> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.voicegateway.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Frameworks and extras

> VoiceGateway's core is framework-neutral. Pick the extra for the agent framework you run (LiveKit or Pipecat); import voicegateway pulls neither.

# Frameworks and extras

VoiceGateway's engine core is framework-neutral. A bare `import voicegateway`
imports neither [LiveKit Agents](https://docs.livekit.io/agents/) nor
[Pipecat](https://docs.pipecat.ai/). The record model, pricing (via
`voice-prices`), the storage sinks, and the cost/latency tracker have no
framework dependency. The two seams that touch a framework, `attach()` and
`guard()`, detect the framework of the object you hand them (by module string,
without eagerly importing either) and lazily import only the one they need.

That means you install exactly the framework you run, and nothing else.

## Install the extra you use

```bash theme={null}
# LiveKit Agents
pip install "voicegateway[livekit]"

# Pipecat
pip install "voicegateway[pipecat]"
```

The provider wheels for LiveKit are their own extras and imply the `livekit`
extra, so a single line pulls the runtime plus the plugin you name:

```bash theme={null}
pip install "voicegateway[openai,deepgram,cartesia]"
```

For Pipecat, install the Pipecat service extras you need directly from Pipecat
(for example `pip install "pipecat-ai[openai,deepgram,cartesia]"`) alongside
`voicegateway[pipecat]`. VoiceGateway wraps and observes the native Pipecat
services you already configure; it does not re-home their keys.

## The core stays pure

Because the core imports no framework, you can `import voicegateway` in a
process that has neither installed (a CLI, a collector, a test rig) and it works.
`attach()` and `guard()` only reach for a framework when you call them with a
target of that framework. If the matching extra is missing they raise a clear,
actionable error:

```
ImportError: voicegateway[pipecat] is required for this operation.
Install it with: pip install voicegateway[pipecat]
```

You can verify the purity yourself:

```python theme={null}
import voicegateway, sys
assert "livekit" not in sys.modules
assert "pipecat" not in sys.modules
```

## The two seams work the same on both

The public surface is identical across frameworks. You pass a LiveKit
`AgentSession` or a Pipecat `PipelineTask` to `attach()`, and a native LiveKit
plugin or a native Pipecat service to `guard()`. VoiceGateway routes to the right
implementation for you.

| Seam                        | Role              | LiveKit target | Pipecat target |
| --------------------------- | ----------------- | -------------- | -------------- |
| [`attach()`](/guide/attach) | observe (passive) | `AgentSession` | `PipelineTask` |
| [`guard()`](/guide/guard)   | control (active)  | native plugin  | native service |

## Deprecated: the LLM / STT / TTS factories

The older `voicegateway.LLM("openai/gpt-4o")` / `STT(...)` / `TTS(...)`
factories still work but emit a `DeprecationWarning`. Their observability role is
now the single-meter `attach()`, and their control role (fallback, limits) moves
to `guard()`. See the [migration guide](/guide/migration-attach-guard) to move
off them.