--- title: AI Gateway Realtime Quickstart product: vercel url: /docs/ai-gateway/getting-started/realtime canonical_url: "https://vercel.com/docs/ai-gateway/getting-started/realtime" last_updated: 2026-09-15 type: tutorial prerequisites: - /docs/ai-gateway/getting-started - /docs/ai-gateway related: - /docs/ai-gateway/modalities/realtime/gpt-live - /docs/ai-gateway/modalities/realtime - /docs/ai-gateway/pricing summary: Start a realtime speech session using AI Gateway. install_vercel_plugin: npx plugins add vercel/vercel-plugin --- # AI Gateway Realtime Quickstart Start a realtime speech session through AI Gateway. ## Related pages > **For AI agents:** Follow these links to understand how this page connects to the rest of the Vercel ecosystem. For the full cross-link map (inbound, outbound, prerequisites, and semantic neighbors), see the .graph.md link below. - [Gemini 3.8 Live models now available on AI Gateway](https://vercel.com/changelog/gemini-3-8-live-models-now-available-on-ai-gateway) - [Realtime voice, speech, and transcription now supported on AI Gateway](https://vercel.com/changelog/realtime-voice-speech-and-transcription-now-supported-on-ai-gateway) - [xAI Grok audio models now available on Vercel AI Gateway](https://vercel.com/changelog/xai-grok-audio-models-now-available-on-vercel-ai-gateway) - [Build realtime voice agents on AI Gateway](https://vercel.com/blog/realtime-voice-agents-on-ai-gateway) - [Realtime](https://ai-sdk.dev/docs/ai-sdk-core/realtime) — Learn how to build realtime voice conversations with the AI SDK. - [ElevenLabs on AI Gateway](https://vercel.com/blog/elevenlabs-on-ai-gateway) - [GPT-Live 1 now available on AI Gateway](https://vercel.com/changelog/gpt-live-1-now-available-on-ai-gateway) - [Xcode with AI Gateway](https://vercel.com/docs/ai-gateway/ecosystem/framework-integrations/xcode) — Connect Xcode's AI chat to AI Gateway through the Chat Completions API. Configure the provider, API key, and models in X - [Chat SDK with AI Gateway](https://vercel.com/docs/chat-sdk/integrations/ai-gateway) — Stream AI Gateway model responses into Chat SDK conversations with AI SDK and message history. Full cross-link map for this page: [/docs/ai-gateway/getting-started/realtime.graph.md](/docs/ai-gateway/getting-started/realtime.graph.md) This quickstart uses `openai/gpt-realtime-2`. For `openai/gpt-live-1`, follow the [GPT-Live guide](/docs/ai-gateway/modalities/realtime/gpt-live) instead. GPT-Live requires its own endpoint and session events; changing the model slug in this example does not select the Live protocol. To use ElevenLabs, set `modelId` to `elevenlabs/eleven-realtime-v1-max` or `elevenlabs/eleven-realtime-v1-mini`. The rest of the script works unchanged. For a browser voice agent with ElevenLabs, set the voice and turn detection described in the [Realtime guide](/docs/ai-gateway/modalities/realtime). ## Start a realtime session ### Use a coding agent Paste this prompt into a coding agent with terminal access: **Agent prompt** ```text Add a realtime speech session through AI Gateway in the current environment. Use the AI Gateway skill for this task. If it is unavailable, run npx skills add vercel/vercel-plugin --skill ai-gateway, then find and read its SKILL.md before continuing. Reuse the environment's language, framework, package manager, and interface when possible, choose an AI Gateway SDK or API that supports realtime speech, and add only required dependencies. Read AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY from the environment. If it is missing, run npx vercel@latest whoami and pause for login if needed. Determine the team, then run npx vercel@latest --scope ai-gateway api-keys create --name . Capture stdout directly into AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY for the request or existing ignored secret storage, and never expose the value. Use openai/gpt-realtime-2, start a session, handle its transcript or audio in the existing interface, run the result, and report the output. ``` ### Run the Node.js example Use [Node.js 22.18 or later](https://nodejs.org/) and a team with available [AI Gateway Credits](/docs/ai-gateway/pricing). Export `AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY` in your current shell. If you need a key, open the [Create API Key dialog](https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai-gateway%2Fapi-keys%3FshowCreateKeyModal%3Dtrue\&title=AI+Gateway+API+Keys). ```bash filename="Terminal" export AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY="your_ai_gateway_api_key" ``` Install the AI Gateway provider and WebSocket client: ```bash filename="Terminal" pnpm add @ai-sdk/gateway@latest ws ``` Create `realtime.mts`: ```typescript filename="realtime.mts" import { gateway } from '@ai-sdk/gateway'; import WebSocket from 'ws'; const modelId = 'openai/gpt-realtime-2'; const { token, url } = await gateway.experimental_realtime.getToken({ model: modelId, }); const model = gateway.experimental_realtime(modelId); const config = model.getWebSocketConfig({ token, url }); const ws = new WebSocket(config.url, config.protocols); const send = async (event: Parameters[0]) => ws.send(JSON.stringify(await model.serializeClientEvent(event))); ws.on('open', async () => { await send({ type: 'conversation-item-create', item: { type: 'text-message', role: 'user', text: 'Say hello in one sentence.', }, }); await send({ type: 'response-create' }); }); ws.on('message', (data) => { const parsed = model.parseServerEvent(JSON.parse(data.toString())); for (const event of Array.isArray(parsed) ? parsed : [parsed]) { if (event.type === 'audio-transcript-delta') { process.stdout.write(event.delta); } if (event.type === 'response-done') { console.log(); ws.close(); } if (event.type === 'error') { console.error(event.message); ws.close(); } } }); ``` Run the script: ```bash filename="Terminal" node realtime.mts ``` ## Next steps - Build a live browser voice agent with a server-minted token in the [Realtime guide](/docs/ai-gateway/modalities/realtime#browser-voice-agent) - Configure [sessions and limits](/docs/ai-gateway/modalities/realtime#session-config) - Browse [realtime models](/ai-gateway/models) --- [View full sitemap](/docs/sitemap) If you encounter incorrect information, can’t find what you need, need a capability Vercel doesn’t currently offer, or have any other feedback to report, please do it by following the instructions at https://vercel.com/feedback.md.