user_transcript missed in opening ~5 seconds

[patricktargun]

I'm establishing a WebSocket connection to the ElevenLabs Conversational AI endpoint, sending Twilio audio in real time (user_audio_chunk in base64). The agent_response come through almost immediately, but within the first 5-10 seconds the user_transcript is consistently missed. After that, transcripts arrive as expected.

It was working great last week, and I haven't made any changes to my code.

I then converted audio format to PCM 8000 Hz to "Test AI agent" on the ElevenLabs dashboard, and it is having the same issue. First ~5 seconds is ignored.

Finally, I went to the API Reference and started a chat with ElevenLabs "Need help?" assistant widget, and had the same issue there.

Is anyone else experiencing this delay?

Logs:

2025-01-22 14:54:44.846 [INFO] [Twilio] Twilio connected to media stream.
2025-01-22 14:54:45.698 [INFO] [11Labs] Connection fully established and ready for audio
2025-01-22 14:54:45.872 [INFO] [11Labs] Received agent response
// MISSING FIRST USER TRANSCRIPT HERE
// BUT GET THE NEXT ONE 12 SECONDS LATER
2025-01-22 14:54:58.053 [INFO] [11Labs] Received user transcript
2025-01-22 14:54:58.212 [INFO] [11Labs] Received agent response
2025-01-22 14:55:02.855 [INFO] [11Labs] Disconnected from Conversational AI.
2025-01-22 14:55:03.828 [INFO] [Twilio] Client disconnected.