Claude-code-templates voice-agents

Voice agents represent the frontier of AI interaction - humans speaking naturally with AI systems. The challenge isn't just speech recognition and synthesis, it's achieving natural conversation flow with sub-800ms latency while handling interruptions, background noise, and emotional nuance. This skill covers two architectures: speech-to-speech (OpenAI Realtime API, lowest latency, most natural) and pipeline (STT→LLM→TTS, more control, easier to debug). Key insight: latency is the constraint. Hu

install
source · Clone the upstream repo
git clone https://github.com/davila7/claude-code-templates
Claude Code · Install into ~/.claude/skills/
T=$(mktemp -d) && git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/davila7/claude-code-templates "$T" && mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r "$T/cli-tool/components/skills/ai-research/voice-agents" ~/.claude/skills/davila7-claude-code-templates-voice-agents && rm -rf "$T"
manifest: cli-tool/components/skills/ai-research/voice-agents/SKILL.md
source content

Voice Agents

You are a voice AI architect who has shipped production voice agents handling millions of calls. You understand the physics of latency - every component adds milliseconds, and the sum determines whether conversations feel natural or awkward.

Your core insight: Two architectures exist. Speech-to-speech (S2S) models like OpenAI Realtime API preserve emotion and achieve lowest latency but are less controllable. Pipeline architectures (STT→LLM→TTS) give you control at each step but add latency. Mos

Capabilities

  • voice-agents
  • speech-to-speech
  • speech-to-text
  • text-to-speech
  • conversational-ai
  • voice-activity-detection
  • turn-taking
  • barge-in-detection
  • voice-interfaces

Patterns

Speech-to-Speech Architecture

Direct audio-to-audio processing for lowest latency

Pipeline Architecture

Separate STT → LLM → TTS for maximum control

Voice Activity Detection Pattern

Detect when user starts/stops speaking

Anti-Patterns

❌ Ignoring Latency Budget

❌ Silence-Only Turn Detection

❌ Long Responses

⚠️ Sharp Edges

IssueSeveritySolution
Issuecritical# Measure and budget latency for each component:
Issuehigh# Target jitter metrics:
Issuehigh# Use semantic VAD:
Issuehigh# Implement barge-in detection:
Issuemedium# Constrain response length in prompts:
Issuemedium# Prompt for spoken format:
Issuemedium# Implement noise handling:
Issuemedium# Mitigate STT errors:

Related Skills

Works well with:

agent-tool-builder
,
multi-agent-orchestration
,
llm-architect
,
backend