config.channel is voice, video or text. It decides which model slots exist, how people reach the agent and how it is billed. Changing it rewrites parts of the config on save, so read the response after switching.
Rates are on pricing and credits; provider spend is billed to your own keys.
Which one to pick
voicefor phone calls, inbound or outbound, and for media streams. Only avoiceagent can be assigned to a phone number. It also serves web calls and WhatsApp calls.videois a voice agent wearing an Anam avatar, on web calls only. Avatar time bills per wall-clock minute of the whole call on your Anam key.textfor chat: your own UI via the API and browser SDK, or a Telegram or WhatsApp trigger. Prompt, tools, MCP, handoffs, hooks, analysis and conversation memory work as on a call. See text conversations.
What switching clears
To text
tts,realtimeandavatarbecomenull;llmis kept (or defaulted).sttis kept, and then transcribes voice notes; send"stt": nullto turn them off. Its model must havefile_transcriptionin the catalog.greetingbecomesnull, andlanguagetoo unlesssttis set;turn_handlingresets to defaults. Set tone in the prompt.background_audio,noise_cancellationandrecordingare turned off.keypad_input.enabled,voicemail_detection.enabledorvision_input.screenshare.enabledlefttrueis refused — turn them off first.
analysis runs when the chat ends; conversation.context decides what a new chat knows about earlier ones.
To video
avataris filled withanam/anamand a default face if absent. Publishing needs anavatar_idand an Anam provider key.keypad_inputandvoicemail_detectionleft enabled are refused.turn_handling.interruption.resume_false_interruptionnever runs: the avatar’s audio cannot pause.- Every handoff target must use the same avatar provider, model, face and display name.
Setting realtime
Setting realtime clears stt, llm and tts, pins preemptive generation off, and refuses on_user_turn_completed, screen share, elapsed_time, a non-interruptible greeting and recording.notice. See realtime models.
Channels and handoffs
A handoff target must be on the same channel and the same pipeline (cascade or realtime) as its source; onvideo the avatar must match too. Publishing refuses any edge that would need the media rewired mid-call. See handoffs.
Next
Models
The model slots each channel needs.
Video avatars
Picking a face and what avatar time costs.