How can I get a direct audio stream from the Chat Completion API?

Below is an explanation on the current state and some guidance:

Current Capabilities

At present, the Chat Completions API only provides streaming text output. There isn’t native support for receiving an audio stream directly from the API. In other words, you cannot directly receive an audio stream without some extra processing.

What You Can Do Right Now

1. Text Streaming + TTS:
   The standard method is to stream the text response and then convert it to audio using a Text-to-Speech service. This does mean you'll have to handle multiple TTS requests as text chunks arrive. The rate limiting on the TTS API (3 RPM in your case) makes this challenging if you try to convert each chunk separately.

2. Buffer and Convert:
   An approach to mitigate some of the rate limiting is to buffer incoming text for a short window and then issue a single TTS request for a larger block of text. This can help reduce the number of API calls by not converting every small portion immediately. However, this may introduce a short delay and can affect the experience of a seamless real-time audio output.

Future Directions

There isn’t any public roadmap document or announcement for a direct audio streaming output in the Chat Completions API at this time. You might want to share feedback with OpenAI or check the official API documentation and updates for any future announcements regarding voice integration.

Summary

• Direct audio streaming: Currently not available.
• Workaround: Use text streaming combined with a TTS solution.
• Optimize TTS calls: Consider buffering text to reduce the number of TTS API calls.

For now, the approach of combining text streaming with TTS is the recommended solution. If you have additional feedback or require a feature like direct audio output, your feedback to OpenAI would be valuable for future improvements.