Provider voice capabilities

Speech (TTS)

import {  assertOkOrThrowProviderError,  postJsonRequest,} from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/provider-http"; api.registerSpeechProvider({  id: "acme-ai",  label: "Acme Speech",  defaultTimeoutMs: 120_000,  isConfigured: ({ config }) => Boolean(config.messages?.tts),  synthesize: async (req) => {    const { response, release } = await postJsonRequest({      url: "https://api.example.com/v1/speech",      headers: new Headers({ "Content-Type": "application/json" }),      body: { text: req.text },      timeoutMs: req.timeoutMs,      fetchFn: fetch,      auditContext: "acme speech",    });    try {      await assertOkOrThrowProviderError(response, "Acme Speech API error");      return {        audioBuffer: Buffer.from(await response.arrayBuffer()),        outputFormat: "mp3",        fileExtension: ".mp3",        voiceCompatible: false,      };    } finally {      await release();    }  },});

Use assertOkOrThrowProviderError(...) for provider HTTP failures so plugins share capped error-body reads, JSON error parsing, and request-id suffixes. Pass { requestHeaders: headers } as its third argument when requests carry credentials: this redacts reflected header values before error details and metadata are retained. Pass the same option to readProviderJsonResponse(...) to omit unsafe parser excerpts. For provider-specific failure payloads, use redactProviderResponseErrorText(text, headers) or the bounded readProviderResponseErrorText(response, limitBytes, headers) helper from the same SDK entrypoint.

Realtime transcription

Consumers can pass candidate provider IDs as the optional second argument to listRealtimeTranscriptionProviders(cfg, providerIds). This discovers providers named in plugin-local config without broadening the active registry or bypassing plugin enablement and allow/deny policy.

Prefer createRealtimeTranscriptionWebSocketSession(...) - the shared helper handles proxy capture, reconnect backoff, close flushing, ready handshakes, audio queueing, and close-event diagnostics. Your plugin only maps upstream events.

api.registerRealtimeTranscriptionProvider({  id: "acme-ai",  label: "Acme Realtime Transcription",  isConfigured: () => true,  createSession: (req) => {    const apiKey = String(req.providerConfig.apiKey ?? "");    return createRealtimeTranscriptionWebSocketSession({      providerId: "acme-ai",      callbacks: req,      url: "wss://api.example.com/v1/realtime-transcription",      headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${apiKey}` },      onMessage: (event, transport) => {        if (event.type === "session.created") {          transport.sendJson({ type: "session.update" });          transport.markReady();          return;        }        if (event.type === "transcript.final") {          req.onTranscript?.(event.text);        }      },      sendAudio: (audio, transport) => {        transport.sendJson({          type: "audio.append",          audio: audio.toString("base64"),        });      },      onClose: (transport) => {        transport.sendJson({ type: "audio.end" });      },    });  },});

Batch STT providers that POST multipart audio should use buildAudioTranscriptionFormData(...) from openclaw/plugin-sdk/provider-http. The helper normalizes upload filenames, including AAC uploads that need an M4A-style filename for compatible transcription APIs.

Official plugins can use the private blob-runtime helper bufferToBlobPart(buffer) for other multipart uploads. Pass it directly to new Blob(...) to preserve the Buffer range without an intermediate copy; shared backing is copied when needed. Construct the Blob before awaiting other work so it snapshots the bytes immediately.

Realtime voice

Consumers can pass candidate provider IDs as the optional second argument to listRealtimeVoiceProviders(cfg, providerIds). Omit the argument for ordinary catalog discovery; per-call candidates do not change that catalog. Automatic realtime voice and Voice Call transcription selection uses declared alias config as defaults, with earlier aliases preferred and canonical values taking precedence. An explicitly selected alias still overrides canonical config without inheriting settings from other aliases.

api.registerRealtimeVoiceProvider({  id: "acme-ai",  label: "Acme Realtime Voice",  capabilities: {    transports: ["gateway-relay"],    inputAudioFormats: [{ encoding: "pcm16", sampleRateHz: 24000, channels: 1 }],    outputAudioFormats: [{ encoding: "pcm16", sampleRateHz: 24000, channels: 1 }],    supportsBargeIn: true,    handlesInputAudioBargeIn: true,    supportsToolCalls: true,  },  isConfigured: ({ providerConfig }) => Boolean(providerConfig.apiKey),  createBridge: (req) => ({    // Set this only if the provider accepts multiple tool responses for    // one call, for example an immediate "working" response followed by    // the final result.    supportsToolResultContinuation: false,    connect: async () => {},    sendAudio: () => {},    setMediaTimestamp: () => {},    handleBargeIn: () => {},    submitToolResult: () => {},    acknowledgeMark: () => {},    close: () => {},    isConnected: () => true,  }),});

Declare capabilities so talk.catalog can expose valid modes, transports, audio formats, and feature flags to browser and native Talk clients. Implement handleBargeIn when a transport can detect that a human is interrupting assistant playback and the provider supports truncating or clearing the active audio response. When native audio events identify an item, pass that identity alongside PCM as req.onAudio(audio, { itemId }); omit metadata for transports without native item IDs. If supplied, req.getPlaybackState() returns retained items in playback order with cumulative, item-relative audioEndMs; queued items have zero duration. Snapshot these offsets before clearing output and synchronize discarded output using the provider's native cancellation and truncation semantics. An empty snapshot means no retained audio, even if a new response is generating. Hosts without playback measurements omit the callback and keep the existing media-timestamp and playback-mark contract.

After emitting PCM, providers can call req.onMark?.(name, acknowledge) with an acknowledgment callback bound to that exact provider connection. The callback must reject replaced connections and retired marks, while remaining valid if a newer response starts before older playback drains. Transports invoke scoped callbacks in order after consuming the associated PCM, not when receiving or encoding it. Cancellation and failure retire provider mark ownership separately; discarded PCM is never reported as played. The existing onMark(name) and bridge.acknowledgeMark(name) contract remains available to remote transports and installed providers. Discord retains immediate acknowledgments for those legacy unscoped marks. onEvent observes diagnostic events. OpenAI and xAI report outbound frames after submitting them to the local socket; the callback neither acknowledges remote receipt nor vetoes the frame. Control requested inside an observer runs after that frame. submitToolResult may return void for synchronous submission, or a Promise<void> for an asynchronous completion boundary the provider bridge can expose. Gateway relay sessions wait for that promise before confirming a final result or clearing the linked run; reject it when submission fails. Set supportsToolResultSuppression: false when the provider cannot honor options.suppressResponse. OpenClaw then avoids suppression for internal forced-consult and cancellation results, and rejects direct suppressed-result requests instead of silently starting a response. Consumers of createRealtimeVoiceBridgeSession may likewise return a promise from onToolCall; synchronous throws and rejections are routed to the session's onError callback. The host may pass sendUserMessage(text, { toolChoice }) while the response state is idle to force one named function for that response; later responses return to the session's configured tool choice. Set handlesInputAudioBargeIn only when provider VAD confirms an interruption by calling onClearAudio("barge-in"). Providers that omit the flag use OpenClaw's local input-audio fallback detection.

A browser-session request's clientControl: { owner: "gateway" } records explicitly negotiated server-owned control. The request type requires gatewayControl.bindControl with that claim; requests without it retain the legacy callback shape. The presence of gatewayControl callbacks alone is not that negotiation: native delegation can also use them for lifecycle handling while the browser retains its data channel and transcript reporting.

For negotiated control, keep vendor authentication and signaling private, bind supported submitToolResult and sendUserMessage commands with gatewayControl.bindControl(...), and forward provider readiness, transcripts, and terminal events through the supplied callbacks. Bind instance methods to their receiver. A sideband does not need to invent media methods or create another audio peer. bindBridge(fullBridge) remains available for the stable 2026.8.1 SDK contract and is removed only with a versioned SDK break. The Gateway remains the owner of tool policy and run lifecycle; never infer control ownership from a model name or duplicate client-owned transcript writes.

Bridge requests and negotiated browser gatewayControl may provide handleDelegationInput(rawText, respond): "control" | "consult". Invoke this synchronous, side-effectful admission hook on native delegation input before consuming transcript context, replacing pending work, or aborting an active consultation. Only consult permits task fallthrough. A control result consumes the request, including refusal or failure; do not launch a task or send a task receipt. Status and cancellation are controls even while idle; redirects and follow-ups require call-owned work. Ordinary idle requests still fall through to consultation.

The host prepares delegation ownership from the resolved handlesAgentConsult capability, not supportsToolCalls: false or callback presence. In this mode, finalized transcripts only update history and observability. Tool-capable, unspecified, and tool-less nondelegating providers retain their existing transcript behavior. Without the hook, retain the existing delegation and acknowledgment policy.

The host binds steering authority to the actual admitted backend attempt after harness policy preparation. Backing agent harnesses forward the existing attempt fingerprint when registering their handle. Realtime voice providers do not calculate authority or copy a target fingerprint into incoming user input. Caller policy is projected by the host against the exact live registration, and closed or replaced owners refuse injection. Normal reply-owned attempts retain their original authority snapshot and concrete model route. A maintenance attempt that only borrows a reply operation for lifecycle management receives authority from its own prepared execution instead. Backend queues revalidate ownership after asynchronous input preparation, immediately before inserting a message or answering a pending question.

Bind respond(message) to the incoming control delegation and exact call/transport instance. Submit at most once, consuming the response before the first send attempt; multiple wire chunks are one response. Do not retry it on send failure, target a newer delegation/socket, or deliver after close/detach. Cancellation may abort the backing task without invalidating its control reply. Keep delegation IDs and wire encoding inside the provider; independent host speech and task receipts use session context instead. Submission does not establish completion or audible delivery.

The session facade admits this hook after bridge adoption, including before readiness, and fences actions and replies after closure. Callback failures are contained without task fallthrough. onTranscript retains its void callback contract, including assignable async handlers and close-time final transcript flushing.

A host runAgentConsult rejection named AbortError represents cancellation, even when the provider's own signal is still live. Do not turn it into a failed-task or retry reply. TimeoutError remains a failure. Closing a transport and canceling accepted host work are separate lifecycle operations.

Media understanding

Audio providers with their own credential and endpoint contracts can implement transcribeAudioWithContext(request). The host calls it after loading each audio file. The request includes the audio bytes, filename, model, prompt, language, timeout, transport settings, configuration, agent directory, and selected profile. Resolve credentials for that call; do not retain credentials across attachment downloads.

Return { ok: true, value: { text, model } } after transcription. Return { ok: false, error } only for authentication or configuration rejected before uploading audio. The host records that error and automatic selection may try the next provider or local backend. Canonical missing provider auth leaves the automatic candidate unavailable without a failed attempt. Upload and HTTP failures must throw: automatic selection then stops without sending the recording to another provider. Explicit model lists retain their authored fallback order.

Return the model when known; otherwise the host retains the requested model in its result. transcribeAudio remains available for providers using host-owned API-key resolution and rotation.

api.registerMediaUnderstandingProvider({  id: "acme-ai",  capabilities: ["image", "audio"],  describeImage: async (req) => ({ text: "A photo of..." }),  transcribeAudio: async (req) => ({ text: "Transcript..." }),});

Local or self-hosted media providers that intentionally do not require credentials can expose resolveAuth and return kind: "none". OpenClaw still keeps the normal auth gate for providers that do not explicitly opt in. Existing providers can keep reading req.apiKey; new providers should prefer req.auth.

api.registerMediaUnderstandingProvider({  id: "local-audio",  capabilities: ["audio"],  resolveAuth: () => ({    kind: "none",    source: "local-audio plugin no-auth",  }),  transcribeAudio: async (req) => ({ text: "Transcript..." }),});