---
name: tavus-cvi-quickstart
description: Quick start guide for Tavus Conversational Video Interface (CVI). Use when starting a real-time video conversation, creating your first persona, or testing the CVI API. Covers the minimal setup to get a conversation running.
---

# Tavus CVI Quick Start

Get a real-time AI video conversation running in minutes.

## Fastest Path: Use Stock Resources

```bash
curl -X POST https://tavusapi.com/v2/conversations \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "replica_id": "rfe12d8b9597",
    "persona_id": "pdced222244b"
  }'
```

Response:
```json
{
  "conversation_id": "c123456",
  "conversation_url": "https://tavus.daily.co/c123456",
  "status": "active"
}
```

Open `conversation_url` in browser to join the call.

## Stock Resources

**Replicas** (the visual avatar):
- `rfe12d8b9597` - Default
- `re8e740a42` - Nathan

**Personas** (behavior/personality):
- `pdced222244b` - Default
- `p24293d6` - Celebrity DJ

## Create Custom Persona + Conversation

### Step 1: Create Persona

```bash
curl -X POST https://tavusapi.com/v2/personas \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "persona_name": "Sales Coach",
    "pipeline_mode": "full",
    "system_prompt": "You are a friendly sales coach helping reps practice cold calls. Ask probing questions and give constructive feedback.",
    "context": "Focus on B2B SaaS sales scenarios.",
    "default_replica_id": "rfe12d8b9597"
  }'
```

Response:
```json
{
  "persona_id": "p123456",
  "persona_name": "Sales Coach"
}
```

### Step 2: Start Conversation

```bash
curl -X POST https://tavusapi.com/v2/conversations \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "persona_id": "p123456",
    "conversation_name": "Practice Session"
  }'
```

## Conversation Options

```json
{
  "persona_id": "p123456",
  "replica_id": "rfe12d8b9597",
  "conversation_name": "Demo Call",
  "conversational_context": "User is interested in enterprise pricing.",
  "custom_greeting": "Hi! I'm excited to help you today.",
  "callback_url": "https://your-webhook.com/tavus",
  "properties": {
    "enable_recording": true,
    "max_duration": 600
  }
}
```

## End Conversation

```bash
curl -X POST https://tavusapi.com/v2/conversations/{conversation_id}/end \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY"
```

## Key Concepts

| Concept | What it is |
|---------|------------|
| **Replica** | The visual avatar (face, appearance) |
| **Persona** | Behavior, voice, LLM config, system prompt |
| **Conversation** | A live WebRTC session combining replica + persona |

## Pipeline Modes

- `full` - Complete CVI with perception, STT, LLM, TTS (recommended)
- `echo` - Bypass LLM, replica speaks what you send directly
- `audio` - Audio-only, no video

## Latency

~600ms utterance-to-utterance response time with full pipeline.

## Next Steps

- **tavus-cvi-persona** - Deep dive on persona configuration
- **tavus-cvi-ui** - React component integration
- **tavus-cvi-interactions** - Control conversations programmatically
- **tavus-cvi-knowledge** - Add knowledge base and memories