chatdio

chatdio

A modern Web Audio library for building conversational AI interfaces. Handles microphone capture, audio playback, device management, WebSocket streaming, and real-time visualization — all with cross-browser support (Chrome, Firefox, Safari).

Features

• 🎙️ Microphone Capture with echo cancellation, noise suppression, and auto gain control
• 🔊 Audio Playback with buffering, volume control, and seamless queuing
• 📱 Device Management with hot-plug detection and automatic fallback
• 🌐 WebSocket Streaming with auto-reconnection and binary/JSON modes
• 📊 Real-time Visualization data for level meters and waveforms
• 🎚️ Sample Rate & Bit Depth conversion (8/16/24/32-bit, 8kHz-48kHz)
• 🔇 Barge-in Support for interrupting AI responses

Installation

npm install chatdio

Quick Start

import { Chatdio } from 'chatdio';

// Create instance with configuration
const audio = new Chatdio({
  microphone: {
    sampleRate: 16000,
    echoCancellation: true,
    noiseSuppression: true,
  },
  playback: {
    sampleRate: 24000,
    bitDepth: 16,
  },
  websocket: {
    url: 'wss://your-ai-server.com/audio',
    autoReconnect: true,
  },
});

// Initialize (must be called from a user gesture)
document.querySelector('#startBtn')?.addEventListener('click', async () => {
  await audio.initialize();
  
  // Start full-duplex conversation
  await audio.startConversation();
});

// Handle events
audio.on('mic:activity', (data) => {
  console.log('Mic level:', data.volume, 'Speaking:', data.isSpeaking);
});

audio.on('playback:activity', (data) => {
  console.log('Playback level:', data.volume);
});

audio.on('ws:connected', () => {
  console.log('Connected to AI server');
});

audio.on('ws:message', (message) => {
  console.log('Received message:', message);
});

Core Components

Chatdio

The main orchestrator that ties everything together.

const audio = new Chatdio({
  microphone: { /* MicrophoneConfig */ },
  playback: { /* PlaybackConfig */ },
  websocket: { /* WebSocketConfig */ },
  deviceManager: { /* DeviceManagerConfig */ },
  activityAnalyzer: { /* ActivityAnalyzerConfig */ },
});

// Lifecycle
await audio.initialize();      // Initialize (from user gesture)
await audio.startConversation(); // Start mic + websocket
audio.stopConversation();      // Stop mic + playback
audio.dispose();               // Cleanup resources

// Turn management (barge-in / interruption)
const turnId = audio.startTurn();           // Start new turn, interrupt any playing audio
audio.interruptTurn();                       // Interrupt current turn, start new one
audio.interruptTurn(false);                  // Interrupt without starting new turn
audio.getCurrentTurnId();                    // Get current turn ID
audio.clearTurnBuffer(turnId);               // Clear buffered audio for a turn
await audio.playAudioForTurn(data, turnId);  // Play only if turn is current

// Device selection
audio.getInputDevices();       // List microphones
audio.getOutputDevices();      // List speakers
await audio.setInputDevice(deviceId);
await audio.setOutputDevice(deviceId);

// Volume control
audio.setVolume(0.8);
audio.getVolume();

// Mute
audio.setMicrophoneMuted(true);
audio.isMicrophoneMuted();

MicrophoneCapture

Standalone microphone capture with resampling and format conversion.

import { MicrophoneCapture } from 'chatdio';

const mic = new MicrophoneCapture({
  sampleRate: 16000,          // Output sample rate
  echoCancellation: true,
  noiseSuppression: true,
  autoGainControl: true,
  bufferSize: 2048,           // Processing buffer size
});

mic.on('data', (pcmData: ArrayBuffer) => {
  // 16-bit PCM audio data ready to send
  websocket.send(pcmData);
});

mic.on('level', (level: number) => {
  updateMeter(level);
});

await mic.start();
// ...
mic.stop();

AudioPlayback

Buffered audio playback with queue management.

import { AudioPlayback } from 'chatdio';

const playback = new AudioPlayback({
  sampleRate: 24000,
  bitDepth: 16,
  channels: 1,
  bufferAhead: 0.1,  // Buffer ahead time in seconds
});

await playback.initialize();

// Queue audio chunks as they arrive
playback.on('buffer-low', () => {
  console.log('Buffer running low');
});

playback.on('ended', () => {
  console.log('Finished playing all audio');
});

// Queue PCM data
await playback.queueAudio(pcmArrayBuffer);

// Control playback
playback.pause();
await playback.resume();
playback.stop();
playback.setVolume(0.8);

AudioDeviceManager

Device enumeration with change detection.

import { AudioDeviceManager } from 'chatdio';

const deviceManager = new AudioDeviceManager({
  autoFallback: true,    // Auto-switch on device disconnect
  pollInterval: 1000,    // Fallback polling interval
});

await deviceManager.initialize();

// List devices
deviceManager.getInputDevices();
deviceManager.getOutputDevices();

// Select devices
await deviceManager.setInputDevice(deviceId);
await deviceManager.setOutputDevice(deviceId);

// Listen for changes
deviceManager.on('devices-changed', (devices) => {
  updateDeviceList(devices);
});

deviceManager.on('device-disconnected', (device) => {
  console.log('Device disconnected:', device.label);
});

// Check Safari compatibility
if (!deviceManager.isOutputSelectionSupported()) {
  console.log('Output selection not supported (Safari)');
}

WebSocketBridge

WebSocket connection with auto-reconnection.

import { WebSocketBridge } from 'chatdio';

const ws = new WebSocketBridge({
  url: 'wss://ai-server.com/audio',
  autoReconnect: true,
  maxReconnectAttempts: 5,
  reconnectDelay: 1000,
  binaryMode: true,
  
  // Custom message wrapping
  wrapOutgoingAudio: (data) => {
    return JSON.stringify({
      type: 'audio',
      data: btoa(String.fromCharCode(...new Uint8Array(data))),
    });
  },
  
  // Custom message parsing
  parseIncomingAudio: (event) => {
    const msg = JSON.parse(event.data);
    if (msg.type === 'audio') {
      return base64ToArrayBuffer(msg.data);
    }
    return null;
  },
});

ws.on('connected', () => console.log('Connected'));
ws.on('disconnected', (code, reason) => console.log('Disconnected:', reason));
ws.on('reconnecting', (attempt) => console.log('Reconnecting...', attempt));
ws.on('audio', (data) => playback.queueAudio(data));
ws.on('message', (msg) => console.log('Message:', msg));

await ws.connect();
ws.sendAudio(pcmData);
ws.sendMessage({ type: 'transcript', text: 'Hello' });
ws.disconnect();

ActivityAnalyzer

Real-time audio analysis for visualizations.

import { ActivityAnalyzer, VisualizationUtils } from 'chatdio';

const analyzer = new ActivityAnalyzer({
  fftSize: 256,
  smoothingTimeConstant: 0.8,
  updateInterval: 50,  // ms
});

// Connect to an audio node
analyzer.connect(micCapture.getAnalyzerNode());
analyzer.start();

// Listen for activity updates
analyzer.on('activity', (data) => {
  // data.volume - RMS volume (0-1)
  // data.peak - Peak level with decay (0-1)
  // data.frequencyData - Uint8Array for spectrum
  // data.timeDomainData - Uint8Array for waveform
  // data.isSpeaking - Voice activity detection
  
  drawWaveform(data.timeDomainData);
  drawSpectrum(data.frequencyData);
});

analyzer.on('speaking-start', () => console.log('Started speaking'));
analyzer.on('speaking-stop', () => console.log('Stopped speaking'));

// Utility functions for visualization
const bands = analyzer.getFrequencyBands(8);  // Get 8 frequency bands
const waveformPath = VisualizationUtils.createWaveformPath(data.timeDomainData, 200, 50);
const barHeights = VisualizationUtils.createBarHeights(data.frequencyData, 16, 100);

Events

Chatdio Events

Event	Payload	Description
mic:start	-	Microphone started
mic:stop	-	Microphone stopped
mic:data	ArrayBuffer	PCM audio data
mic:activity	AudioActivityData	Mic visualization data
mic:error	Error	Microphone error
playback:start	-	Playback started
playback:stop	-	Playback stopped
playback:ended	-	All queued audio finished
playback:activity	AudioActivityData	Playback visualization data
playback:error	Error	Playback error
ws:connected	-	WebSocket connected
ws:disconnected	code, reason	WebSocket disconnected
ws:reconnecting	attempt	Reconnection attempt
ws:audio	ArrayBuffer	Audio received from server
ws:message	unknown	Non-audio message received
ws:error	Error	WebSocket error
device:changed	AudioDevice[]	Device list changed
device:input-changed	AudioDevice | null	Input device changed
device:output-changed	AudioDevice | null	Output device changed
device:disconnected	AudioDevice	Device disconnected
turn:started	turnId, previousTurnId	New turn started
turn:interrupted	turnId	Turn was interrupted (barge-in)
turn:ended	turnId	Turn ended normally

Turn Management (Barge-in)

Turn management allows you to handle conversation interruptions cleanly. When the user speaks while the AI is responding (barge-in), you can:

• Stop current playback immediately
• Clear any buffered audio
• Ignore any late-arriving audio from the interrupted turn

// Start a conversation turn when AI begins responding
const turnId = audio.startTurn();
console.log('Started turn:', turnId);

// When user interrupts (detected via voice activity or button)
audio.on('mic:activity', (data) => {
  if (data.isSpeaking && audio.isPlaybackActive()) {
    // User is speaking while AI is talking - barge-in!
    const { interruptedTurnId, newTurnId } = audio.interruptTurn();
    console.log('Interrupted turn:', interruptedTurnId);
    console.log('New turn:', newTurnId);
  }
});

// Server sends audio with turn ID
audio.on('ws:message', async (message) => {
  if (message.type === 'audio') {
    // Only play if turn matches - old audio is automatically ignored
    const played = await audio.playAudioForTurn(message.data, message.turnId);
    if (!played) {
      console.log('Ignored audio from old turn:', message.turnId);
    }
  }
});

// Listen for turn events
audio.on('turn:started', (turnId, previousTurnId) => {
  console.log('Turn started:', turnId, 'Previous:', previousTurnId);
});

audio.on('turn:interrupted', (turnId) => {
  console.log('Turn interrupted:', turnId);
  // Notify server to stop generating audio for this turn
  audio.sendMessage({ type: 'interrupt', turnId });
});

audio.on('turn:ended', (turnId) => {
  console.log('Turn ended naturally:', turnId);
});

Server-Side Turn ID Support

When your server sends audio, include a turnId in JSON messages:

{
  "type": "audio",
  "data": "base64_encoded_audio...",
  "turnId": "turn_123456789_1"
}

Or use a custom parser to extract the turn ID:

const audio = new Chatdio({
  websocket: {
    url: 'wss://your-server.com/audio',
    parseIncomingAudio: (event) => {
      const msg = JSON.parse(event.data);
      if (msg.type === 'audio') {
        return {
          data: base64ToArrayBuffer(msg.audio),
          turnId: msg.turn_id,  // Your server's turn ID field
        };
      }
      return null;
    },
  },
});

Type Definitions

interface AudioFormat {
  sampleRate: 8000 | 16000 | 22050 | 24000 | 44100 | 48000;
  bitDepth: 8 | 16 | 24 | 32;
  channels: 1 | 2;
}

interface AudioDevice {
  deviceId: string;
  label: string;
  kind: 'audioinput' | 'audiooutput';
  isDefault: boolean;
}

interface AudioActivityData {
  volume: number;
  peak: number;
  frequencyData: Uint8Array;
  timeDomainData: Uint8Array;
  isSpeaking: boolean;
}

type ConnectionState = 'disconnected' | 'connecting' | 'connected' | 'reconnecting' | 'error';

Browser Compatibility

Feature	Chrome	Firefox	Safari
Mic Capture	✅	✅	✅
Echo Cancellation	✅	✅	✅
Audio Playback	✅	✅	✅
Output Device Selection	✅	✅	❌
Device Change Detection	✅	✅	Via polling

Notes

• User Gesture Required: initialize() and startMicrophone() must be called from a user interaction (click, touch) in Safari and Firefox
• Safari Output: Output device selection (setSinkId) is not supported in Safari; audio plays through the default device
• Echo Cancellation: Browser implementations vary; Chrome generally has the best echo cancellation
• Sample Rates: Native sample rate depends on the audio device; resampling is done in JavaScript when needed

iOS Compatibility

iOS Safari has strict requirements for audio playback. To ensure audio works on iPhone/iPad:

• Call unlockAudio() from a user gesture (click/touch handler):

// IMPORTANT: Call this directly from a button click or touch event
startButton.addEventListener('click', async () => {
  await audio.initialize();
  await audio.unlockAudio();  // Unlocks iOS audio
  await audio.startConversation();
});

• Why this is needed: iOS Safari requires audio to be "unlocked" by playing audio directly in response to a user gesture. The unlockAudio() method plays a tiny silent buffer which enables subsequent programmatic audio playback.

• Common pitfall: If you initialize audio on page load or from a non-user-gesture context (like a setTimeout or Promise resolution), audio playback will fail silently on iOS.

• The unlockAudio() method:

  • Resumes the AudioContext if suspended
  • Plays a silent buffer to unlock iOS audio
  • Starts the audio element if using output device selection
  • Should be called once per session, from a user gesture

License

MIT