Stabilize Athena Talk audio delivery

integrations/openclaw-athena-talk/README.md

@@ -9,6 +9,11 @@ Athena speech stack:
    tools,
 4. Athena XTTS/Piper returns PCM audio to the Talk client.
 
+The provider intentionally uses half-duplex audio: microphone input is paused
+while a response is being transcribed, generated, synthesized, or played. This
+prevents speaker feedback from aborting TTS. Spoken interruption (barge-in) is
+therefore disabled; wait until playback finishes before speaking again.
+
 No public speech provider is used. The provider reuses the already configured
 `models.providers.athena` base URL and API key; no second key copy is required.
 

integrations/openclaw-athena-talk/dist/index.js

@@ -107,6 +107,7 @@ class AthenaTalkBridge {
     prefixBytes = 0;
     silenceTimer;
     active;
+    transcribing = false;
     generation = 0;
     constructor(req, cfg) {
         this.req = req;
@@ -122,6 +123,8 @@ class AthenaTalkBridge {
     sendAudio(chunk) {
         if (!this.isConnected() || chunk.length === 0)
             return;
+        if (this.transcribing || this.active)
+            return;
         const voiced = pcmRms(chunk) >= this.cfg.vadThreshold;
         const maxPrefix = Math.round(24000 * 2 * this.cfg.prefixPaddingMs / 1000);
         if (!this.speaking) {
@@ -132,12 +135,6 @@ class AthenaTalkBridge {
             }
             if (!voiced)
                 return;
-            if (this.active) {
-                this.active.abort();
-                this.active = undefined;
-                this.generation += 1;
-                this.req.onClearAudio?.("barge-in");
-            }
             this.speaking = true;
             this.speech = this.prefix;
             this.prefix = [];
@@ -187,17 +184,22 @@ class AthenaTalkBridge {
         this.speech = [];
         if (pcm.length < 24000 * 2 * 0.25)
             return;
+        this.transcribing = true;
         try {
             const text = await this.transcribe(pcm);
             if (!text || !this.isConnected())
                 return;
             this.req.onTranscript?.("user", text, true);
+            this.transcribing = false;
             await this.answer(text);
         }
         catch (error) {
             if (error.name !== "AbortError")
                 this.req.onError?.(error);
         }
+        finally {
+            this.transcribing = false;
+        }
     }
     async transcribe(pcm) {
         const form = new FormData();
@@ -217,7 +219,8 @@ class AthenaTalkBridge {
     async answer(prompt) {
         if (!this.req.runAgentConsult)
             throw new Error("OpenClaw agent-consult is unavailable");
-        this.active?.abort();
+        if (this.active)
+            return;
         const controller = new AbortController();
         this.active = controller;
         const generation = ++this.generation;
@@ -229,17 +232,18 @@ class AthenaTalkBridge {
             const text = String(result?.text || "").trim();
             if (!text)
                 return;
+            this.req.onEvent?.({ direction: "server", type: "response.created", responseId });
             this.req.onTranscript?.("assistant", text, true);
             const pcm = await this.synthesize(text, controller.signal);
             if (generation !== this.generation || !this.isConnected())
                 return;
-            const frameBytes = 24000 * 2 / 50;
+            const frameBytes = 24000 * 2 / 10;
             for (let offset = 0; offset < pcm.length; offset += frameBytes) {
                 if (controller.signal.aborted || generation !== this.generation || !this.isConnected()) {
                     return;
                 }
                 this.req.onAudio?.(pcm.subarray(offset, Math.min(offset + frameBytes, pcm.length)));
-                await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 20));
+                await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 80));
             }
             this.req.onResponseDone?.({ status: "completed", responseId });
             this.req.onEvent?.({ direction: "server", type: "response.done", responseId });
@@ -289,8 +293,8 @@ export default definePluginEntry({
                 transports: ["gateway-relay"],
                 inputAudioFormats: [AUDIO_FORMAT],
                 outputAudioFormats: [AUDIO_FORMAT],
-                supportsBargeIn: true,
+                supportsBargeIn: false,
-                handlesInputAudioBargeIn: true,
+                handlesInputAudioBargeIn: false,
                 supportsToolCalls: true,
                 supportsSessionResumption: false,
             },

integrations/openclaw-athena-talk/index.ts

@@ -120,6 +120,7 @@ class AthenaTalkBridge {
   private prefixBytes = 0;
   private silenceTimer?: NodeJS.Timeout;
   private active?: AbortController;
+  private transcribing = false;
   private generation = 0;
 
   constructor(private readonly req: any, private readonly cfg: Required<ProviderConfig>) {}
@@ -136,6 +137,11 @@ class AthenaTalkBridge {
 
   sendAudio(chunk: Buffer): void {
     if (!this.isConnected() || chunk.length === 0) return;
+    // Half-duplex by design: while Athena is transcribing, consulting the
+    // agent, synthesizing, or playing a reply, microphone input is ignored.
+    // This prevents speaker feedback and background noise from cancelling the
+    // response that is currently being delivered.
+    if (this.transcribing || this.active) return;
     const voiced = pcmRms(chunk) >= this.cfg.vadThreshold;
     const maxPrefix = Math.round(24000 * 2 * this.cfg.prefixPaddingMs / 1000);
 
@@ -146,12 +152,6 @@ class AthenaTalkBridge {
         this.prefixBytes -= this.prefix.shift()!.length;
       }
       if (!voiced) return;
-      if (this.active) {
-        this.active.abort();
-        this.active = undefined;
-        this.generation += 1;
-        this.req.onClearAudio?.("barge-in");
-      }
       this.speaking = true;
       this.speech = this.prefix;
       this.prefix = [];
@@ -201,13 +201,17 @@ class AthenaTalkBridge {
     this.speech = [];
     if (pcm.length < 24000 * 2 * 0.25) return;
 
+    this.transcribing = true;
     try {
       const text = await this.transcribe(pcm);
       if (!text || !this.isConnected()) return;
       this.req.onTranscript?.("user", text, true);
+      this.transcribing = false;
       await this.answer(text);
     } catch (error) {
       if ((error as Error).name !== "AbortError") this.req.onError?.(error as Error);
+    } finally {
+      this.transcribing = false;
     }
   }
 
@@ -228,7 +232,7 @@ class AthenaTalkBridge {
 
   private async answer(prompt: string): Promise<void> {
     if (!this.req.runAgentConsult) throw new Error("OpenClaw agent-consult is unavailable");
-    this.active?.abort();
+    if (this.active) return;
     const controller = new AbortController();
     this.active = controller;
     const generation = ++this.generation;
@@ -238,19 +242,21 @@ class AthenaTalkBridge {
       if (generation !== this.generation || !this.isConnected()) return;
       const text = String(result?.text || "").trim();
       if (!text) return;
+      this.req.onEvent?.({ direction: "server", type: "response.created", responseId });
       this.req.onTranscript?.("assistant", text, true);
       const pcm = await this.synthesize(text, controller.signal);
       if (generation !== this.generation || !this.isConnected()) return;
-      const frameBytes = 24000 * 2 / 50;
+      // Feed the relay 100 ms batches slightly faster than realtime. OpenClaw
+      // splits these into its native 20 ms frames. The small lead gives the
+      // client a jitter buffer and avoids the crackling caused by timer and
+      // WebSocket scheduling gaps at exact 20 ms pacing.
+      const frameBytes = 24000 * 2 / 10;
       for (let offset = 0; offset < pcm.length; offset += frameBytes) {
         if (controller.signal.aborted || generation !== this.generation || !this.isConnected()) {
           return;
         }
         this.req.onAudio?.(pcm.subarray(offset, Math.min(offset + frameBytes, pcm.length)));
-        // Gateway relay drops audio frames when its WebSocket queue is full.
+        await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 80));
-        // Pace 20 ms PCM frames in realtime instead of flooding the complete
-        // synthesized response into the socket in a few milliseconds.
-        await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 20));
       }
       this.req.onResponseDone?.({ status: "completed", responseId });
       this.req.onEvent?.({ direction: "server", type: "response.done", responseId });
@@ -299,8 +305,8 @@ export default definePluginEntry({
         transports: ["gateway-relay"],
         inputAudioFormats: [AUDIO_FORMAT],
         outputAudioFormats: [AUDIO_FORMAT],
-        supportsBargeIn: true,
+        supportsBargeIn: false,
-        handlesInputAudioBargeIn: true,
+        handlesInputAudioBargeIn: false,
         supportsToolCalls: true,
         supportsSessionResumption: false,
       },

integrations/openclaw-athena-talk/openclaw.plugin.json

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
   "id": "athena-talk",
   "name": "Athena Local Talk",
   "description": "Local German voice conversations through Athena without a public speech provider.",
-  "version": "0.1.1",
+  "version": "0.1.2",
   "enabledByDefault": true,
   "activation": {
     "onStartup": true,

integrations/openclaw-athena-talk/package.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "openclaw-plugin-athena-talk",
-  "version": "0.1.1",
+  "version": "0.1.2",
   "description": "Private realtime Talk bridge for Athena STT, OpenClaw agent consult, and Athena TTS.",
   "type": "module",
   "private": true,