v0.0.101

### Added

- Additions for `AICFilter` and `AICVADAnalyzer`:
    - Added model downloading support to `AICFilter` with `model_id` and `model_download_dir` parameters.
    - Added `model_path` parameter to `AICFilter` for loading local `.aicmodel` files.
    - Added unit tests for `AICFilter` and `AICVADAnalyzer`.
  (PR [#3408](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3408))

- Added handling for `server_content.interrupted` signal in the Gemini Live service for faster interruption response in the case where there isn't already turn tracking in the pipeline, e.g. local VAD + context aggregators.  When there is already turn tracking in the pipeline, the additional interruption does no harm.
  (PR [#3429](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3429))

- Added new `GenesysFrameSerializer` for the Genesys AudioHook WebSocket protocol, enabling bidirectional audio streaming between Pipecat pipelines and Genesys Cloud contact center.
  (PR [#3500](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3500))

- Added `reached_upstream_types` and `reached_downstream_types` read-only properties to `PipelineTask` for inspecting current frame filters.
  (PR [#3510](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3510))

- Added `add_reached_upstream_filter()` and `add_reached_downstream_filter()` methods to `PipelineTask` for appending frame types.
  (PR [#3510](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3510))

- Added `UserTurnCompletionLLMServiceMixin` for LLM services to detect and filter incomplete user turns. When enabled via `filter_incomplete_user_turns` in `LLMUserAggregatorParams`, the LLM outputs a turn completion marker at the start of each response: ✓ (complete), ○ (incomplete short), or ◐ (incomplete long). Incomplete turns are suppressed, and configurable timeouts automatically re-prompt the user.
  (PR [#3518](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3518))

- Added `FrameProcessor.broadcast_frame_instance(frame)` method to broadcast a frame instance by extracting its fields and creating new instances for each direction.
  (PR [#3519](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3519))

- `PipelineTask` now automatically adds `RTVIProcessor` and registers `RTVIObserver` when `enable_rtvi=True` (default), simplifying pipeline setup.
  (PR [#3519](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3519))

- Added `RTVIProcessor.create_rtvi_observer()` factory method for creating RTVI observers.
  (PR [#3519](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3519))

- Added `video_out_codec` parameter to `TransportParams` allowing configuration of the preferred video codec (e.g., `"VP8"`, `"H264"`, `"H265"`) for video output in `DailyTransport`.
  (PR [#3520](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3520))

- Added `location` parameter to Google TTS services (`GoogleHttpTTSService`, `GoogleTTSService`, `GeminiTTSService`) for regional endpoint support.
  (PR [#3523](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3523))

- Added new `PIPECAT_SMART_TURN_LOG_DATA` environment variable, which causes Smart Turn input data to be saved to disk
  (PR [#3525](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3525))

- Added `result_callback` parameter to `UserImageRequestFrame` to support deferred function call results.
  (PR [#3571](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3571))

- Added `function_call_timeout_secs` parameter to `LLMService` to configure timeout for deferred function calls (defaults to 10.0 seconds).
  (PR [#3571](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3571))

- Added `vad_analyzer` parameter to `LLMUserAggregatorParams`. VAD analysis is now handled inside the `LLMUserAggregator` rather than in the transport, keeping voice activity detection closer to where it is consumed. The `vad_analyzer` on `BaseInputTransport` is now deprecated.

    ```python
    context_aggregator = LLMContextAggregatorPair(
        context,
        user_params=LLMUserAggregatorParams(
            vad_analyzer=SileroVADAnalyzer(),
        ),
    )
    ```
  (PR [#3583](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3583))

- Added `VADProcessor` for detecting speech in audio streams within a pipeline.  Pushes `VADUserStartedSpeakingFrame`, `VADUserStoppedSpeakingFrame`, and `UserSpeakingFrame` downstream based on VAD state changes.
  (PR [#3583](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3583))

- Added `VADController` for managing voice activity detection state and emitting speech events independently of transport or pipeline processors.
  (PR [#3583](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3583))

- Added local `PiperTTSService` for offline text-to-speech using Piper voice models. The existing HTTP-based service has been renamed to `PiperHttpTTSService`.
  (PR [#3585](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3585))

- `main()` in `pipecat.runner.run` now accepts an optional `argparse.ArgumentParser`, allowing bots to define custom CLI arguments accessible via `runner_args.cli_args`.
  (PR [#3590](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3590))

- Added `KokoroTTSService` for local text-to-speech synthesis using the Kokoro-82M model.
  (PR [#3595](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3595))

### Changed

- Updated `AICFilter` and `AICVADAnalyzer` to use aic-sdk ~= 2.0.1.
  (PR [#3408](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3408))

- Improved the STT TTFB (Time To First Byte) measurement, reporting the delay between when the user stops speaking and when the final transcription is received. Note: Unlike traditional TTFB which measures from a discrete request, STT services receive continuous audio input—so we measure from speech end to final transcript, which captures the latency that matters for voice AI applications. In support of this change, added `finalized` field to `TranscriptionFrame` to indicate when a transcript is the final result for an utterance.
  (PR [#3495](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3495))

- `SarvamSTTService` now defaults `vad_signals` and `high_vad_sensitivity` to `None` (omitted from connection parameters), improving latency by ~300ms compared to the previous defaults.
  (PR [#3495](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3495))

- Changed frame filter storage from tuples to sets in `PipelineTask`.
  (PR [#3510](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3510))

- Changed default Inworld TTS model from `inworld-tts-1` to `inworld-tts-1.5-max`.
  (PR [#3531](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3531))

- `FrameSerializer` now subclasses from `BaseObject` to enable event support.
  (PR [#3560](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3560))

- Added support for TTFS in `SpeechmaticsSTTService` and set the default mode to `EXTERNAL` to support Pipecat-controlled VAD.
  - Changed dependency to `speechmatics-voice[smart]>=0.2.8`
  (PR [#3562](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3562))

- ⚠️ Changed function call handling to use timeout-based completion instead of immediate callback execution.
    - Function calls that defer their results (e.g., `UserImageRequestFrame`) now use a timeout mechanism
    - The `result_callback` is invoked automatically when the deferred operation completes or after timeout
    - This change affects examples using `UserImageRequestFrame` - the `result_callback` should now be passed to the frame instead of being called immediately
 (PR [#3571](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3571))

- Pipecat runner now uses `DAILY_ROOM_URL` instead of `DAILY_SAMPLE_ROOM_URL`.
  (PR [#3582](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3582))

- Updates to `GradiumSTTService`:
    - Now flushes pending transcriptions when VAD detects the user stopped speaking, improving response latency.
    - `GradiumSTTService` now supports `InputParams` for configuring `language` and `delay_in_frames` settings.
  (PR [#3587](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3587))

### Deprecated

- ⚠️ Deprecated `vad_analyzer` parameter on `BaseInputTransport`. Pass `vad_analyzer` to `LLMUserAggregatorParams` instead or use `VADProcessor` in the pipeline.
  (PR [#3583](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3583))

### Removed

- Removed deprecated `AICFilter` parameters: `enhancement_level`, `voice_gain`, `noise_gate_enable`.
  (PR [#3408](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3408))

### Fixed

- Fixed an issue where if you were using `OpenRouterLLMService` with a Gemini model, it wouldn't handle multiple `"system"` messages as expected (and as we do in `GoogleLLMService`), which is to convert subsequent ones into `"user"` messages. Instead, the latest `"system"` message would overwrite the previous ones.
  (PR [#3406](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3406))

- Transports now properly broadcast `InputTransportMessageFrame` frames both upstream and downstream instead of only pushing downstream.
  (PR [#3519](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3519))

- Fixed `FrameProcessor.broadcast_frame()` to deep copy kwargs, preventing shared mutable references between the downstream and upstream frame instances.
  (PR [#3519](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3519))

- Fixed OpenAI LLM services to emit `ErrorFrame` on completion timeout, enabling proper error handling and LLMSwitcher failover.
  (PR [#3529](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3529))

- Fixed a logging issue where non-ASCII characters (e.g., Japanese, Chinese, etc.) were being unnecessarily escaped to Unicode sequences when function call occurred.
  (PR [#3536](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3536))

- Fixed how audio tracks are synchronized inside the `AudioBufferProcessor` to fix timing issues where silence and audio were misaligned between user and bot buffers.
  (PR [#3541](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3541))

- Fixed race condition in `OpenAIRealtimeBetaLLMService` that could cause an error when truncating the conversation.
  (PR [#3567](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3567))

- Fixed an infinite loop in `WebsocketService` that blocked the event loop when a remote server closed the connection gracefully.
  (PR [#3574](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3574))

- Fixed `LLMUserAggregator` and `LLMAssistantAggregator` not emitting pending transcripts via `on_user_turn_stopped` and `on_assistant_turn_stopped` events when the conversation ends (`EndFrame`) or is cancelled (`CancelFrame`).
  (PR [#3575](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3575))

- Added missing `LiveKitRunnerArguments` and `LiveKitTransport` support in runner utilities to enable LiveKit transport configuration.
  (PR [#3580](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3580))

- Fixed race condition in `OpenAIRealtimeLLMService` that could cause an error when truncating the conversation.
  (PR [#3581](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3581))

- Fixed `PiperHttpTTSService` (olf `PiperTTSService`) to resample audio output based on the model's sample rate parsed from the WAV header.
  (PR [#3585](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3585))

- Fixed `UserTurnController` to reset user turn timeout when interim transcriptions are received.
  (PR [#3594](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3594))

- Fixed an issue in the `IVRNavigator` where the `TextFrame`s pushed had incorrect spacing. Now, the internal `IVRProcessor` pushes `AggregatedTextFrame`s when in conversation mode. This allows for controlling spacing of the outputted, aggregated text.
  (PR [#3604](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3604))

- Fixed `GeminiLiveLLMService` transcription timeout handler not being scheduled by yielding to the event loop after task creation.
  (PR [#3605](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/pull/3605))