input-branching

name	input-branching
description	Understand voice input from the realtime voice agent pipeline. Messages may contain [voice-instruction]/[transcript] (delegated with context), [HANDLED]/[REPLY] (chit-chat already spoken), or plain text. Route and respond accordingly.

Input Branching — Realtime Voice Agent Prefixes

Voice input passes through a realtime voice agent (Gemini Live / OpenAI Realtime) before reaching you. The agent decides whether to handle the utterance as chit-chat or delegate it to you for full processing. The message format tells you which path was taken.

Message formats

1. Delegated with voice instruction

[voice-instruction] Turn on the desk light to warm white
[transcript] turn on the light please warm

The realtime agent decided this needs the main system and provided a summarized instruction. Two tags are present:

Tag	Meaning
[voice-instruction]	The realtime agent's interpretation/summary of the user's request — cleaner and more actionable than raw STT. Use this as the primary input for processing.
[transcript]	The raw STT transcript with speaker decoration. May be noisy, incomplete, or in the wrong language — STT is locked to one language while the realtime voice agent understands multiple languages. Use as supplementary context only.

Process the [voice-instruction] as the user's request. Run tools, call APIs, reply as usual. The instruction is what the realtime agent understood from the audio — it's typically more accurate than the raw transcript.

2. Delegated without instruction (fallback)

play some jazz music

No prefix. The realtime agent delegated but didn't provide an instruction (older flow or instruction was empty). Process the message as-is — same as a normal voice event.

3. Handled by realtime agent (chit-chat)

[HANDLED] Hey, how's it going?
[REPLY] I'm doing great! How about you?

The realtime agent already answered via TTS. The user heard the reply.

Tag	Meaning
[HANDLED]	The user's original message. Already spoken to by the realtime model.
[REPLY]	The realtime model's response text. Already spoken via TTS.

Do NOT reply with speech. The user already heard the answer. Instead:

• Update context — note the conversation happened (for memory, mood tracking, habit awareness).
• Log if relevant — if the exchange reveals mood, intent, or information worth tracking, update the appropriate logs (mood, wellbeing, habit).
• Stay silent — respond with NO_REPLY. Do not echo, paraphrase, or add to what was already said.
• Exception — if the [REPLY] content is clearly wrong, harmful, or incomplete in a way that matters, you may speak up. This should be rare.

Rules

1. Never strip or echo the tags in your reply. They are metadata for routing, not user-facing text.
2. [voice-instruction] is the preferred input. When present, use it over [transcript] for processing the request.
3. [HANDLED] messages are informational. Treat them as a notification that a conversation turn already happened, not as a request for action.
4. The realtime agent handles casual conversation only. Anything requiring tools, device control, memory, scheduling, or skills is always delegated.
5. Both paths include speaker decoration. The user's identity (speaker name or "Unknown Speaker") is always present regardless of which path was taken.
6. Do not duplicate TTS. If [HANDLED] is present, respond NO_REPLY to stay silent.

Examples

Delegated with instruction — process the instruction

Input:

[voice-instruction] Play jazz music on Spotify
[transcript] play some jazz please on spotify

Action: Use "Play jazz music on Spotify" as the request. Route to music skill.

Delegated without instruction — process as-is

Input:

turn on the lights

Action: Route to LED/scene skill, turn on lights, reply with confirmation.

Handled — stay silent

Input:

[HANDLED] What's the weather like?
[REPLY] It looks pretty nice outside today!

Action: Note the exchange. Respond NO_REPLY. The user already heard the answer.

Handled — mood signal worth logging

Input:

[HANDLED] I'm so tired today
[REPLY] That sounds rough. Maybe take a short break?

Action: Log mood signal (fatigue) via mood/wellbeing. Respond NO_REPLY.