Feedback: speech-to-text-universal-streaming-voice-agents

Documentation Feedback

Original URL: https://www.assemblyai.com/docs/speech-to-text/universal-streaming/voice-agents
Category: speech-to-text
Generated: 05/08/2025, 4:22:51 pm

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Claude Sonnet 4 Feedback

Generated: 05/08/2025, 4:22:50 pm

Technical Documentation Analysis: AssemblyAI Voice Agents

Overall Assessment

This documentation covers an important use case but lacks the depth and clarity needed for developers to successfully implement voice agents. The content feels more like a brief overview than comprehensive technical documentation.

Critical Issues & Recommendations

1. Missing Essential Information

Problem: No prerequisites, setup instructions, or API configuration details.

Solution: Add these sections:

## Prerequisites
- AssemblyAI Universal Streaming API access
- API key configuration
- Supported audio formats and sampling rates
- Network requirements (WebSocket connections)

## Quick Start
- Authentication setup
- Basic connection example
- Required parameters for voice agent optimization

2. Unclear Core Concepts

Problem: Key terms like “immutable transcripts,” “end_of_turn,” and “turn detection logic” are used without definition.

Solution: Add a concepts section:

## Key Concepts
- **Immutable transcripts**: Completed transcription segments that won't change
- **End of turn**: Signal indicating speech segment completion
- **Turn detection**: Logic to identify when a speaker has finished
- **Partial transcripts**: Interim results that may still change

3. Incomplete Implementation Strategy

Problem: The algorithm description lacks crucial implementation details and error handling.

Solution: Provide complete pseudocode:

## Complete Implementation Flow

```python
class VoiceAgentHandler:
    def __init__(self):
        self.running_transcript = ""
        self.expecting_final = False

    def handle_transcript(self, transcript_data):
        # Handle errors
        if transcript_data.get('error'):
            self.handle_error(transcript_data['error'])
            return

        # Main logic with edge cases
        is_final = transcript_data.get('end_of_turn', False)
        text = transcript_data.get('text', '')

        if is_final:
            if not self.expecting_final:
                self.running_transcript += text + " "
            else:
                self.expecting_final = False  # Reset flag

        # Turn detection logic here
        if self.detect_end_of_turn(text):
            full_message = self.running_transcript + text
            self.send_to_llm(full_message)
            self.clear_state()

4. Insufficient Examples

Problem: The JSON example doesn’t show actual API response format or realistic scenarios.

Solution: Provide complete, realistic examples:

## Real-world Example

### WebSocket Response Format
```json
{
  "message_type": "PartialTranscript",
  "transcript": {
    "text": "hello my name is",
    "confidence": 0.95,
    "words": [...],
    "end_of_turn": false
  },
  "audio_start": 1000,
  "audio_end": 2500
}

Handling Interruptions

// User starts speaking again before finishing
→ "how can I help" (partial)
→ "actually wait" (new speech detected)
→ "how can I help" (final - should be ignored)
→ "actually wait let me" (partial)

5. Missing Error Handling

Problem: No guidance on handling common issues.

Solution: Add comprehensive error handling:

## Error Handling

### Common Scenarios
- **Network disconnections**: Implement reconnection logic
- **Audio quality issues**: Handle low confidence scores
- **Overlapping speech**: Manage multiple speakers
- **Silence detection**: Configure appropriate timeouts

### Error Response Format
```json
{
  "error": {
    "type": "AudioQualityError",
    "message": "Audio sample rate too low",
    "code": 4001
  }
}

6. Performance and Configuration Missing

Problem: Latency optimization mentioned but no specific guidance provided.

Solution: Add performance section:

## Performance Optimization

### Configuration for Low Latency
```json
{
  "sample_rate": 16000,
  "encoding": "pcm_s16le",
  "interim_results": true,
  "boost_param": "low_latency",
  "punctuate": false,  // Recommended for voice agents
  "format_text": false  // Use unformatted for speed
}

Latency Benchmarks

• Expected latency: 100-200ms
• Factors affecting performance
• Network optimization tips

### 7. Structural Improvements

**Current structure is too shallow. Recommended structure:**

```markdown
# Voice Agents with AssemblyAI Universal Streaming

## Overview
## Prerequisites
## Quick Start
## Core Concepts
## Implementation Guide
  ### Basic Setup
  ### Transcript Handling
  ### Turn Detection
  ### Error Handling
## Advanced Patterns
  ### Handling Interruptions
  ### Multi-speaker Scenarios
  ### Custom Turn Detection
## Performance Optimization
## Troubleshooting
## Integration Examples
## Voice Agent Orchestrators

8. User Pain Points to Address

1. “How do I get started?” - Add quick start section
2. “What if the user interrupts?” - Add interruption handling
3. “How do I test this?” - Add testing guidance
4. “What are the costs?” - Add usage considerations
5. “How reliable is turn detection?” - Add accuracy expectations

9. Code Quality Issues

Problem: Inconsistent terminology and incomplete code samples.

Solution:

• Use consistent variable names throughout
• Provide complete, runnable examples
• Add code comments explaining business logic
• Include unit test examples

10. Missing Integration Context

Problem: The orchestrator section is too brief and disconnected.

Solution:

• Explain when to use each orchestrator
• Provide comparison table
• Show code examples for each integration
• Link to specific use cases

Conclusion

This documentation needs significant expansion to be truly useful for developers. The core concept is sound, but implementation details, error handling, performance guidance, and real-world examples are critically missing. Focus on providing complete, actionable guidance that developers can follow from start to finish.

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