create-assistant

Vapi Assistant Creation Create fully configured voice AI assistants using the Vapi API. Assistants combine a language model, voice, and transcriber to handle real-time phone and web conversations. Setup: Ensure VAPI_API_KEY is set. See the setup-api-key skill if needed. Quick Start cURL curl -X POST https://api.vapi.ai/assistant \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $VAPI_API_KEY " \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{ "name": "Support Assistant", "firstMessage": "Hello! How can I help you today?", "model": { "provider": "openai", "model": "gpt-4.1", "messages": [ { "role": "system", "content": "You are a friendly phone support assistant. Keep responses concise and under 30 words." } ] }, "voice": { "provider": "vapi", "voiceId": "Elliot" }, "transcriber": { "provider": "deepgram", "model": "nova-3", "language": "en" } }' TypeScript (Server SDK) import { VapiClient } from "@vapi-ai/server-sdk" ; const vapi = new VapiClient ( { token : process . env . VAPI_API_KEY ! } ) ; const assistant = await vapi . assistants . create ( { name : "Support Assistant" , firstMessage : "Hello! How can I help you today?" , model : { provider : "openai" , model : "gpt-4.1" , messages : [ { role : "system" , content : "You are a friendly phone support assistant. Keep responses concise and under 30 words." , } , ] , } , voice : { provider : "vapi" , voiceId : "Elliot" , } , transcriber : { provider : "deepgram" , model : "nova-3" , language : "en" , } , } ) ; console . log ( "Assistant created:" , assistant . id ) ; Python import requests import os response = requests . post ( "https://api.vapi.ai/assistant" , headers = { "Authorization" : f"Bearer { os . environ [ 'VAPI_API_KEY' ] } " , "Content-Type" : "application/json" , } , json = { "name" : "Support Assistant" , "firstMessage" : "Hello! How can I help you today?" , "model" : { "provider" : "openai" , "model" : "gpt-4.1" , "messages" : [ { "role" : "system" , "content" : "You are a friendly phone support assistant. Keep responses concise and under 30 words." , } ] , } , "voice" : { "provider" : "vapi" , "voiceId" : "Elliot" } , "transcriber" : { "provider" : "deepgram" , "model" : "nova-3" , "language" : "en" } , } , ) assistant = response . json ( ) print ( f"Assistant created: { assistant [ 'id' ] } " ) Core Configuration Model (required) The language model powering the assistant's intelligence. Provider Models Notes openai gpt-4o , gpt-4o-mini , gpt-4-turbo Most popular, best tool calling anthropic claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022 , claude-3-5-haiku-20241022 Strong reasoning google gemini-1.5-pro , gemini-1.5-flash Multimodal capable groq llama-3.1-70b-versatile , llama-3.1-8b-instant Ultra-fast inference deepinfra meta-llama/Meta-Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct Open-source models openrouter Various Access 100+ models perplexity llama-3.1-sonar-large-128k-online Web-connected together-ai Various open-source Cost-effective { "model" : { "provider" : "openai" , "model" : "gpt-4.1" , "temperature" : 0.7 , "maxTokens" : 1000 , "messages" : [ { "role" : "system" , "content" : "Your system prompt here. Define the assistant's personality, rules, and behavior." } ] } } Voice The text-to-speech voice for the assistant. Provider Popular Voices Notes vapi Elliot , Lily , Rohan , Paola , Kian Vapi's optimized voices, lowest latency 11labs Use voice IDs from ElevenLabs High quality, many voices playht Use voice IDs from PlayHT Expressive voices cartesia Use voice IDs from Cartesia Fast, high quality openai alloy , echo , fable , onyx , nova , shimmer OpenAI TTS voices azure Azure voice names Enterprise-grade deepgram aura-asteria-en , aura-luna-en Low latency rime-ai Use voice IDs from Rime Specialized voices { "voice" : { "provider" : "vapi" , "voiceId" : "Elliot" } } Transcriber The speech-to-text engine for understanding callers. Provider Models Notes deepgram nova-3 , nova-2 Fastest, most accurate google latest_long , latest_short Google Cloud STT gladia fast , accurate European provider assembly-ai best , nano High accuracy speechmatics Various Enterprise STT talkscriber Default Specialized { "transcriber" : { "provider" : "deepgram" , "model" : "nova-3" , "language" : "en" , "keywords" : [ "Vapi:2" , "AI:1" ] } } The keywords field boosts recognition of specific words (word:boost format, boost 1-10). Behavior Configuration First Message { "firstMessage" : "Hello! Thanks for calling Acme Corp. How can I help you today?" , "firstMessageMode" : "assistant-speaks-first" } firstMessageMode options: "assistant-speaks-first" — Assistant greets immediately (default) "assistant-waits-for-user" — Assistant waits for caller to speak first "assistant-speaks-first-with-model-generated-message" — LLM generates the greeting Background Sound { "backgroundSound" : "office" } Options: "off" , "office" , "static" Backchanneling Enable natural conversational acknowledgments ("uh-huh", "I see"): { "backgroundDenoisingEnabled" : true , "backchannelingEnabled" : true } HIPAA Compliance { "hipaaEnabled" : true } When enabled, Vapi won't store call recordings or transcripts. Adding Tools Attach tools so the assistant can take actions during calls. Using saved tool IDs { "model" : { "provider" : "openai" , "model" : "gpt-4.1" , "toolIds" : [ "tool-id-1" , "tool-id-2" ] , "messages" : [ { "role" : "system" , "content" : "..." } ] } } Inline tool definition { "model" : { "provider" : "openai" , "model" : "gpt-4.1" , "tools" : [ { "type" : "function" , "function" : { "name" : "check_availability" , "description" : "Check appointment availability for a given date" , "parameters" : { "type" : "object" , "properties" : { "date" : { "type" : "string" , "description" : "Date in YYYY-MM-DD format" } } , "required" : [ "date" ] } } , "server" : { "url" : "https://your-server.com/api/tools" } } ] , "messages" : [ { "role" : "system" , "content" : "..." } ] } } Hooks Automate actions when specific call events occur. See hooks reference for details. { "hooks" : [ { "on" : "customer.speech.timeout" , "options" : { "timeoutSeconds" : 10 , "triggerMaxCount" : 3 } , "do" : [ { "type" : "say" , "exact" : "Are you still there?" } ] } , { "on" : "call.ending" , "filters" : [ { "type" : "oneOf" , "key" : "call.endedReason" , "oneOf" : [ "pipeline-error" ] } ] , "do" : [ { "type" : "tool" , "tool" : { "type" : "transferCall" , "destinations" : [ { "type" : "number" , "number" : "+1234567890" } ] } } ] } ] } Managing Assistants List curl https://api.vapi.ai/assistant \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $VAPI_API_KEY " Get curl https://api.vapi.ai/assistant/ { id } \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $VAPI_API_KEY " Update curl -X PATCH https://api.vapi.ai/assistant/ { id } \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $VAPI_API_KEY " \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{ "firstMessage": "Updated greeting!" }' Delete curl -X DELETE https://api.vapi.ai/assistant/ { id } \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $VAPI_API_KEY " Common Patterns Customer Support Agent { "name" : "Customer Support" , "firstMessage" : "Thank you for calling! How can I assist you today?" , "model" : { "provider" : "openai" , "model" : "gpt-4.1" , "messages" : [ { "role" : "system" , "content" : "You are a helpful customer support agent for Acme Corp. Be empathetic, concise, and solution-oriented. If you cannot resolve an issue, offer to transfer to a human agent. Keep responses under 30 words." } ] } , "voice" : { "provider" : "vapi" , "voiceId" : "Lily" } , "transcriber" : { "provider" : "deepgram" , "model" : "nova-3" , "language" : "en" } , "backchannelingEnabled" : true } Appointment Scheduler { "name" : "Appointment Scheduler" , "firstMessage" : "Hi there! I can help you schedule an appointment. What date works best for you?" , "model" : { "provider" : "openai" , "model" : "gpt-4.1" , "messages" : [ { "role" : "system" , "content" : "You are an appointment scheduling assistant. Collect the customer's preferred date, time, and service type. Confirm details before booking. Be friendly and efficient." } ] , "tools" : [ { "type" : "function" , "function" : { "name" : "book_appointment" , "description" : "Book an appointment for the given date, time, and service" , "parameters" : { "type" : "object" , "properties" : { "date" : { "type" : "string" , "description" : "YYYY-MM-DD" } , "time" : { "type" : "string" , "description" : "HH:MM in 24h format" } , "service" : { "type" : "string" , "description" : "Type of service" } , "name" : { "type" : "string" , "description" : "Customer name" } } , "required" : [ "date" , "time" , "service" , "name" ] } } , "server" : { "url" : "https://your-server.com/api/book" } } ] } , "voice" : { "provider" : "vapi" , "voiceId" : "Paola" } , "transcriber" : { "provider" : "deepgram" , "model" : "nova-3" , "language" : "en" } } Multilingual Agent { "name" : "Multilingual Support" , "firstMessage" : "Hello! How can I help you? / Hola! Como puedo ayudarte?" , "model" : { "provider" : "openai" , "model" : "gpt-4.1" , "messages" : [ { "role" : "system" , "content" : "You are a multilingual support assistant. Detect the caller's language and respond in the same language. You support English and Spanish." } ] } , "voice" : { "provider" : "vapi" , "voiceId" : "Paola" } , "transcriber" : { "provider" : "deepgram" , "model" : "nova-3" , "language" : "multi" } } References Hooks Configuration — Complete hook events and actions Voice & Model Providers — All supported providers and models Vapi API Docs — Official documentation Additional Resources This skills repository includes a Vapi documentation MCP server ( vapi-docs ) that gives your AI agent access to the full Vapi knowledge base. Use the searchDocs tool to look up anything beyond what this skill covers — advanced configuration, troubleshooting, SDK details, and more. Auto-configured: If you cloned or installed these skills, the MCP server is already configured via .mcp.json (Claude Code), .cursor/mcp.json (Cursor), or .vscode/mcp.json (VS Code Copilot). Manual setup: If your agent doesn't auto-detect the config, run: claude mcp add vapi-docs -- npx -y mcp-remote https://docs.vapi.ai/_mcp/server See the README for full setup instructions across all supported agents.