fix(voice-call): prevent audio overlap with TTS queue

Add a TTS queue to serialize audio playback and prevent overlapping
speech during voice calls. Previously, concurrent speak() calls could
send audio chunks simultaneously, causing garbled/choppy output.

Changes:
- Add queueTts() to MediaStreamHandler for sequential TTS playback
- Wrap playTtsViaStream() audio sending in the queue
- Clear queue on barge-in (when user starts speaking)

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

extensions/voice-call/src/media-stream.ts

@@ -51,6 +51,11 @@ export class MediaStreamHandler {
   private sessions = new Map<string, StreamSession>();
   private config: MediaStreamConfig;
 
+  /** TTS playback queues per stream (serialize audio to prevent overlap) */
+  private ttsQueues = new Map<string, Array<() => Promise<void>>>();
+  /** Whether TTS is currently playing per stream */
+  private ttsPlaying = new Map<string, boolean>();
+
   constructor(config: MediaStreamConfig) {
     this.config = config;
   }
@@ -228,6 +233,51 @@ export class MediaStreamHandler {
     this.sendToStream(streamSid, { event: "clear", streamSid });
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Queue a TTS operation for sequential playback.
+   * Only one TTS operation plays at a time per stream to prevent overlap.
+   */
+  async queueTts(streamSid: string, playFn: () => Promise<void>): Promise<void> {
+    if (!this.ttsQueues.has(streamSid)) {
+      this.ttsQueues.set(streamSid, []);
+    }
+    const queue = this.ttsQueues.get(streamSid)!;
+    queue.push(playFn);
+
+    // Process queue if not already playing
+    if (!this.ttsPlaying.get(streamSid)) {
+      await this.processQueue(streamSid);
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Process the TTS queue for a stream.
+   */
+  private async processQueue(streamSid: string): Promise<void> {
+    const queue = this.ttsQueues.get(streamSid);
+    if (!queue || queue.length === 0) {
+      this.ttsPlaying.set(streamSid, false);
+      return;
+    }
+
+    this.ttsPlaying.set(streamSid, true);
+    const playFn = queue.shift()!;
+
+    try {
+      await playFn();
+    } finally {
+      await this.processQueue(streamSid);
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Clear TTS queue and interrupt current playback (barge-in).
+   */
+  clearTtsQueue(streamSid: string): void {
+    this.ttsQueues.set(streamSid, []);
+    this.clearAudio(streamSid);
+  }
+
   /**
    * Get active session by call ID.
    */

extensions/voice-call/src/providers/twilio.ts

@@ -135,6 +135,17 @@ export class TwilioProvider implements VoiceCallProvider {
     this.callStreamMap.delete(callSid);
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Clear TTS queue for a call (barge-in).
+   * Used when user starts speaking to interrupt current TTS playback.
+   */
+  clearTtsQueue(callSid: string): void {
+    const streamSid = this.callStreamMap.get(callSid);
+    if (streamSid && this.mediaStreamHandler) {
+      this.mediaStreamHandler.clearTtsQueue(streamSid);
+    }
+  }
+
   /**
    * Make an authenticated request to the Twilio API.
    */
@@ -504,7 +515,7 @@ export class TwilioProvider implements VoiceCallProvider {
   /**
    * Play TTS via core TTS and Twilio Media Streams.
    * Generates audio with core TTS, converts to mu-law, and streams via WebSocket.
-   * Uses a jitter buffer to smooth out timing variations.
+   * Uses a queue to serialize playback and prevent overlapping audio.
    */
   private async playTtsViaStream(
     text: string,
@@ -514,22 +525,30 @@ export class TwilioProvider implements VoiceCallProvider {
       throw new Error("TTS provider and media stream handler required");
     }
 
-    // Generate audio with core TTS (returns mu-law at 8kHz)
-    const muLawAudio = await this.ttsProvider.synthesizeForTelephony(text);
-
     // Stream audio in 20ms chunks (160 bytes at 8kHz mu-law)
     const CHUNK_SIZE = 160;
     const CHUNK_DELAY_MS = 20;
 
-    for (const chunk of chunkAudio(muLawAudio, CHUNK_SIZE)) {
+    const handler = this.mediaStreamHandler;
-      this.mediaStreamHandler.sendAudio(streamSid, chunk);
+    const ttsProvider = this.ttsProvider;
+    await handler.queueTts(streamSid, async (signal) => {
+      // Generate audio with core TTS (returns mu-law at 8kHz)
+      const muLawAudio = await ttsProvider.synthesizeForTelephony(text);
 
-      // Pace the audio to match real-time playback
+      for (const chunk of chunkAudio(muLawAudio, CHUNK_SIZE)) {
-      await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, CHUNK_DELAY_MS));
+        if (signal.aborted) break;
-    }
+        handler.sendAudio(streamSid, chunk);
 
-    // Send a mark to track when audio finishes
+        // Pace the audio to match real-time playback
-    this.mediaStreamHandler.sendMark(streamSid, `tts-${Date.now()}`);
+        await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, CHUNK_DELAY_MS));
+        if (signal.aborted) break;
+      }
+
+      if (!signal.aborted) {
+        // Send a mark to track when audio finishes
+        handler.sendMark(streamSid, `tts-${Date.now()}`);
+      }
+    });
   }
 
   /**

extensions/voice-call/src/webhook.ts

@@ -78,6 +78,11 @@ export class VoiceCallWebhookServer {
           `[voice-call] Transcript for ${providerCallId}: ${transcript}`,
         );
 
+        // Clear TTS queue on barge-in (user started speaking, interrupt current playback)
+        if (this.provider.name === "twilio") {
+          (this.provider as TwilioProvider).clearTtsQueue(providerCallId);
+        }
+
         // Look up our internal call ID from the provider call ID
         const call = this.manager.getCallByProviderCallId(providerCallId);
         if (!call) {