# Build a Voice Agent

Deepgram’s Voice Agent API uses a single WebSocket connection to handle the entire conversational loop. The API integrates speech-to-text, a large language model (LLM), and text-to-speech into one stream.

## How it works

Building a voice agent involves four main steps over a WebSocket:

1. **Open a connection**: Connect to the Deepgram Agent endpoint, `wss://agent.deepgram.com/v1/agent/converse`, using a supported SDK or a WebSocket client.
2. **Configure the agent**: Send a `Settings` message to define the models, voices, and behavior.
3. **Stream audio**: Send raw audio data to the agent.
4. **Handle events**: Listen for transcripts, agent responses, and audio output.

:::callout{intent="info"}
The Voice Agent API is available on the EU endpoint at `wss://api.eu.deepgram.com/v1/agent/converse`, the AU endpoint at `wss://api.au.deepgram.com/v1/agent/converse`, and the India endpoint at `wss://api.in.deepgram.com/v1/agent/converse`. See [Regional Endpoints](/guides/self-hosted-deployments-2-reference-regional-endpoints) for details.
:::

## Choose your language

Select a language to start building your voice agent. Each tutorial provides a complete, end-to-end implementation.

::::card-grid
:::card{title="Python" href="/guides/self-hosted-deployments-3-build-a-voice-agent-python"}
Build a voice agent using the Deepgram Python SDK.
:::

:::card{title="JavaScript" href="/guides/self-hosted-deployments-3-build-a-voice-agent-javascript"}
Build a voice agent using the Deepgram JavaScript SDK.
:::

:::card{title="C#" href="/guides/self-hosted-deployments-3-build-a-voice-agent-csharp"}
Build a voice agent using the Deepgram .NET SDK.
:::

:::card{title="Go" href="/guides/self-hosted-deployments-3-build-a-voice-agent-go"}
Build a voice agent using the Deepgram Go SDK.
:::
::::

## Next steps

Once you understand the basics, you can explore more advanced configurations:

- [Browser Agent Overview](/guides/self-hosted-deployments-3-browser-agent-overview): Add voice AI to your web applications.
- [Configure the Voice Agent](/guides/self-hosted-deployments-3-configure-voice-agent): Learn about all available settings for models, voices, and audio formats.
- [API Reference](/guides/self-hosted-deployments-2-reference-voice-agent-voice-agent): View the full WebSocket protocol specification.

## Implementation examples

Check out these repositories for more complex voice agent implementations:

| Use case           | Runtime / Language           | Repo                                                                                                                                                   |
| ------------------ | ---------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Basic demo         | Node, TypeScript, JavaScript | [Deepgram Voice Agent Demo](https://github.com/deepgram-devs/deepgram-voice-agent-demo)                                                                |
| Medical assistant  | Node, TypeScript, JavaScript | [Medical Assistant Demo](https://github.com/deepgram-devs/voice-agent-medical-assistant-demo)                                                          |
| Twilio integration | Python                       | [Twilio Voice Agent](https://github.com/deepgram-devs/twilio-voice-agent) ([guide](/guides/self-hosted-deployments-3-twilio-and-deepgram-voice-agent)) |
| Text input demo    | Node, TypeScript, JavaScript | [Conversational AI Demo](https://github.com/deepgram-devs/deepgram-ai-agent-demo)                                                                      |
| Azure OpenAI       | Python                       | [Voice Agent with OpenAI Azure](https://github.com/deepgram-devs/voice-agent-azure-open-ai-services)                                                   |
| Function calling   | Python / Flask               | [Flask Agent Function Calling Demo](https://github.com/deepgram-devs/flask-agent-function-calling-demo)                                                |

## Rate limits

For information on concurrency limits, refer to the [API Rate Limits](/guides/self-hosted-deployments-2-reference-api-rate-limits) documentation.

## Usage tracking

Deepgram calculates usage based on WebSocket connection time. One hour of connection time equals one hour of API usage.

:::card{title="Deepgram API Playground" href="https://playground.deepgram.com/?endpoint=agent"}
Try this feature out in our API Playground.
:::

## Related pages

- [Architecture Overview](./self-hosted-deployments-3-voice-agent-architecture.md)
- [Feature Overview](./self-hosted-deployments-3-voice-agent-feature-overview.md)
- [Template Apps](./self-hosted-deployments-3-voice-agent-template-apps.md)
- [Build a Voice Agent with Python](./self-hosted-deployments-3-build-a-voice-agent-python.md)
- [Build a Voice Agent with JavaScript](./self-hosted-deployments-3-build-a-voice-agent-javascript.md)
- [Build a Voice Agent with C](./self-hosted-deployments-3-build-a-voice-agent-csharp.md)
- [Build a Voice Agent with Go](./self-hosted-deployments-3-build-a-voice-agent-go.md)

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