Principle:Openai Openai python Realtime WebSocket Connection
| Knowledge Sources | |
|---|---|
| Domains | Realtime_Communication, WebSocket |
| Last Updated | 2026-02-15 00:00 GMT |
Overview
A persistent bidirectional communication channel established over WebSocket for real-time text and audio interactions with a language model.
Description
WebSocket connections enable full-duplex, low-latency communication between the client and the OpenAI Realtime API. Unlike HTTP-based APIs that follow request-response patterns, WebSocket connections remain open, allowing simultaneous sending and receiving of events. This is essential for real-time voice conversations, live audio streaming, and interactive applications requiring immediate feedback.
The connection is established as an async context manager, ensuring proper cleanup of WebSocket resources.
Usage
Use this principle when building real-time conversational applications that require low-latency, bidirectional communication. This includes voice assistants, live audio transcription, and interactive chat applications where server-sent events must be processed concurrently with user input.
Theoretical Basis
The connection follows the Async Context Manager pattern over WebSocket Protocol:
# Connection lifecycle
async with client.beta.realtime.connect(model=model) as connection:
# 1. WebSocket handshake with authentication
# 2. Bidirectional event channel established
# 3. Send events: connection.session.update(), connection.conversation.item.create()
# 4. Receive events: async for event in connection
# 5. Auto-cleanup on exit
pass
The WebSocket URL is derived from the base API URL (HTTPS to WSS conversion) with the model specified as a query parameter.