URGENT! Assistance Needed: Unable to Generate Pauses in Assistant
Hi Vapi Support Team,
I’ve hit a major roadblock trying to get my assistant to perform pauses during calls. I’ve tried every method I can find, but nothing seems to work. I want to confirm whether this is a limitation of the platform or if I am missing something.
Here’s what I’ve done:
Is it currently possible to make an assistant pause during speech using only the System Prompt or via n8n API calls?
If yes, what is the exact supported syntax for introducing a pause with ElevenLabs voices (built-in or manual) so I can implement it correctly?
If no, can you confirm that this is a platform limitation, and the only way to achieve pauses is via internal Vapi actions or future updates?
I’ve hit a major roadblock trying to get my assistant to perform pauses during calls. I’ve tried every method I can find, but nothing seems to work. I want to confirm whether this is a limitation of the platform or if I am missing something.
Here’s what I’ve done:
- SSML <break> tagsI inserted <break time="300ms"/> tags in my System Prompt in the Assistant tab.I also sent the entire System Prompt with <break> tags via n8n HTTP Request JSON payload to the assistant.Result: Ignores
- Enabled enableSsmlParsing: true via PATCH requestI explicitly set enableSsmlParsing: true through Vapi’s API for the assistant.Result: Ignores
- <flush /> tags and chunkPlanI enabled chunkPlan: true via a PATCH request to Vapi’s API.Added <flush /> tags in the System Prompt and sent them via n8n JSON.Result: No effect
- Multiple assistant messages / system message instructionsI tried splitting lines into multiple assistant messages in the System Prompt.I tried inserting system messages instructing the assistant to “pause” or “wait”.Result: No effect
- Punctuation / natural speech cuesI attempted periods, commas, ellipses, dashes, etc., to induce pauses naturally.Result: Ignored.
- Testing with ElevenLabs built-in voicesEnabled ElevenLabs as the voice provider and selected built-in voices.Tested both Eleven Multilingual v2 and Eleven Turbo v2.5.Result: No effect
- <assistant_pause>I understand this is internal and cannot be inserted with a duration.I tried using it in multiple places in the System Prompt.Result: No effect.
Is it currently possible to make an assistant pause during speech using only the System Prompt or via n8n API calls?
If yes, what is the exact supported syntax for introducing a pause with ElevenLabs voices (built-in or manual) so I can implement it correctly?
If no, can you confirm that this is a platform limitation, and the only way to achieve pauses is via internal Vapi actions or future updates?
