Quick Start

Get up and running with the Talker Web SDK in minutes.

Overview

The Talker SDK provides two main classes for building PTT applications:

  • TalkerAdmin - For backend/server-side operations (uses SDK key)
  • TalkerClient - For frontend/client-side operations (uses user auth token)
Important

Never expose your SDK key in client-side code. Use TalkerAdmin only on your backend server.

Backend Setup

First, set up your backend to create users and provide credentials to your frontend.

Node.js / Next.js API Route 
import { TalkerAdmin } from '@talker-network/talker-sdk';

// Initialize with your SDK key (keep secret on server!)
const admin = new TalkerAdmin({
  sdkKey: process.env.TALKER_SDK_KEY!,
});

// Create a new user
const user = await admin.createUser({ name: 'John Doe' });

// Or get an existing user
const existingUser = await admin.setUser({ userId: 'existing-user-id' });

// Return credentials to frontend
return {
  userAuthToken: user.userAuthToken,
  userId: user.userId,
  a_username: user.aUsername,
  a_password: user.aPassword,
};

Frontend Setup

Use the credentials from your backend to initialize the client.

Browser / React 
import { TalkerClient } from '@talker-network/talker-sdk';

// Get credentials from your backend
const { userAuthToken, userId, a_username, a_password } =
  await fetch('/api/auth').then(r => r.json());

// Initialize client - connection starts automatically
const talker = new TalkerClient({
  userAuthToken,
  userId,
  a_username,
  a_password,
});

// Monitor connection status
talker.on('connection_change', ({ connected, status }) => {
  console.log(`Connection: ${status}`);
  // status: 'connected' | 'connecting' | 'disconnected'
});

// Listen to broadcast events
talker.on('broadcast_start', (data) => {
  console.log(`${data.senderName} started speaking`);
});

talker.on('broadcast_end', (data) => {
  console.log(`User ${data.senderId} stopped speaking`);
});

Push-to-Talk Implementation

Implement PTT with simple event handlers.

JavaScript 
// PTT button handlers
const pttButton = document.getElementById('ptt-button');

pttButton.onmousedown = async () => {
  const result = await talker.startTalking(channelId);

  if (!result.success) {
    switch (result.code) {
      case 'not_connected':
        // Show "Connecting..." UI
        break;
      case 'error':
        alert(result.message);
        break;
    }
  }
};

pttButton.onmouseup = () => talker.stopTalking();

PTT Result Codes

The startTalking() method returns a result object with the following codes:

Code Success Description
success true PTT started successfully
already_talking true Already in a PTT session (no action needed)
not_connected false Not connected, auto-reconnecting in background
no_user_id false User ID not set
error false Other error (check message)

Connection States

The SDK manages connections automatically. Monitor the status to update your UI:

Status Meaning
connected Socket and WebRTC data channel both connected, ready for PTT
connecting Connection is being established
disconnected Not connected (will auto-reconnect)
Auto-reconnect

The SDK automatically reconnects if the connection is lost. If startTalking() is called while disconnected, reconnection is triggered automatically.

Next Steps

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