Console/dev modes deprecated; Ink-2 speech onset fixed…

What's Changed

Warning

console and dev modes are deprecated in favor of lk agent (#6656). Existing workflows that shell out to python agent.py console or python agent.py dev should migrate to the lk agent CLI.

Important

Inference Ink-2 speech onset fix (#6630) — if you rely on the STT model for interruption detection without a local VAD, upgrade for this fix. Previously the provider's speech-onset signal was delayed until first non-empty interim transcript, so STT interruptions could be delayed on Ink-2 via Inference. Setups with a local VAD in the pipeline are unaffected.

Features

feat(core): add user transcription timeout by @chenghao-mou in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6182
feat(voice): auto-disable realtime server-side turn detection by @longcw in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6495
feat(cli): deprecate console and dev modes in favor of lk agent by @u9g in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6656
feat(elevenlabs): support previous_text on realtime STT by @tulanisahil1-beep in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6534
feat(smallestai): add endpointing, keyword boosting, format, and sentence timestamps to Smallest STT by @harshitajain165 in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6565
(xai stt): expose vad_threshold, smart_turn, smart_turn_timeout, and keyterm params by @ajayarora1235 in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6587
(cartesia stt): expose ink-2 turn-detection thresholds and keyterm params by @ajayarora1235 in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6594
(inference): type Cartesia turn-detection params in CartesiaOptions by @ajayarora1235 in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6597
(inference openai llm): set default reasoning to none by @tinalenguyen in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6609
Update Cerebras models and default by @ryanl-cerebras in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6593
plugins/phonic: add configs_for_tools for per-tool behavior overrides by @arunwpm-work in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6634
(expressive mode): refactor options, remove prompt presets by @tinalenguyen in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6406
(expressive mode): register inference replaces presets by @cshape in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6632
(expressive mode): add fish audio by @cshape in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6631
(expressive mode): remove unconditional bracket stripping by @tinalenguyen in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6590
feat(inference): let the gateway mint the avatar worker token by @shawnfeldman in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6575
add agent id and deployment resource attrs by @jmcclanahan in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6570
feat(deps): relax opentelemetry constraint to >=1.39.0,<2 by @biztex in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6552
chore(krisp): adjust default noise_suppression_level by @lukasIO in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6640

Bug Fixes

fix: defer interim interruptions to local VAD by @chenghao-mou in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6599
fix(voice): retain concrete language for turn detection by @Oxygen56 in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6531
fix(openai realtime): treat create_response=False as client-side turn taking by @longcw in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6642
fix(inference): report Ink-2 speech onset when the provider detects it by @russellmartin-livekit in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6630
fix(inference): don't claim word alignment for models that send none by @russellmartin-livekit in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6629
fix(stt): send the turn commit when a flush yields no buffered audio by @chenghao-mou in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6598
fix: account for STT fallback transcript alignment by @chenghao-mou in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6633
fix(voice): tolerate formatting changes in preemptive transcripts by @swayamg20 in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6667
fix(elevenlabs): populate SpeechData.confidence from Scribe logprobs by @captainbanan in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6461
fix(sarvam): saaras:v3 does not support the config/prompt message by @biztex in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6617
fix(aws): emit streaming STT usage metrics by @swayamg20 in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6653
fix(voice): avoid dropping turns and resuming early while a speech is paused by @longcw in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6662
fix(voice): place a realtime user turn where the turn began by @u9g in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6616
fix(voice): reset tool call created_at at execution start in realtime replies by @u9g in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6615
fix(room_io): don't re-fire playback_started on resume by @longcw in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6636
fix(google): release the genai client when the realtime session closes by @biztex in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6643
voice: strip markdown emphasis in CJK text by @longcw in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6560
fix(llm): apply tool defaults across all schema shapes; keep response formats sentinel-free by @u9g in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6444
"ValueError: EOF while parsing a string" during tool calls by @AlvaroBalbin in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6382
fix(llm): tolerate list-shaped streaming delta content in strip_thinking_tokens by @biztex in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6625
fix(workflows): return corrective instructions as tool output instead of generate_reply by @u9g in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6372
fix(anthropic): disable vendor SDK retries by default by @axelray-dev in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6604
fix(aws): count cached tokens in Bedrock's prompt_tokens by @arthi-arumugam-git in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6663
fix: disable AEC warmup for outbound SIP calls by @chenghao-mou in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6608
fix(livekit-agents): propagate prewarm through the STT fallback and stream adapters by @fxhxdxd in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6583
fix(livekit-agents): forward prewarm to the primary LLM in the fallback adapter by @fxhxdxd in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6582
bithuman: skip the SDK dependency on Python 3.14 by @longcw in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6561
bithuman: fail closed on Python versions the SDK has no build for by @u9g in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6614
fix(examples): pass LemonSlice avatar options via extra_kwargs by @shawnfeldman in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6574
fix(evals): avoid overriding judge reasoning by @inickt in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6566

Other

Add homepage voice agent example by @ShayneP in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6422
docs: correct krisp noise_suppression_level default to 75 by @detail-app[bot] in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6651
fix(scripts): type-check for linux on every host OS, matching CI by @biztex in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6623
bump livekit sdk to 1.1.14 by @theomonnom in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6654
livekit-agents@1.6.8 by @github-actions[bot] in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6659

New Contributors

@tulanisahil1-beep made their first contribution in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6534
@AlvaroBalbin made their first contribution in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6382
@biztex made their first contribution in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6552
@Oxygen56 made their first contribution in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6531
@ajayarora1235 made their first contribution in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6587
@fxhxdxd made their first contribution in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6583
@ryanl-cerebras made their first contribution in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6593
@axelray-dev made their first contribution in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6604
@arthi-arumugam-git made their first contribution in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6663
@swayamg20 made their first contribution in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6653
@captainbanan made their first contribution in https://github.com/livekit/agents/pull/6461

Full Changelog: https://github.com/livekit/agents/compare/livekit-agents@1.6.7...livekit-agents@1.6.8

Console/dev modes deprecated; Ink-2 speech onset fixed