> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.convai.com/api-docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.convai.com/api-docs/plugins-and-integrations/convai-unity-sdk/features/conversation-availability/local-player-activity.md).

# React to the player starting to speak

React locally to the player starting to talk or pressing push-to-talk, before the service confirms it over the network connection.

Whether the player is speaking has always been Convai's own call, announced back over the network — so a character did nothing until that round trip landed, and looked like it noticed the player late. The SDK also watches locally now and publishes `LocalPlayerActivityChanged` the moment it sees local evidence, in both turn-taking modes.

### Prerequisites

* A scene with `ConvaiManager` connected. See [Session lifecycle](/api-docs/plugins-and-integrations/convai-unity-sdk/core-concepts/session-lifecycle.md).

### Subscribe to the event

`LocalPlayerActivityChanged` has no typed property on `ConvaiEvents`, so subscribe through the raw event hub:

```csharp
using Convai.Domain.DomainEvents.Runtime;
using Convai.Domain.EventSystem;
using Convai.Runtime.Components;
using UnityEngine;

public class MicrophoneMeter : MonoBehaviour
{
    private SubscriptionToken _token;

    private void OnEnable()
    {
        var hub = ConvaiManager.ActiveManager?.Events?.Raw;
        if (hub == null) return;

        _token = hub.Subscribe<LocalPlayerActivityChanged>(HandleLocalActivity);
    }

    private void OnDisable()
    {
        ConvaiManager.ActiveManager?.Events?.Raw?.Unsubscribe(_token);
        _token = default;
    }

    private void HandleLocalActivity(LocalPlayerActivityChanged e)
    {
        Debug.Log($"[MicrophoneMeter] {e.Source}: {(e.IsActive ? "active" : "inactive")} ({e.Level:F1})");
    }
}
```

### What each source means

`LocalPlayerActivityChanged.Source` tells you which local evidence raised the event:

| Source       | Raised by                           | Fires when                                                                                                                                                                    |
| ------------ | ----------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `Microphone` | A level gate on the open microphone | The captured audio rises above the room's own learned noise floor. Stays active until it falls back near that floor, so a pause inside a sentence does not flicker the state. |
| `PushToTalk` | The push-to-talk control            | The player presses the control — a decision, not a sound, so this fires before the player has said a word.                                                                    |

The microphone source learns the room's own noise floor rather than using a fixed loudness threshold, so it behaves the same on a quiet headset and a loud desk microphone. It stays closed while a character's own voice is audible through the player's speakers, unless acoustic echo cancellation is genuinely active on the input device — in which case the character's voice never reaches the microphone signal to begin with.

`LocalPlayerActivityChanged.Level` is a ratio above the measured noise floor, useful for a microphone meter. It is `0` for `PushToTalk` and for the falling edge of `Microphone`.

{% hint style="warning" %}
`LocalPlayerActivityChanged` is a hint, not a turn. It is a guess from local evidence and never routes a message, commits a turn, or bills anything. `PlayerSpeakingStateChanged` remains Convai's own verdict — the only event that produces a transcript or moves a character into its listening state.
{% endhint %}

### What a character does with it

A character that notices local activity moves to the **Attending** dialogue state and no further — it cannot reach **Listening**, take a turn, or send anything from this signal alone, so a false positive costs a glance rather than a mistake.

### Whether a character acts on it

Whether this local evidence reaches a character's dialogue state is governed by `noticeYouLocally` on the Conversation Flow profile, which ships on and is not exposed for editing — the profile's Inspector does not draw it, and it has no public setter. Every character therefore acts on local activity, and the `LocalPlayerActivityChanged` event reaches your own code either way. See [Conversation flow reference](/api-docs/plugins-and-integrations/convai-unity-sdk/embodiment/conversation-flow/reference.md) for the rest of the profile's fixed behavior.

### Verify the reaction

Enter Play mode, connect, and either speak into the microphone or press the push-to-talk control. Confirm your subscriber fires immediately, ahead of Convai's transcript for that utterance.

### Next steps

{% content-ref url="/pages/8JDFZt8KJ6rwnIUtT66t" %}
[Conversation flow](/api-docs/plugins-and-integrations/convai-unity-sdk/embodiment/conversation-flow.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}

{% content-ref url="/pages/gkOWeFdbwjtbbraYQjLw" %}
[Gate your UI on availability](/api-docs/plugins-and-integrations/convai-unity-sdk/features/conversation-availability/gate-your-ui.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}


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