Vapi

Connect Rime TTS to Vapi for phone-based voice agents and IVR systems.

Configure a Vapi assistant to use Rime for speech. Vapi handles telephony and orchestration; this guide covers the model, voice, transcriber, publishing, and optional bring-your-own-key settings.

Prerequisites

To follow this guide, you need:

• A Vapi account
• A Rime API key (optional)

Step 1: Create the assistant

In the Vapi Dashboard, open Assistants and select Create Assistant.

1.1 Select a template

Give your assistant a name, select Blank Template, and select Create Assistant.

1.2 Configure the model

In the Model tab, select your preferred LLM provider. Any option should work, but models with lower latency enable better conversational flow.

Add a First Message to enable your assistant to begin conversations.

Configure a System Prompt to define your agent’s personality and behavior. For example:

You are a helpful voice assistant.
Keep your responses short and conversational. No more than 2-3 sentences.
Be friendly and natural.

Alternatively, select Generate to draft the prompt.

1.3 Configure the voice

In the Voice tab, configure your assistant to use Rime AI as the Provider.

Select the Voice that you want your assistant to use. See the Voices page for the Rime catalog.

Set the Model to Coda, Rime’s current model.

The screenshot below predates Coda and shows Arcana selected. Cloud Arcana requests switch to Coda on August 15, 2026, so do not choose it for a new assistant. If your Vapi account does not offer Coda in the Model list yet, contact [e-mail] before building on Arcana. See Migrate from Arcana to Coda if you already have assistants on it.

1.4 Configure the transcriber

In the Transcriber tab, select your preferred speech-to-text (STT) Provider, then select Publish.

1.5 Publish the assistant

In the publishing popup window, select Skip and Publish.

Step 2: Add your API keys to Vapi (optional)

Vapi provides API access to all its supported models via its billing plans. However, if you already have a subscription plan for one or more of your assistant’s configured providers, you can enable the assistant to access them instead of using integrated Vapi billing:

In the Build section, open More → Integrations. Find each provider and add its API key.

Vapi stores provider keys under Integrations and makes them available to your assistants.

Step 3: Test your assistant

In the Vapi Dashboard, select Talk to Assistant to start a conversation in your browser.

Extend the assistant

• Try different voices: Audition other voices like celeste, orion, and andromeda at app.rime.ai.
• Add a phone number: Provision a contact number in the Vapi Dashboard and assign it to your assistant for telephony.
• Create a workflow: Program your assistant to do complex tasks using Vapi Workflows.
• Customize the personality: Update the system prompt to match your use case.