--- title: Reachy Mini Conversation App emoji: 🎤 colorFrom: red colorTo: blue sdk: static pinned: false short_description: Talk with Reachy Mini ! tags: - reachy_mini - reachy_mini_python_app --- # Reachy Mini conversation app Conversational app for the Reachy Mini robot combining OpenAI's realtime APIs, vision pipelines, and choreographed motion libraries. ![Reachy Mini Dance](docs/assets/reachy_mini_dance.gif) ## Architecture The app follows a layered architecture connecting the user, AI services, and robot hardware:

Architecture Diagram

## Overview - Real-time audio conversation loop powered by the OpenAI realtime API and `fastrtc` for low-latency streaming. - Vision processing uses gpt-realtime by default (when camera tool is used), with optional local vision processing using SmolVLM2 model running on-device (CPU/GPU/MPS) via `--local-vision` flag. - Layered motion system queues primary moves (dances, emotions, goto poses, breathing) while blending speech-reactive wobble and face-tracking. - Async tool dispatch integrates robot motion, camera capture, and optional face-tracking capabilities through a Gradio web UI with live transcripts. ## Installation > [!IMPORTANT] > Windows support is currently experimental and has not been extensively tested. Use with caution. ### Using uv You can set up the project quickly using [uv](https://docs.astral.sh/uv/): ```bash uv venv --python 3.12.1 # Create a virtual environment with Python 3.12.1 source .venv/bin/activate uv sync ``` > [!NOTE] > To reproduce the exact dependency set from this repo's `uv.lock`, run `uv sync` with `--locked` (or `--frozen`). This ensures `uv` installs directly from the lockfile without re-resolving or updating any versions. To include optional dependencies: ``` uv sync --extra reachy_mini_wireless # For wireless Reachy Mini with GStreamer support uv sync --extra local_vision # For local PyTorch/Transformers vision uv sync --extra yolo_vision # For YOLO-based vision uv sync --extra mediapipe_vision # For MediaPipe-based vision uv sync --extra all_vision # For all vision features ``` You can combine extras or include dev dependencies: ``` uv sync --extra all_vision --group dev ``` ### Using pip ```bash python -m venv .venv # Create a virtual environment source .venv/bin/activate pip install -e . ``` Install optional extras depending on the feature set you need: ```bash # Wireless Reachy Mini support pip install -e .[reachy_mini_wireless] # Vision stacks (choose at least one if you plan to run face tracking) pip install -e .[local_vision] pip install -e .[yolo_vision] pip install -e .[mediapipe_vision] pip install -e .[all_vision] # installs every vision extra # Tooling for development workflows pip install -e .[dev] ``` Some wheels (e.g. PyTorch) are large and require compatible CUDA or CPU builds—make sure your platform matches the binaries pulled in by each extra. ## Optional dependency groups | Extra | Purpose | Notes | |-------|---------|-------| | `reachy_mini_wireless` | Wireless Reachy Mini with GStreamer support. | Required for wireless versions of Reachy Mini, includes GStreamer dependencies. | `local_vision` | Run the local VLM (SmolVLM2) through PyTorch/Transformers. | GPU recommended; ensure compatible PyTorch builds for your platform. | `yolo_vision` | YOLOv8 tracking via `ultralytics` and `supervision`. | CPU friendly; supports the `--head-tracker yolo` option. | `mediapipe_vision` | Lightweight landmark tracking with MediaPipe. | Works on CPU; enables `--head-tracker mediapipe`. | `all_vision` | Convenience alias installing every vision extra. | Install when you want the flexibility to experiment with every provider. | `dev` | Developer tooling (`pytest`, `ruff`). | Add on top of either base or `all_vision` environments. ## Configuration 1. Copy `.env.example` to `.env`. 2. Fill in the required values, notably the OpenAI API key. | Variable | Description | |----------|-------------| | `OPENAI_API_KEY` | Required. Grants access to the OpenAI realtime endpoint. | `MODEL_NAME` | Override the realtime model (defaults to `gpt-realtime`). Used for both conversation and vision (unless `--local-vision` flag is used). | `HF_HOME` | Cache directory for local Hugging Face downloads (only used with `--local-vision` flag, defaults to `./cache`). | `HF_TOKEN` | Optional token for Hugging Face models (only used with `--local-vision` flag, falls back to `huggingface-cli login`). | `LOCAL_VISION_MODEL` | Hugging Face model path for local vision processing (only used with `--local-vision` flag, defaults to `HuggingFaceTB/SmolVLM2-2.2B-Instruct`). ## Running the app Activate your virtual environment, ensure the Reachy Mini robot (or simulator) is reachable, then launch: ```bash reachy-mini-conversation-app ``` By default, the app runs in console mode for direct audio interaction. Use the `--gradio` flag to launch a web UI served locally at http://127.0.0.1:7860/ (required when running in simulation mode). With a camera attached, vision is handled by the gpt-realtime model when the camera tool is used. For local vision processing, use the `--local-vision` flag to process frames periodically using the SmolVLM2 model. Additionally, you can enable face tracking via YOLO or MediaPipe pipelines depending on the extras you installed. ### CLI options | Option | Default | Description | |--------|---------|-------------| | `--head-tracker {yolo,mediapipe}` | `None` | Select a face-tracking backend when a camera is available. YOLO is implemented locally, MediaPipe comes from the `reachy_mini_toolbox` package. Requires the matching optional extra. | | `--no-camera` | `False` | Run without camera capture or face tracking. | | `--local-vision` | `False` | Use local vision model (SmolVLM2) for periodic image processing instead of gpt-realtime vision. Requires `local_vision` extra to be installed. | | `--gradio` | `False` | Launch the Gradio web UI. Without this flag, runs in console mode. Required when running in simulation mode. | | `--debug` | `False` | Enable verbose logging for troubleshooting. | | `--wireless-version` | `False` | Use GStreamer backend for wireless version of the robot. Requires `reachy_mini_wireless` extra to be installed. ### Examples - Run on hardware with MediaPipe face tracking: ```bash reachy-mini-conversation-app --head-tracker mediapipe ``` - Run with local vision processing (requires `local_vision` extra): ```bash reachy-mini-conversation-app --local-vision ``` - Run with wireless support (requires `reachy_mini_wireless` extra and daemon started with `--wireless-version`): ```bash reachy-mini-conversation-app --wireless-version ``` - Disable the camera pipeline (audio-only conversation): ```bash reachy-mini-conversation-app --no-camera ``` ## LLM tools exposed to the assistant | Tool | Action | Dependencies | |------|--------|--------------| | `move_head` | Queue a head pose change (left/right/up/down/front). | Core install only. | | `camera` | Capture the latest camera frame and send it to gpt-realtime for vision analysis. | Requires camera worker; uses gpt-realtime vision by default. | | `head_tracking` | Enable or disable face-tracking offsets (not facial recognition - only detects and tracks face position). | Camera worker with configured head tracker. | | `dance` | Queue a dance from `reachy_mini_dances_library`. | Core install only. | | `stop_dance` | Clear queued dances. | Core install only. | | `play_emotion` | Play a recorded emotion clip via Hugging Face assets. | Needs `HF_TOKEN` for the recorded emotions dataset. | | `stop_emotion` | Clear queued emotions. | Core install only. | | `do_nothing` | Explicitly remain idle. | Core install only. | ## Using custom profiles Create custom profiles with dedicated instructions and enabled tools! Set `REACHY_MINI_CUSTOM_PROFILE=` to load `src/reachy_mini_conversation_app/profiles//` (see `.env.example`). If unset, the `default` profile is used. Each profile requires two files: `instructions.txt` (prompt text) and `tools.txt` (list of allowed tools), and optionally contains custom tools implementations. ### Custom instructions Write plain-text prompts in `instructions.txt`. To reuse shared prompt pieces, add lines like: ``` [passion_for_lobster_jokes] [identities/witty_identity] ``` Each placeholder pulls the matching file under `src/reachy_mini_conversation_app/prompts/` (nested paths allowed). See `src/reachy_mini_conversation_app/profiles/example/` for a reference layout. ### Enabling tools List enabled tools in `tools.txt`, one per line; prefix with `#` to comment out. For example: ``` play_emotion # move_head # My custom tool defined locally sweep_look ``` Tools are resolved first from Python files in the profile folder (custom tools), then from the shared library `src/reachy_mini_conversation_app/tools/` (e.g., `dance`, `head_tracking`). ### Custom tools On top of built-in tools found in the shared library, you can implement custom tools specific to your profile by adding Python files in the profile folder. Custom tools must subclass `reachy_mini_conversation_app.tools.core_tools.Tool` (see `profiles/example/sweep_look.py`). ### Edit personalities from the UI When running with `--gradio`, open the “Personality” accordion: - Select among available profiles (folders under `src/reachy_mini_conversation_app/profiles/`) or the built‑in default. - Click “Apply” to update the current session instructions live. - Create a new personality by entering a name and instructions text; it stores files under `profiles//` and copies `tools.txt` from the `default` profile. Note: The “Personality” panel updates the conversation instructions. Tool sets are loaded at startup from `tools.txt` and are not hot‑reloaded. ## Development workflow - Install the dev group extras: `uv sync --group dev` or `pip install -e .[dev]`. - Run formatting and linting: `ruff check .`. - Execute the test suite: `pytest`. - When iterating on robot motions, keep the control loop responsive => offload blocking work using the helpers in `tools.py`. ## License Apache 2.0