---
title: "Can OpenAI Realtime handle interruptions without losing the conversation?"  
description: "Can OpenAI Realtime handle interruptions without losing the conversation?"  
author: "Lea Hartmann"  
published: 2026-10-16  
updated: 2026-10-16  
canonical: https://www.mindstick.com/forum/162480/can-openai-realtime-handle-interruptions-without-losing-the-conversation  
category: "Realtime API"  
tags: ["OpenAI", "Realtime API", "Voice AI"]  
reading_time: 1 minute  

---

# Can OpenAI Realtime handle interruptions without losing the conversation?

I’m building a [voice assistant](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/102020/describe-the-functions-of-a-digital-voice-assistant) with the OpenAI Realtime API and want users to be able to interrupt it naturally. If someone starts speaking while the assistant is still talking, can the session stop playback and carry on from the new input without repeating or dropping part of the conversation?

I’m especially curious how people handle this in practice when there’s a bit of network delay. Are there session settings or client-side details that make interruption handling more reliable?


---

Original Source: https://www.mindstick.com/forum/162480/can-openai-realtime-handle-interruptions-without-losing-the-conversation

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