To add voice to a React app with ElevenLabs, install @elevenlabs/react, wrap your voice component in ConversationProvider, and start a session with startSession when the user clicks a button. Use an agentId for a public agent. For an agent that requires authorization, use a signed URL or conversation token that your server generates, so the API key never reaches the browser. The harder part of a voice UI is the surrounding state: connection, listening, speaking, muting, errors and a fallback for people who can’t or won’t use a microphone. This guide covers those pieces. It was checked against ElevenLabs’ live docs on 2026-10-05, and those docs don’t pin a React version, so confirm package details when you implement.
What you need to install and where hooks live
ElevenLabs’ current React package is @elevenlabs/react. It re-exports @elevenlabs/client, so a typical integration doesn’t need both. Its conversation hooks only work beneath a ConversationProvider. You can wrap the whole app or only the subtree that contains the voice feature. The provider can also hold shared callbacks, client tools, overrides, mute state and server location (ElevenLabs React SDK docs).
npm install @elevenlabs/reactWrapping only the relevant subtree keeps the rest of your app independent of the voice session. That is usually the better choice unless voice is a global feature.
Choose the right ElevenLabs path first
Two setups are easy to confuse:
- ElevenAgents sessions. The React SDK docs cover these. A session starts from an agent ID, a signed URL or a conversation token.
- Speech Engine. In the Speech Engine quickstart, your server supplies the LLM logic, ElevenLabs does speech-to-text and text-to-speech, and the browser client starts the conversation.
Use the identifiers and endpoints that belong to the path you picked. The rest of this guide follows the React SDK’s session flow.
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How do I build a voice-enabled UI with React? A step-by-step sequence
- Install
@elevenlabs/reactwith your package manager. - Add the provider. Wrap the voice component’s subtree in
ConversationProviderand call the hooks only below it. - Design the states before you write handlers (see the next section).
- Explain the microphone need, then request access from a user action such as clicking “Start voice chat”.
- Start the session with
startSession, passing the credential that matches your agent. - Keep secrets on the server. Your backend creates a token or signed URL, and the browser receives only that.
- Provide controls to end the session, mute, and change the input device. The SDK documents
endSession, mute controls and input-device switching. - Offer typed input if the agent supports text-only mode.
Model the UI as session state, not a mic button
A microphone button alone leaves users guessing. The SDK exposes connection status, listening/speaking mode and mute state, plus onConnect, onDisconnect, onError, onMessage and onModeChange callbacks. Use them to drive an explicit set of states:
| UI state | What to show | Signal to use |
|---|---|---|
| Idle | Start button and a short privacy/microphone explanation | No active session |
| Connecting | Disabled start button, progress indicator | SDK connection status |
| Listening | Live indicator, mute and end controls | Mode via onModeChange or the mode state |
| Agent speaking | Speaking indicator, optionally transcript text | Mode state |
| Muted | Clear muted badge and unmute control | Mute state |
| Disconnected | Option to restart | onDisconnect |
| Error | Plain-language message and a retry or typed-input option | onError |
The visual treatment is your design choice; the SDK only supplies the signals. Messages delivered through onMessage can include tentative or final user transcriptions, agent replies, and debug messages if enabled, which makes them a good source for a live transcript.
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Combined hook or granular hooks?
useConversation is the convenient option, but the docs say it re-renders on any state change. Granular hooks re-render only for the state they cover. If a small component such as a status badge or mute toggle needs one value, use a granular hook so the animated parts of your UI don’t re-render on every unrelated change. Check the React SDK page for the current hook names.
Request microphone access without surprising users
The SDK states: “Note that ElevenAgents requires microphone access for voice conversations. Consider explaining and allowing access in your app’s UI before the conversation starts.” In practice:
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- Show a sentence of context next to the start button explaining that voice requires the microphone.
- Trigger the start from a click, not on page load.
- If the browser prompt is denied, move to an error or fallback state that offers typed input rather than a dead end.
Start a session: public versus authorized agents
A public agent without authentication needs only its agentId. If authorization is required, your server obtains a signed URL (for WebSocket) or a conversation token (for WebRTC) through ElevenLabs’ REST API. Voice sessions use WebRTC and text-only sessions use WebSocket by default; you can set the connection type explicitly if needed.
import { ConversationProvider, useConversation } from "@elevenlabs/react";
function VoiceButton() {
const conversation = useConversation({
onError: (err) => console.error(err),
});
async function start() {
// Your own endpoint, which calls ElevenLabs with the server-side API key
const { token } = await fetch("/api/conversation-token").then(r => r.json());
await conversation.startSession({ conversationToken: token });
}
return (
<button onClick={start}>Start voice chat</button>
);
}
export default function App() {
return (
<ConversationProvider>
<VoiceButton />
</ConversationProvider>
);
}This is a sketch of the pattern: a provider, a hook beneath it, and a token fetched from your own endpoint. The /api/conversation-token route is a placeholder name. The Speech Engine quickstart follows the same shape, with the client fetching a conversation token from a server endpoint and passing it to startSession. That endpoint uses the server’s ElevenLabs API key, which must never appear in client code.
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Add a text fallback
If the configured agent supports text-only mode, a typed option helps people in quiet or noisy places, on devices without a microphone, or who deny permission. In text-only mode the SDK requests no microphone permission and creates no audio context. sendUserMessage submits typed text in a conversation. This only works when the agent is configured for it, so check the agent settings before promising a text option in your UI.
Custom UI or ElevenLabs UI?
ElevenLabs UI is a component library and custom registry built on shadcn/ui, with components for agents, transcription and audio, and official voice chat and voice-form examples. It’s a quick way to prototype, and you add and customize the components in your own project. It doesn’t replace understanding the session lifecycle above, since you still manage credentials, permissions and error states. Build custom when you need tight control over the experience; start from the registry when you want a working baseline.
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Other SDK capabilities
- Client tools and overrides. The provider can hold client tools and conversation overrides, letting the agent trigger actions in your UI.
- Controlled mute state. Mute state can be managed through the provider.
- Server location.
serverLocationacceptsus(the default),eu-residency,in-residencyandglobal. Set it when your deployment has regional needs, but the setting alone isn’t a compliance guarantee, so verify your requirements independently.
Pre-launch checklist
- Hooks are all beneath
ConversationProvider. - No ElevenLabs API key in client bundles or environment variables exposed to the browser.
- Microphone explanation appears before the permission prompt; denial leads somewhere useful.
- Every state in the table above is reachable and visually distinct.
- Users can always end the session and mute.
- Typed fallback works if your agent supports text-only mode.
- Package and docs re-checked for current names, since the SDK documentation is live and unversioned in the passages reviewed.
Optional: a headset or USB microphone can help you test audio input separately from your laptop’s built-in mic, but the docs don’t require or recommend any specific hardware. For the React side, the React reference covers the core APIs used here.
Quick Recap
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