welcome event.
await session.connect();disconnect(): void — close the connection and cancel any pending reconnection attempts.
session.disconnect();sendAudio(data: ArrayBuffer): void — send a PCM audio frame to the agent. Frames sent before the server fires settings-applied are queued internally and flushed automatically once the agent is ready. This prevents dropped frames during connection setup.
session.sendAudio(audioBuffer);injectUserMessage(content: string): void — inject a text message into the conversation as the user.
session.injectUserMessage("What's the weather like?");injectAgentMessage(message: string): void — inject a text message into the conversation as the agent.
session.injectAgentMessage("Let me look that up for you.");updatePrompt(prompt: string): void — change the agent's system prompt mid-session.
session.updatePrompt("You are now a customer support agent.");updateSpeak(settings): void — change TTS settings mid-session. Accepts a SpeakSettings object or an array.
session.updateSpeak({
provider: { type: "deepgram", version: "v2", model: "flux-alexis-en" },
});updateThink(settings): void — change LLM settings mid-session. Accepts a ThinkSettings object or an array.
session.updateThink({
provider: { type: "open_ai", model: "gpt-4o" },
});sendFunctionCallResponse(id, name, content): void — respond to a function call request from the agent. See Function Calls for a complete example.
session.sendFunctionCallResponse(fn.id, fn.name, JSON.stringify(result));getId(): string | null — returns the session ID assigned by the server. Available after the welcome event fires. Returns null before connection.
const sessionId = session.getId();Events
Section titled “Events”Subscribe with session.on(event, callback) and unsubscribe with session.off(event, callback).
Connection lifecycle:
| Event | Callback signature | Description |
|---|---|---|
connecting |
() => void |
WebSocket connection attempt started. |
connected |
() => void |
WebSocket connection established. |
reconnecting |
(attempt: number, delayMs: number) => void |
Attempting reconnection. Includes the attempt number and delay before the next retry. |
disconnected |
(reason: string) => void |
Connection closed. The reason string describes why. |
Agent protocol:
| Event | Callback signature | Description |
|---|---|---|
welcome |
(msg) => void |
Session initialized by the server. Payload includes session_id. |
settings-applied |
(msg) => void |
Server acknowledged settings. The agent is ready to receive audio. |
conversation-text |
(msg) => void |
A conversation turn was transcribed. Payload: { role: "user" | "assistant", content: string }. |
user-started-speaking |
(msg) => void |
Server detected user speech. |
agent-thinking |
(msg) => void |
Agent is processing a response. |
agent-started-speaking |
(msg) => void |
Agent began sending TTS audio. |
agent-audio-done |
(msg) => void |
Agent finished sending audio. Note: browser playback may still be in progress. |
function-call-request |
(msg) => void |
Agent requests one or more client-side function calls. Payload includes a functions array. |
function-call-response |
(msg) => void |
Server acknowledged a function call response. |
prompt-updated |
(msg) => void |
System prompt was changed successfully. |
speak-updated |
(msg) => void |
TTS settings were changed successfully. |
think-updated |
(msg) => void |
LLM settings were changed successfully. |
injection-refused |
(msg) => void |
A message injection was rejected by the server. |
Audio:
| Event | Callback signature | Description |
|---|---|---|
audio |
(chunk: ArrayBuffer) => void |
Raw PCM audio buffer from the agent. Pass to AgentPlayer.queue(). |
Errors:
| Event | Callback signature | Description |
|---|---|---|
error |
(msg) => void |
Server-side agent error. |
warning |
(msg) => void |
Server-side warning. |
sdk-error |
(err: Error) => void |
Client-side SDK error (connection failures, timeouts, etc.). |
AgentMicrophone
Section titled “AgentMicrophone”Captures PCM audio from the user's microphone using the Web Audio API.
import { AgentMicrophone } from "@deepgram/agents";
const mic = new AgentMicrophone(
(data) => session.sendAudio(data),
{
sampleRate: 16_000,
echoCancellation: true,
noiseSuppression: true,
autoGainControl: true,
}
);
await mic.start();The first argument is a callback invoked with each captured audio frame as an ArrayBuffer. Pass session.sendAudio to stream audio directly to the agent.
Options
Section titled “Options”| Option | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
sampleRate |
number |
16000 |
Target sample rate in Hz for PCM capture. |
echoCancellation |
boolean |
true |
Enable browser echo cancellation via getUserMedia. |
noiseSuppression |
boolean |
true |
Enable browser noise suppression via getUserMedia. |
autoGainControl |
boolean |
true |
Enable browser auto gain control via getUserMedia. |
Methods
Section titled “Methods”start(): Promise<void> — request microphone permission via getUserMedia and begin capturing audio frames.
await mic.start();stop(): void — stop capturing audio, disconnect the audio worklet, and release the microphone device.
mic.stop();mute(): void — pause audio transmission without releasing the microphone. The device remains active but frames are not forwarded.
mic.mute();unmute(): void — resume audio transmission after a mute() call.
mic.unmute();muted: boolean — read-only property indicating whether the microphone is currently muted.
getInputVolume(): number — returns the current RMS input volume level as a value between 0 and 1. Call per animation frame for real-time visualizations.
function animate() {
const volume = mic.getInputVolume();
drawMeter(volume);
requestAnimationFrame(animate);
}getInputByteFrequencyData(): Uint8Array — returns frequency domain data as a Uint8Array with values 0--255. Use for spectrum or waveform visualizations.
Events
Section titled “Events”Subscribe with mic.on(event, callback) and unsubscribe with mic.off(event, callback).
| Event | Callback signature | Description |
|---|---|---|
audio-frame |
(data: ArrayBuffer) => void |
A raw audio frame was captured. |
error |
(err: Error) => void |
Microphone error (permission denied, device lost, etc.). |
AgentPlayer
Section titled “AgentPlayer”Decodes and plays PCM audio received from the agent. Maintains a playback queue with interrupt support for barge-in, and exposes volume and frequency analysis APIs for building custom visualizations.
import { AgentPlayer } from "@deepgram/agents";
const player = new AgentPlayer({ sampleRate: 24_000 });
session.on("audio", (chunk) => player.queue(chunk));
session.on("user-started-speaking", () => player.interrupt());Options
Section titled “Options”| Option | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
sampleRate |
number |
24000 |
Expected sample rate of audio received from the agent. Must match audio.output.sampleRate in the session configuration. |
Methods
Section titled “Methods”queue(data: ArrayBuffer): void — decode a PCM audio buffer and add it to the playback queue. Buffers are played in order with sample-accurate scheduling.
interrupt(): void — immediately stop playback and discard all queued audio. Use when the user starts speaking to enable barge-in.
getRemainingPlaybackTime(): number — returns the number of seconds of audio still queued for playback. Returns 0 when idle. Useful for delaying mode transitions until the agent finishes speaking.
mute(): void — stop playback and discard queued audio. Subsequent calls to queue() are silently dropped until unmute() is called.
unmute(): void — resume accepting and playing queued audio.
muted: boolean — read-only property indicating whether the player is currently muted.
setVolume(volume: number): void — set the playback volume as a value between 0 and 1. Default: 1.
player.setVolume(0.5);volume: number — read-only property returning the current playback volume (0--1).
getOutputVolume(): number — returns the current RMS output volume level as a value between 0 and 1. Call per animation frame for real-time visualizations.
getOutputByteFrequencyData(): Uint8Array — returns frequency domain data as a Uint8Array with values 0--255. Use for spectrum visualizations of the agent's speech.
dispose(): void — close the underlying AudioContext and free resources. Call when the session is no longer needed.
Function Calls
Section titled “Function Calls”The agent can request client-side function calls during a conversation. Listen for the function-call-request event, execute the requested function, and respond with the result using sendFunctionCallResponse.
session.on("function-call-request", async (msg) => {
for (const fn of msg.functions) {
let result;
switch (fn.name) {
case "get_weather":
result = await fetchWeather(JSON.parse(fn.input));
break;
case "book_appointment":
result = await bookAppointment(JSON.parse(fn.input));
break;
default:
result = { error: `Unknown function: ${fn.name}` };
}
session.sendFunctionCallResponse(fn.id, fn.name, JSON.stringify(result));
}
});Each item in the functions array contains:
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
id |
string |
Unique identifier for this function call. Pass back in the response. |
name |
string |
The function name the agent wants to invoke. |
input |
string |
JSON-encoded arguments for the function. |
The agent pauses until it receives a response for each requested function call.
Token Caching
Section titled “Token Caching”The SDK caches authentication tokens internally. When you provide a tokenFactory in the auth configuration, the AgentSession wraps it in a caching layer that avoids requesting a new token on every reconnect. Tokens are cached for 4 minutes by default, which is safe for Deepgram's 5-minute short-lived keys. The cache is automatically invalidated before each reconnection attempt to ensure a fresh token is available.
const session = new AgentSession({
auth: {
// This function is only called when the cache is empty or expired
tokenFactory: async () => {
const res = await fetch("/api/deepgram-token");
return res.text();
},
},
agent: "YOUR_AGENT_ID",
});No additional setup is required. The caching behavior is automatic and transparent.