
TEN Framework
A real-time multimodal conversational stack — voice, telephony, avatars — under Apache terms with conditions
What is TEN Framework?
It covers the parts of a spoken agent that sit outside the model and usually get assembled by hand: detecting when someone is speaking, deciding when a turn has ended, separating speakers, connecting to the phone network, driving a lip-synced avatar, even reaching an embedded device. Read the licence before building on it. Apache 2.0 is qualified by additional conditions from Agora that prohibit hosting the framework on end-user devices, mobile terminals included, and prohibit deploying it in a way that competes with Agora's own offerings.
What can you do with TEN Framework?
- Start from a working voice assistant — Example agents run locally under Docker Compose, so the first working spoken conversation is a matter of supplying keys and starting containers rather than an integration project.
- Get turn-taking right — Voice activity detection and turn detection are separate components of the ecosystem rather than an afterthought, and they are where the perceived quality of a spoken agent is usually decided.
- Answer and place phone calls — A SIP example connects the agent to the telephone network, which is a different problem from a browser microphone and the one that most business use cases actually need.
- Give the agent a face — A lip-synced avatar example drives Live2D characters, alongside separate examples for speaker diarisation and live transcription.
- Reach an embedded device — An integration guide covers running against ESP32 hardware, so the target can be a small physical device rather than a workstation or a browser tab.
Before you choose TEN Framework
- The Apache grant carries additional conditions: you may not host the framework on end-user devices including mobile terminals, nor deploy it in a way that competes with Agora's offerings.
- The example agents expect an Agora application ID and certificate alongside the model, speech-recognition and text-to-speech keys, so the quick start depends on a commercial account rather than open components alone.
Star history
21 Aug to 28 Aug · +22
Frequently asked questions
Is TEN Framework free for commercial use?
TEN Framework is published under Apache-2.0 with additional conditions, a source-available licence rather than OSI-approved open source — read its terms before relying on it commercially.
How can TEN Framework be deployed?
TEN Framework is available as Self-hosted.
Documentation
Reproduced from the TEN-framework/ten-framework README, published under UNKNOWN — read the LICENSE file. Read the original ↗
![Image][ten-framework-banner]
[![TEN Releases][ten-releases-badge]][ten-releases] [![Coverage Status][coverage-badge]][coverage] [![Release Date][release-date-badge]][ten-releases] [![Commits][commits-badge]][commit-activity] [![Issues closed][issues-closed-badge]][issues-closed] [![Contributors][contributors-badge]][contributors] [![GitHub license][license-badge]][license] [![Ask DeepWiki][deepwiki-badge]][deepwiki] [![ReadmeX][readmex-badge]][readmex]
[![README in English][lang-en-badge]][lang-en-readme] [![简体中文操作指南][lang-zh-badge]][lang-zh-readme] [![日本語のREADME][lang-jp-badge]][lang-jp-readme] [![README in 한국어][lang-kr-badge]][lang-kr-readme] [![README en Español][lang-es-badge]][lang-es-readme] [![README en Français][lang-fr-badge]][lang-fr-readme] [![README in Italiano][lang-it-badge]][lang-it-readme]
[Official Site][official-site] • [Documentation][documentation] • [Blog][blog]
- [Welcome to TEN][welcome-to-ten]
- [Agent Examples][agent-examples-section]
- [Quick Start with Agent Examples][quick-start]
- [Localhost][localhost-section]
- [Codespaces][codespaces-section]
- [Agent Examples Self-Hosting][agent-examples-self-hosting]
- [Deploying with Docker][deploying-with-docker]
- [Deploying with other cloud services][deploying-with-other-cloud-services]
- [Stay Tuned][stay-tuned]
- [TEN Ecosystem][ten-ecosystem-anchor]
- [Questions][questions]
- [Contributing][contributing]
- [Code Contributors][code-contributors]
- [Contribution Guidelines][contribution-guidelines]
- [License][license-section]
Welcome to TEN
TEN is an open-source framework for real-time multimodal conversational AI.
[TEN Ecosystem][ten-ecosystem-anchor] includes [TEN Framework][ten-framework], [Agent Examples][agent-examples-repo], [VAD][ten-vad], [Turn Detection][ten-turn-detection] and [Portal][ten-portal].
| Community Channel | Purpose |
|---|---|
| [![Follow on X][follow-on-x-badge]][follow-on-x] | Follow TEN Framework on X for updates and announcements |
| [![Discord TEN Community][discord-badge]][discord-invite] | Join our Discord community to connect with developers |
| [![Follow on LinkedIn][linkedin-badge]][linkedin] | Follow TEN Framework on LinkedIn for updates and announcements |
| [![Hugging Face Space][hugging-face-badge]][hugging-face] | Join our Hugging Face community to explore our spaces and models |
Agent Examples
![Image][voice-assistant-image]
Multi-Purpose Voice Assistant — This low-latency, high-quality real-time assistant supports both RTC and [WebSocket][websocket-example] connections, and you can extend it with [Memory][memory-example], [VAD][voice-assistant-vad-example], [Turn Detection][voice-assistant-turn-detection-example], and other extensions.
See the [Example code][voice-assistant-example] for more details.
![divider][divider-light] ![divider][divider-dark]
![Image][doodler-image]
Doodler — A doodle board that turns spoken or typed prompts into simple hand-drawn sketches, complete with a crayon palette and real-time drawing.
[Example code][doodler-example]
![divider][divider-light] ![divider][divider-dark]
![Image][speaker-diarization-image]
Speaker Diarization — Real-time diarization that detects and labels speakers, the Who Likes What game shows an interactive use case.
[Example code][speechmatics-diarization-example]
![divider][divider-light] ![divider][divider-dark]
![Image][lip-sync-image]
Lip Sync Avatars — Works with multiple avatar vendors, the main character features Kei, an anime character with MotionSync-powered lip sync, and also supports realistic avatars from Trulience, HeyGen, and Tavus.
See the [Example code][voice-assistant-live2d-example] for different Live2D characters.
![divider][divider-light] ![divider][divider-dark]
![Image][sip-call-image]
SIP Call — SIP extension that enables phone calls powered by TEN.
[Example code][voice-assistant-sip-example]
![divider][divider-light] ![divider][divider-dark]
![Image][transcription-image]
Transcription — A transcription tool that transcribes audio to text.
[Example code][transcription-example]
![divider][divider-light] ![divider][divider-dark]
![Image][esp32-image]
ESP32-S3 Korvo V3 — Runs TEN agent example on the Espressif ESP32-S3 Korvo V3 development board to integrate LLM-powered communication with hardware.
See the [integration guide][esp32-guide] for more details.
[![][back-to-top]][readme-top]
Quick Start with Agent Examples
Localhost
Step ⓵ - Prerequisites
| Category | Requirements |
|---|---|
| Keys | • Agora [App ID][agora-app-id] and [App Certificate][agora-app-certificate]• [OpenAI][openai-api] API key• [Deepgram][deepgram] ASR • [ElevenLabs][elevenlabs] TTS |
| Installation | • [Docker][docker] / [Docker Compose][docker-compose]• [Node.js (LTS) v18][nodejs] |
| Minimum System Requirements | • CPU >= 2 cores• RAM >= 4 GB |
![divider][divider-light] ![divider][divider-dark]
Step ⓶ - Build agent examples in VM
1. Clone the repo, cd into ai_agents, and create a .env file from .env.example
cd ai_agents
cp ./.env.example ./.env
2. Set up the Agora App ID and App Certificate in .env
AGORA_APP_ID=
AGORA_APP_CERTIFICATE=
# Deepgram (required for speech-to-text)
DEEPGRAM_API_KEY=
# OpenAI (required for language model)
OPENAI_API_KEY=
# ElevenLabs (required for text-to-speech)
ELEVENLABS_TTS_KEY=
3. Start agent development containers
docker compose up -d
4. Enter the container
docker exec -it ten_agent_dev bash
5. Build the agent with the default example (~5-8 min)
Check the agents/examples folder for additional samples.
Start with one of these defaults:
# use the chained voice assistant
cd agents/examples/voice-assistant
# or use the speech-to-speech voice assistant in real time
cd agents/examples/voice-assistant-realtime
6. Start the web server
Run task build if you changed any local source code. This step is required for compiled languages (for example, TypeScript or Go) and not needed for Python.
task install
task run
7. Access the agent
Once the agent example is running, you can access the following interfaces:
| localhost:49483 | localhost:3000 |
|---|---|
| ![Screenshot 1][localhost-49483-image] | ![Screenshot 2][localhost-3000-image] |
- TMAN Designer: [localhost:49483][localhost-49483]
- Agent Examples UI: [localhost:3000][localhost-3000]
![divider][divider-light] ![divider][divider-dark]
Step ⓷ - Customize your agent example
- Open [localhost:49483][localhost-49483].
- Right-click the STT, LLM, and TTS extensions.
- Open their properties and enter the corresponding API keys.
- Submit your changes, now you can see the updated Agent Example in [localhost:3000][localhost-3000].
![divider][divider-light] ![divider][divider-dark]
Run a transcriber app from TEN Manager without Docker (Beta)
TEN also provides a transcriber app that you can run from TEN Manager without using Docker.
Check the [quick start guide][quick-start-guide-ten-manager] for more details.
![divider][divider-light] ![divider][divider-dark]
Codespaces
GitHub offers free Codespaces for each repository. You can run Agent Examples in Codespaces without using Docker. Codespaces typically start faster than local Docker environments.
[![][codespaces-shield]][codespaces-new]
Check out [this guide][codespaces-guide] for more details.
[![][back-to-top]][readme-top]
Agent Examples Self-Hosting
Deploying with Docker
Once you have customized your agent (either by using the TMAN Designer or editing property.json directly), you can deploy it by creating a release Docker image for your service.
Release as Docker image
Note: The following commands need to be executed outside of any Docker container.
Build image
cd ai_agents
docker build -f agents/examples/<example-name>/Dockerfile -t example-app .
Run
docker run --rm -it --env-file .env -p 3000:3000 example-app
![divider][divider-light] ![divider][divider-dark]
Deploying with other cloud services
You can split the deployment into two pieces when you want to host TEN on providers such as [Vercel][vercel] or [Netlify][netlify].
-
Run the TEN backend on any container-friendly platform (a VM with Docker, Fly.io, Render, ECS, Cloud Run, or similar). Use the example Docker image without modifying it and expose port
8080from that service. -
Deploy only the frontend to Vercel or Netlify. Point the project root to
ai_agents/agents/examples/<example>/frontend, runpnpm install(orbun install) followed bypnpm build(orbun run build), and keep the default.nextoutput directory. -
Configure environment variables in your hosting dashboard so that
AGENT_SERVER_URLpoints to the backend URL, and add anyNEXT_PUBLIC_*keys the UI needs (for example, Agora credentials you surface to the browser). -
Ensure your backend accepts requests from the frontend origin — via open CORS or by using the built-in proxy middleware.
With this setup, the backend handles long-running worker processes, while the hosted frontend simply forwards API traffic to it.
[![][back-to-top]][readme-top]
Stay Tuned
Get instant notifications for new releases and updates. Your support helps us grow and improve TEN!
![Image][stay-tuned-image]
[![][back-to-top]][readme-top]
TEN Ecosystem
| Project | Preview |
|---|---|
| [️TEN Framework][ten-framework-link]Open-source framework for conversational AI Agents.![][ten-framework-shield] | ![][ten-framework-banner] |
| [TEN VAD][ten-vad-link]Low-latency, lightweight and high-performance streaming voice activity detector (VAD).![][ten-vad-shield] | ![][ten-vad-banner] |
| [️ TEN Turn Detection][ten-turn-detection-link]TEN Turn Detection enables full-duplex dialogue communication.![][ten-turn-detection-shield] | ![][ten-turn-detection-banner] |
| [TEN Agent Examples][ten-agent-example-link]Usecases powered by TEN. | ![][ten-agent-example-banner] |
| [TEN Portal][ten-portal-link]The official site of the TEN Framework with documentation and a blog.![][ten-portal-shield] | ![][ten-portal-banner] |
[![][back-to-top]][readme-top]
Questions
TEN Framework is available on these AI-powered Q&A platforms. They can help you find answers quickly and accurately in multiple languages, covering everything from basic setup to advanced implementation details.
| Service | Link |
|---|---|
| DeepWiki | [![Ask DeepWiki][deepwiki-badge]][deepwiki] |
| ReadmeX | [![ReadmeX][readmex-badge]][readmex] |
[![][back-to-top]][readme-top]
Code Contributors
[![TEN][contributors-image]][contributors]
Contribution Guidelines
Contributions are welcome! Please read the [contribution guidelines][contribution-guidelines-doc] first.
![divider][divider-light] ![divider][divider-dark]