> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.cartesia.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Pipecat

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/cartesia-2650f86a/GOsvXpql8JfAlgjy/assets/images/pipecat.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=GOsvXpql8JfAlgjy&q=85&s=0b4569efdc203a006b16fdac1a523823" alt="Pipecat logo" width="1169" height="340" data-path="assets/images/pipecat.png" />
</Frame>

## Overview

[**Pipecat**](https://www.pipecat.ai/) is an open-source Python framework for realtime **voice** agents.

Building voice agents requires the creation and orchestration of pipelines, media and communication transports (such as Daily or LiveKit), and pluggable AI models.

**Cartesia** is available as a first-party provider plugin for **[TTS and STT services](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/tree/main/src/pipecat/services/cartesia)** in the Pipecat repo.

## Prerequisites

Pipecat’s examples require a recent Python installation (see the Pipecat repo's [root-level README](https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/tree/main#prerequisites) for current prerequisites).

Install the **`pipecat-ai`** Python package with the **`cartesia`** extra for TTS/STT (bracket syntax):

```
pip install "pipecat-ai[cartesia,...]"

# or

uv add "pipecat-ai[cartesia,...]"
```

You'd also need to choose the **transport** extras your sample needs - you can do this by matching whatever the upstream README lists for that example.

## Getting Started - TTS (Websockets)

Pipecat's getting-started example provides you with a small, copy-friendly path to wire Cartesia TTS into a Pipecat [TTS WebSocket API](https://docs.cartesia.ai/api-reference/tts/websocket), and:

<Card title="Cartesia & Pipecat | Getting Started" icon="github" href="https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/tree/main/examples/getting-started">
  Getting-started examples in the Pipecat repo.
</Card>

## Getting Started - TTS and STT (Websockets & HTTP)

For smaller voice-focused samples using Cartesia STT and TTS you can choose between two transports - WebSockets or HTTP:

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Pipecat & Cartesia Voice (WebSockets)" icon="github" href="https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/blob/main/examples/voice/voice-cartesia.py">
    Voice bot using Cartesia STT & TTS over WebSocket.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Pipecat & Cartesia Voice (HTTP)" icon="github" href="https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat/blob/main/examples/voice/voice-cartesia-http.py">
    Same flow using Cartesia STT & TTS over HTTP.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Orchestrated Conversational AI

For a fuller example app that shows an end to end Voice Agent experience (VAD -> STT -> LLM -> TTS) orchestrated with Pipecat, see StudyPal:

<Card title="Pipecat > StudyPal" icon="github" href="https://github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat-examples/tree/main/studypal">
  StudyPal example in the pipecat-examples repo.
</Card>