Set reasoning effort
gpt-realtime-2 can trade latency for deeper reasoning. Use the lowest reasoning level that still gives the assistant enough intelligence for the workflow.
Start with low for most production voice agents. Tune up or down based on task complexity, latency tolerance, and failure cost.
| Effort | Use when | Example |
|---|---|---|
minimal | Lowest latency matters most and the task is simple. | Smart-home commands, timers, simple calendar checks. |
low | You need responsiveness plus basic reasoning. | Customer support, order lookup, simple policy questions. |
medium | The assistant must reason through multi-step tasks. | Technical support, diagnostics, complex routing. |
high | Deeper reasoning materially improves success. | High-precision workflows, escalation decisions, tasks with constraints. |
xhigh | Maximum reasoning is worth added latency and cost. | Complex planning, critical triage, high-stakes tool orchestration. |
Beyond the API setting, steer the model on when and how much to reason.
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## Reasoning
- For direct answers, simple lookups, and short confirmations, respond quickly and do not reason.
- For multi-step tasks, tool decisions, troubleshooting, or escalation, reason before acting.
- Do not perform extended reasoning when the user's audio is unclear; ask for clarification instead.