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The STT Layer in Tavus empowers your persona to transcribe and comprehend spoken input in real time.
Turn-taking settings have moved: Turn-taking is now configured on the Conversational Flow layer.

Configuring the STT Layer

Define the STT layer under the layers.stt object. Below are the parameters available:

1. hotwords

Use this to prioritize certain names or terms that are difficult to transcribe.
This field is only available for tavus-advanced engine.
"hotwords": "Roey is the name of the person you're speaking with."
The above query helps the model transcribe “Roey” correctly instead of “Rowie.”
Use hotwords for proper nouns, brand names, or domain-specific language that standard STT engines might struggle with.

Example Configuration

Below is an example persona with a fully configured STT layer:
{
  "persona_name": "Customer Service Agent",
  "system_prompt": "You assist users by listening carefully and providing helpful answers.",
  "pipeline_mode": "full",
  "context": "You're handling voice-based customer support inquiries.",
  "default_replica_id": "rfe12d8b9597",
  "layers": {
    "stt": {
      "hotwords": "support"
    }
  }
}
Refer to the Create Persona API for a complete list of supported fields.