I m trying to use asyncio create task directly on session ge LiveKit Community #ask-ai

I'm trying to use asyncio.create_task() directly o...

brash-barista-66564

07/28/2025, 3:34 PM

I'm trying to use asyncio.create_task() directly on session.generate_reply(): asyncio.create_task(session.generate_reply( instructions=f"...", allow_interruptions=True )) This causes the error: TypeError: a coroutine was expected, got <livekit.agents.voice.speech_handle.SpeechHandle object> The Issue session.generate_reply() is an async method that returns a SpeechHandle object, not a coroutine. When I try to pass it directly to asyncio.create_task(), it fails because create_task() expects a coroutine. Questions: 1. What is the correct way to trigger session.generate_reply() in a fire-and-forget manner without blocking? - We need to call it from within an event handler without blocking - We want the agent to immediately start speaking when a slide changes 2. Does session.interrupt() exist and work as expected to stop current speech? - We're calling it but not sure if it's the right API - We want to stop the agent's current speech when a tool is called 3. Is there a way to check if the agent is currently speaking before calling generate_reply()? - We're using getattr(session, '_state', None) which seems hacky - Is there an official API to check the agent's current state? 4. "Can we call generate_reply() multiple times in quick succession, or do we need to wait for the previous one to complete?" - Users might execute tools fast - We want each tool change to interrupt and restart the agent's speech The immediate fix would be to wrap the generate_reply() call in an async function, but I need to know the best practice from LiveKit.

tall-airline-16756

07/28/2025, 3:34 PM

Thanks for reaching out, Andrew. I'm an AI assistant and I'm here to help. Give me a moment while I research this topic.

tall-airline-16756

07/28/2025, 3:35 PM

Here are the answers to your questions: 1. Triggering
session.generate_reply()
in a fire-and-forget manner: To trigger

session.generate_reply()

without blocking, you can call it directly without awaiting the returned

SpeechHandle

. For example:

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# Fire-and-forget - returns immediately with a SpeechHandle
handle = session.generate_reply(instructions="Tell the user we're processing their request.")

# Continue with other operations immediately
# ...

# Optionally await the handle later if needed
await handle

This allows the speech generation to happen asynchronously in the background while you continue with other operations. 2. Using
session.interrupt()
to stop current speech:

session.interrupt()

is the correct API to stop the current speech. It interrupts the ongoing speech generation and returns an

asyncio.Future

that completes when the interruption is fully processed. You can call it like this:

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# Interrupt from the session
session.interrupt()

# Or interrupt from a specific speech handle
handle = session.generate_reply(instructions="Long response...")
handle.interrupt()

When an interruption occurs, the agent stops speaking and switches to listening mode, storing the position of the speech played so far in its ChatContext. 3. Checking if the agent is currently speaking: You can use the

current_speech

property on the session to check if the agent is currently speaking:

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# Check if agent is currently speaking
current_speech = session.current_speech
if current_speech:
    print("Agent is currently speaking")
    # You can also check if it's been interrupted
    if current_speech.interrupted:
        print("Current speech was interrupted")
else:
    print("Agent is not speaking")

If no speech is active, this property returns

None

. Otherwise, it returns the active

SpeechHandle

. 4. Calling
generate_reply()
multiple times in quick succession: You can call

generate_reply()

multiple times in quick succession without waiting for the previous call to complete. The framework handles this by interrupting previous generations when new ones are started:

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# These can be called in quick succession
handle1 = session.generate_reply(instructions="First response")
handle2 = session.generate_reply(instructions="Second response")  # Will interrupt the first

# The first generation will be automatically interrupted
# The second will proceed normally

The system ensures that when a new generation is requested, any current speech that allows interruptions will be stopped automatically. Let me know if you need further clarification on any of these points! Sources: livekit-agents/livekit/agents/voice/agent_activity.py | Agent speech | LiveKit Docs | Agent speech and audio | LiveKit Docs | Turn detection and interruptions | LiveKit Docs

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