azure-ai-voicelive-dotnet

Azure.AI.VoiceLive (.NET)

Real-time voice AI SDK for building bidirectional voice assistants with Azure AI.

Installation

dotnet add package Azure.AI.VoiceLive
dotnet add package Azure.Identity
dotnet add package NAudio                    # For audio capture/playback

Current Versions: Stable v1.0.0, Preview v1.1.0-beta.1

Environment Variables

AZURE_VOICELIVE_ENDPOINT=https://<resource>.services.ai.azure.com/  # Required: Voice Live endpoint
AZURE_VOICELIVE_MODEL=gpt-4o-realtime-preview  # Required: model deployment name
AZURE_VOICELIVE_VOICE=en-US-AvaNeural  # Optional: Voice Live voice name
AZURE_VOICELIVE_API_KEY=<your-api-key>  # Only required for AzureKeyCredential auth
AZURE_TOKEN_CREDENTIALS=prod  # Required only if DefaultAzureCredential is used in production

Authentication

Microsoft Entra Token Credential

using Azure.Identity;
using Azure.AI.VoiceLive;

Uri endpoint = new Uri("https://your-resource.cognitiveservices.azure.com");
// Local dev: DefaultAzureCredential. Production: set AZURE_TOKEN_CREDENTIALS=prod or AZURE_TOKEN_CREDENTIALS=<specific_credential>
var credential = new DefaultAzureCredential(
    DefaultAzureCredential.DefaultEnvironmentVariableName
);
// Or use a specific credential directly in production:
// See https://learn.microsoft.com/dotnet/api/overview/azure/identity-readme?view=azure-dotnet#credential-classes
// var credential = new ManagedIdentityCredential();
VoiceLiveClient client = new VoiceLiveClient(endpoint, credential);

Required Role: Cognitive Services User (assign in Azure Portal → Access control)

API Key

Uri endpoint = new Uri("https://your-resource.cognitiveservices.azure.com");
AzureKeyCredential credential = new AzureKeyCredential("your-api-key");
VoiceLiveClient client = new VoiceLiveClient(endpoint, credential);

Client Hierarchy

VoiceLiveClient
└── VoiceLiveSession (WebSocket connection)
    ├── ConfigureSessionAsync()
    ├── GetUpdatesAsync() → SessionUpdate events
    ├── AddItemAsync() → UserMessageItem, FunctionCallOutputItem
    ├── SendAudioAsync()
    └── StartResponseAsync()

Core Workflow

1. Start Session and Configure

using Azure.Identity;
using Azure.AI.VoiceLive;

var endpoint = new Uri(Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("AZURE_VOICELIVE_ENDPOINT"));
var client = new VoiceLiveClient(endpoint, new DefaultAzureCredential());

var model = "gpt-4o-mini-realtime-preview";

// Start session
using VoiceLiveSession session = await client.StartSessionAsync(model);

// Configure session
VoiceLiveSessionOptions sessionOptions = new()
{
    Model = model,
    Instructions = "You are a helpful AI assistant. Respond naturally.",
    Voice = new AzureStandardVoice("en-US-AvaNeural"),
    TurnDetection = new AzureSemanticVadTurnDetection()
    {
        Threshold = 0.5f,
        PrefixPadding = TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(300),
        SilenceDuration = TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(500)
    },
    InputAudioFormat = InputAudioFormat.Pcm16,
    OutputAudioFormat = OutputAudioFormat.Pcm16
};

// Set modalities (both text and audio for voice assistants)
sessionOptions.Modalities.Clear();
sessionOptions.Modalities.Add(InteractionModality.Text);
sessionOptions.Modalities.Add(InteractionModality.Audio);

await session.ConfigureSessionAsync(sessionOptions);

2. Process Events

await foreach (SessionUpdate serverEvent in session.GetUpdatesAsync())
{
    switch (serverEvent)
    {
        case SessionUpdateResponseAudioDelta audioDelta:
            byte[] audioData = audioDelta.Delta.ToArray();
            // Play audio via NAudio or other audio library
            break;
            
        case SessionUpdateResponseTextDelta textDelta:
            Console.Write(textDelta.Delta);
            break;
            
        case SessionUpdateResponseFunctionCallArgumentsDone functionCall:
            // Handle function call (see Function Calling section)
            break;
            
        case SessionUpdateError error:
            Console.WriteLine($"Error: {error.Error.Message}");
            break;
            
        case SessionUpdateResponseDone:
            Console.WriteLine("\n--- Response complete ---");
            break;
    }
}

3. Send User Message

await session.AddItemAsync(new UserMessageItem("Hello, can you help me?"));
await session.StartResponseAsync();

4. Function Calling

// Define function
var weatherFunction = new VoiceLiveFunctionDefinition("get_current_weather")
{
    Description = "Get the current weather for a given location",
    Parameters = BinaryData.FromString("""
        {
            "type": "object",
            "properties": {
                "location": {
                    "type": "string",
                    "description": "The city and state or country"
                }
            },
            "required": ["location"]
        }
        """)
};

// Add to session options
sessionOptions.Tools.Add(weatherFunction);

// Handle function call in event loop
if (serverEvent is SessionUpdateResponseFunctionCallArgumentsDone functionCall)
{
    if (functionCall.Name == "get_current_weather")
    {
        var parameters = JsonSerializer.Deserialize<Dictionary<string, string>>(functionCall.Arguments);
        string location = parameters?["location"] ?? "";
        
        // Call external service
        string weatherInfo = $"The weather in {location} is sunny, 75°F.";
        
        // Send response
        await session.AddItemAsync(new FunctionCallOutputItem(functionCall.CallId, weatherInfo));
        await session.StartResponseAsync();
    }
}

Voice Options

Voice Type	Class	Example
Azure Standard	AzureStandardVoice	"en-US-AvaNeural"
Azure HD	AzureStandardVoice	"en-US-Ava:DragonHDLatestNeural"
Azure Custom	AzureCustomVoice	Custom voice with endpoint ID

Supported Models

Model	Description
gpt-4o-realtime-preview	GPT-4o with real-time audio
gpt-4o-mini-realtime-preview	Lightweight, fast interactions
phi4-mm-realtime	Cost-effective multimodal

Key Types Reference

Type	Purpose
VoiceLiveClient	Main client for creating sessions
VoiceLiveSession	Active WebSocket session
VoiceLiveSessionOptions	Session configuration
AzureStandardVoice	Standard Azure voice provider
AzureSemanticVadTurnDetection	Voice activity detection
VoiceLiveFunctionDefinition	Function tool definition
UserMessageItem	User text message
FunctionCallOutputItem	Function call response
SessionUpdateResponseAudioDelta	Audio chunk event
SessionUpdateResponseTextDelta	Text chunk event

Best Practices

1. Always set both modalities — Include Text and Audio for voice assistants
2. Use AzureSemanticVadTurnDetection — Provides natural conversation flow
3. Configure appropriate silence duration — 500ms typical to avoid premature cutoffs
4. Use using statement — Ensures proper session disposal
5. Handle all event types — Check for errors, audio, text, and function calls
6. Use DefaultAzureCredential — Never hardcode API keys

Error Handling

if (serverEvent is SessionUpdateError error)
{
    if (error.Error.Message.Contains("Cancellation failed: no active response"))
    {
        // Benign error, can ignore
    }
    else
    {
        Console.WriteLine($"Error: {error.Error.Message}");
    }
}

Audio Configuration

• Input Format: InputAudioFormat.Pcm16 (16-bit PCM)
• Output Format: OutputAudioFormat.Pcm16
• Sample Rate: 24kHz recommended
• Channels: Mono

Related SDKs

SDK	Purpose	Install
Azure.AI.VoiceLive	Real-time voice (this SDK)	dotnet add package Azure.AI.VoiceLive
Microsoft.CognitiveServices.Speech	Speech-to-text, text-to-speech	dotnet add package Microsoft.CognitiveServices.Speech
NAudio	Audio capture/playback	dotnet add package NAudio

Reference Links

Resource	URL
NuGet Package	https://www.nuget.org/packages/Azure.AI.VoiceLive
API Reference	https://learn.microsoft.com/dotnet/api/azure.ai.voicelive
GitHub Source	https://github.com/Azure/azure-sdk-for-net/tree/main/sdk/ai/Azure.AI.VoiceLive
Quickstart	https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/ai-services/speech-service/voice-live-quickstart