feat(voice): on-demand PodMan voice test + Hermes notify + TTS tuning

Snapshot of in-progress voice work, committed to unblock concurrent edits: speakInRoom + POST voice-test endpoint, Test PodMan voice button (PodView/api), Hermes notify action + scripts/hermes-notify.mjs, agent exits on LiveKit disconnect for auto-restart, TTS playback tuning (subscriber-ready delay, preroll/tail silence, fallback line, microphone source), verify script updates.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>

backend/src/action/hermes.ts

@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 import type { Room } from '@livekit/rtc-node';
+import { Room as LiveKitRoom } from '@livekit/rtc-node';
+import { AccessToken } from 'livekit-server-sdk';
 import type { Collision, DataMessage, HermesMessage, Intervention } from '@podman/shared';
 import { DATA_TOPIC } from '@podman/shared';
+import { env } from '../env.js';
+import { speak } from '../voice/live.js';
 
 const encoder = new TextEncoder();
 
@@ -37,3 +41,52 @@ export async function publishHermesMessage(
     topic: DATA_TOPIC,
   });
 }
+
+export async function publishHermesIntervention(
+  room: Room,
+  collision: Collision,
+  intervention: Intervention,
+  voiceLine?: string,
+): Promise<void> {
+  const data: DataMessage = { type: 'COLLISION', collision, intervention };
+  await room.localParticipant?.publishData(encoder.encode(JSON.stringify(data)), {
+    reliable: true,
+    topic: DATA_TOPIC,
+  });
+  await publishHermesMessage(room, collision, intervention);
+  if (voiceLine) await speak(room, voiceLine);
+}
+
+async function hermesToken(roomName: string): Promise<string> {
+  const at = new AccessToken(env.LIVEKIT_API_KEY, env.LIVEKIT_API_SECRET, {
+    identity: `podman-hermes-${Date.now()}`,
+    name: 'PodMan Hermes',
+    ttl: '10m',
+  });
+  at.addGrant({
+    roomJoin: true,
+    room: roomName,
+    canPublish: true,
+    canSubscribe: true,
+    canPublishData: true,
+  });
+  return at.toJwt();
+}
+
+export async function notifyHermesInterventionInRoom(
+  roomName: string,
+  collision: Collision,
+  intervention: Intervention,
+  voiceLine?: string,
+): Promise<void> {
+  const room = new LiveKitRoom();
+  try {
+    await room.connect(env.LIVEKIT_URL, await hermesToken(roomName), {
+      autoSubscribe: false,
+      dynacast: false,
+    });
+    await publishHermesIntervention(room, collision, intervention, voiceLine);
+  } finally {
+    await room.disconnect().catch(() => {});
+  }
+}

backend/src/agent.ts

@@ -173,6 +173,12 @@ async function main() {
     await withTimeout(dispose(), SHUTDOWN_GRACE_MS);
     process.exit(0);
   };
+  room.on(RoomEvent.Disconnected, () => {
+    if (!shuttingDown) {
+      console.error('[agent] LiveKit disconnected; exiting so systemd restarts the worker');
+      process.exit(1);
+    }
+  });
   process.on('SIGINT', shutdown);
   process.on('SIGTERM', shutdown);
 }

backend/src/agent/podman.ts

@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 import { RoomEvent, type Room } from '@livekit/rtc-node';
 import type { EngineerContext, Collision, Intervention, DataMessage } from '@podman/shared';
-import { DATA_TOPIC } from '@podman/shared';
 import { analyzeFrame } from '../vision/gemini.js';
 import { detectCollisions } from '../collision/detector.js';
 import { getGithubState } from '../github/client.js';
@@ -13,12 +12,10 @@ import {
 import { getGitStates } from '../memory/db.js';
 import { recallSimilar } from '../memory/vectors.js';
 import { shouldIntervene, preferredAction } from '../memory/policy.js';
-import { speak } from '../voice/live.js';
-import { publishHermesMessage } from '../action/hermes.js';
+import { publishHermesIntervention } from '../action/hermes.js';
 
 export class PodMan {
   private contexts = new Map<string, EngineerContext>();
-  private encoder = new TextEncoder();
 
   constructor(
     private room: Room,
@@ -82,7 +79,7 @@ export class PodMan {
       (prior ? ' Seen before.' : '');
 
     // Spoken line stays short, but uses natural phrasing for Gemini TTS prosody.
-    const voiceLine = `Heads up. ${names} are both editing ${shortFile}. Please sync before pushing.`;
+    const voiceLine = `${names} are both editing ${shortFile}. Please sync before pushing.`;
 
     const intervention: Intervention = {
       id: `int_${Date.now()}`,
@@ -103,12 +100,11 @@ export class PodMan {
     };
     await recordIntervention(intervention);
 
-    const data: DataMessage = { type: 'COLLISION', collision, intervention };
-    await this.room.localParticipant?.publishData(this.encoder.encode(JSON.stringify(data)), {
-      reliable: true,
-      topic: DATA_TOPIC,
-    });
-    await publishHermesMessage(this.room, collision, intervention);
-    if (collision.severity === 'critical') await speak(this.room, voiceLine);
+    await publishHermesIntervention(
+      this.room,
+      collision,
+      intervention,
+      collision.severity === 'critical' ? voiceLine : undefined,
+    );
   }
 }

backend/src/env.ts

@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ export const env = {
   LIVEKIT_URL: req('LIVEKIT_URL'),
   LIVEKIT_API_KEY: req('LIVEKIT_API_KEY'),
   LIVEKIT_API_SECRET: req('LIVEKIT_API_SECRET'),
+  LIVEKIT_AGENT_NAME: opt('LIVEKIT_AGENT_NAME'),
   // Gemini
   GEMINI_API_KEY: reqAny('GEMINI_API_KEY', ['GOOGLE_API_KEY', 'GOOGLE_GENERATIVE_AI_API_KEY']),
   GEMINI_VISION_MODEL: opt('GEMINI_VISION_MODEL', 'gemini-2.0-flash'),

backend/src/server.ts

@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
 import express from 'express';
 import cors from 'cors';
 import { createServer } from 'node:http';
+import type { Socket } from 'node:net';
 import { WebSocketServer } from 'ws';
-import { AccessToken, RoomConfiguration } from 'livekit-server-sdk';
+import { AccessToken, RoomAgentDispatch, RoomConfiguration } from 'livekit-server-sdk';
 import { env } from './env.js';
 import { createSyncPr } from './github/client.js';
-import { recordOutcome, memoryStats } from './memory/store.js';
+import { recordCollision, recordIntervention, recordOutcome, memoryStats } from './memory/store.js';
 import { closeMemory, initMemory } from './memory/db.js';
 import {
   listPods,
@@ -20,13 +21,27 @@ import {
 import { getPresence, closeRoom } from './livekit/rooms.js';
 import { loadPodGraph, reachFrom } from './graph/store.js';
 import { listPodActivity } from './activity/store.js';
-import type { InterventionOutcome } from '@podman/shared';
+import { speakInRoom } from './voice/live.js';
+import { notifyHermesInterventionInRoom } from './action/hermes.js';
+import type { Collision, Intervention, InterventionOutcome, SuggestedActionKind } from '@podman/shared';
 
 const app = express();
 app.use(cors());
 app.use(express.json());
 app.get('/health', (_req, res) => res.json({ ok: true }));
 
+function stringArray(value: unknown): string[] {
+  return Array.isArray(value)
+    ? value.map((item) => String(item).trim()).filter(Boolean)
+    : [];
+}
+
+function suggestedAction(value: unknown): SuggestedActionKind {
+  return value === 'open_sync_pr' || value === 'ping_teammate' || value === 'none'
+    ? value
+    : 'ping_teammate';
+}
+
 // Mint a LiveKit token for an engineer joining a pod.
 app.post('/api/token', async (req, res) => {
   const { room, identity, name, githubLogin } = req.body ?? {};
@@ -38,9 +53,22 @@ app.post('/api/token', async (req, res) => {
     metadata: JSON.stringify({ githubLogin: githubLogin ?? name }),
   });
   at.addGrant({ roomJoin: true, room, canPublish: true, canSubscribe: true, canPublishData: true });
+  const agents = env.LIVEKIT_AGENT_NAME
+    ? [
+        new RoomAgentDispatch({
+          agentName: env.LIVEKIT_AGENT_NAME,
+          metadata: JSON.stringify({ podId: room }),
+        }),
+      ]
+    : undefined;
   // Auto-clean the room: close 60s after it empties, drop a participant 20s
   // after they disconnect. Applied when LiveKit auto-creates the room.
-  at.roomConfig = new RoomConfiguration({ name: room, emptyTimeout: 60, departureTimeout: 20 });
+  at.roomConfig = new RoomConfiguration({
+    name: room,
+    emptyTimeout: 60,
+    departureTimeout: 20,
+    agents,
+  });
   res.json({ token: await at.toJwt(), url: env.LIVEKIT_URL });
 });
 
@@ -137,6 +165,84 @@ app.post('/api/pods/:id/members', async (req, res) => {
   }
 });
 
+app.post('/api/pods/:id/voice-test', async (req, res) => {
+  const podId = req.params.id;
+  const message =
+    typeof req.body?.message === 'string' && req.body.message.trim()
+      ? req.body.message.trim()
+      : 'PodMan voice test. Gemini TTS is playing through LiveKit.';
+  try {
+    await speakInRoom(podId, message);
+    res.json({ ok: true });
+  } catch (e) {
+    res.status(500).json({ error: (e as Error).message });
+  }
+});
+
+app.post('/api/pods/:id/hermes/notify', async (req, res) => {
+  const podId = req.params.id;
+  const pod = await getPod(podId);
+  if (!pod) return res.status(404).json({ error: 'pod not found' });
+
+  const body = req.body ?? {};
+  const message = typeof body.message === 'string' ? body.message.trim() : '';
+  if (!message) return res.status(400).json({ error: 'message is required' });
+
+  const now = new Date().toISOString();
+  const engineers = stringArray(body.engineers);
+  const recipients = engineers.length ? engineers : pod.members.slice(0, 2);
+  const file = typeof body.file === 'string' && body.file.trim() ? body.file.trim() : 'Hermes signal';
+  const urgent = body.urgency === 'urgent' || body.severity === 'critical';
+  const collision: Collision = {
+    id: typeof body.collisionId === 'string' && body.collisionId ? body.collisionId : `col_${Date.now()}`,
+    podId,
+    file,
+    symbol: typeof body.symbol === 'string' && body.symbol ? body.symbol : undefined,
+    engineers: recipients,
+    severity: urgent ? 'critical' : 'warn',
+    githubState: { unpushed: body.unpushed !== false },
+    detectedAt: now,
+  };
+  const intervention: Intervention = {
+    id:
+      typeof body.interventionId === 'string' && body.interventionId
+        ? body.interventionId
+        : `int_${Date.now()}`,
+    collisionId: collision.id,
+    podId,
+    kind: urgent ? 'voice' : 'card',
+    message,
+    suggestedAction: {
+      kind: suggestedAction(body.suggestedAction),
+      params: {
+        file,
+        engineers: recipients,
+        source: 'local-hermes',
+      },
+    },
+    status: 'pending',
+    createdAt: now,
+  };
+  const voiceLine =
+    urgent && body.speak !== false
+      ? typeof body.voiceLine === 'string' && body.voiceLine.trim()
+        ? body.voiceLine.trim()
+        : message
+      : undefined;
+
+  try {
+    await recordCollision(collision);
+    await recordIntervention(intervention);
+    if (body.dryRun === true) {
+      return res.status(202).json({ ok: true, collision, intervention, livekit: 'dry-run' });
+    }
+    await notifyHermesInterventionInRoom(podId, collision, intervention, voiceLine);
+    res.status(202).json({ ok: true, collision, intervention, livekit: 'notified' });
+  } catch (e) {
+    res.status(500).json({ error: (e as Error).message });
+  }
+});
+
 app.delete('/api/pods/:id/members/:name', async (req, res) => {
   const pod = await removeMember(req.params.id, req.params.name);
   if (!pod) return res.status(404).json({ error: 'pod not found' });
@@ -206,6 +312,12 @@ app.get('/api/pods/:id/activity/stream', async (req, res) => {
 });
 
 const http = createServer(app);
+const sockets = new Set<Socket>();
+
+http.on('connection', (socket) => {
+  sockets.add(socket);
+  socket.on('close', () => sockets.delete(socket));
+});
 
 // ws relay: the agent pushes collision/intervention JSON here; PWAs subscribed by pod receive it.
 const wss = new WebSocketServer({ server: http, path: '/api/events' });
@@ -237,7 +349,11 @@ async function shutdown(signal: NodeJS.Signals): Promise<void> {
   console.log(`[server] ${signal} received; shutting down`);
   for (const client of clients) client.close();
   wss.close();
-  await new Promise<void>((resolve) => http.close(() => resolve()));
+  for (const socket of sockets) socket.destroy();
+  await Promise.race([
+    new Promise<void>((resolve) => http.close(() => resolve())),
+    new Promise<void>((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 5000)),
+  ]);
   await closeMemory().catch((e) => console.warn(`[memory] close failed: ${(e as Error).message}`));
   process.exit(0);
 }

backend/src/voice/live.ts

@@ -3,24 +3,32 @@ import {
   AudioFrame,
   AudioSource,
   LocalAudioTrack,
+  Room,
   TrackPublishOptions,
   TrackSource,
   type LocalParticipant,
-  type Room,
 } from '@livekit/rtc-node';
 import { GoogleGenAI, Modality, type LiveServerMessage, type Session } from '@google/genai';
+import { AccessToken } from 'livekit-server-sdk';
 import { DATA_TOPIC, type DataMessage } from '@podman/shared';
 import { env } from '../env.js';
 
 const SAMPLE_RATE = 24_000;
 const CHANNELS = 1;
 const FRAME_SAMPLES = SAMPLE_RATE / 10;
+const SUBSCRIBER_READY_MS = 750;
+const AUDIO_PREROLL_MS = 300;
+const AUDIO_TAIL_MS = 300;
 const VOICE_QUEUE_MS = 30_000;
 const VOICE_TRACK_PREFIX = 'podman-hermes-voice';
 const encoder = new TextEncoder();
 const ai = new GoogleGenAI({ apiKey: env.GEMINI_API_KEY });
 let voiceQueue: Promise<void> = Promise.resolve();
 
+function delay(ms: number): Promise<void> {
+  return new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
+}
+
 function ttsPrompt(message: string): string {
   return [
     'Speak this PodMan coordination alert as a calm, natural engineering teammate.',
@@ -55,7 +63,8 @@ function audioFrameFromBase64(data: string, mimeType?: string): AudioFrame | nul
   const buf = Buffer.from(data, 'base64');
   if (buf.byteLength < 2) return null;
   const bytes = buf.byteLength % 2 === 0 ? buf : buf.subarray(0, buf.byteLength - 1);
-  const samples = new Int16Array(bytes.buffer, bytes.byteOffset, bytes.byteLength / 2);
+  const samples = new Int16Array(bytes.byteLength / 2);
+  for (let i = 0; i < samples.length; i += 1) samples[i] = bytes.readInt16LE(i * 2);
   return new AudioFrame(samples, SAMPLE_RATE, CHANNELS, samples.length / CHANNELS);
 }
 
@@ -78,7 +87,7 @@ function framesFromPcmBase64(data: string, mimeType?: string): AudioFrame[] {
   const samples = frame.data;
   const frames: AudioFrame[] = [];
   for (let offset = 0; offset < samples.length; offset += FRAME_SAMPLES) {
-    const chunk = samples.subarray(offset, Math.min(offset + FRAME_SAMPLES, samples.length));
+    const chunk = samples.slice(offset, Math.min(offset + FRAME_SAMPLES, samples.length));
     frames.push(new AudioFrame(chunk, SAMPLE_RATE, CHANNELS, chunk.length / CHANNELS));
   }
   return frames;
@@ -100,8 +109,24 @@ async function generateTtsFrames(message: string): Promise<AudioFrame[]> {
   );
 }
 
+function fallbackVoiceLine(message: string): string {
+  const clean = message.replace(/^heads up[.!]?\s*/i, '').trim();
+  if (clean && clean !== message) return clean;
+  return 'PodMan noticed a critical conflict. Please sync with the team before pushing.';
+}
+
 async function speakWithTts(source: AudioSource, message: string): Promise<void> {
-  for (const frame of await generateTtsFrames(message)) {
+  let frames: AudioFrame[];
+  try {
+    frames = await generateTtsFrames(message);
+  } catch (err) {
+    const fallback = fallbackVoiceLine(message);
+    console.warn(`[voice] Gemini TTS retrying with fallback line: ${(err as Error).message}`);
+    frames = await generateTtsFrames(fallback);
+  }
+  if (frames.length === 0) throw new Error('Gemini TTS returned no audio frames');
+  console.log(`[voice] publishing Gemini TTS audio frames=${frames.length}`);
+  for (const frame of frames) {
     await source.captureFrame(frame);
   }
 }
@@ -150,6 +175,11 @@ async function waitForVoicePlayout(source: AudioSource): Promise<void> {
   ]);
 }
 
+async function captureSilence(source: AudioSource, durationMs: number): Promise<void> {
+  const samples = Math.max(1, Math.round((SAMPLE_RATE * durationMs) / 1000));
+  await source.captureFrame(new AudioFrame(new Int16Array(samples), SAMPLE_RATE, CHANNELS, samples));
+}
+
 async function speakAudio(room: Room, message: string): Promise<void> {
   const localParticipant = room.localParticipant;
   if (!localParticipant) return;
@@ -157,14 +187,17 @@ async function speakAudio(room: Room, message: string): Promise<void> {
   const source = new AudioSource(SAMPLE_RATE, CHANNELS, VOICE_QUEUE_MS);
   const track = LocalAudioTrack.createAudioTrack(`${VOICE_TRACK_PREFIX}-${Date.now()}`, source);
   const options = new TrackPublishOptions();
-  options.source = TrackSource.SOURCE_UNKNOWN;
+  options.source = TrackSource.SOURCE_MICROPHONE;
   let publicationSid: string | undefined;
 
   try {
     const publication = await localParticipant.publishTrack(track, options);
     publicationSid = publication.sid;
+    await delay(SUBSCRIBER_READY_MS);
+    await captureSilence(source, AUDIO_PREROLL_MS);
     if (env.GEMINI_LIVE_MODEL.includes('tts')) await speakWithTts(source, message);
     else await speakWithLive(source, message);
+    await captureSilence(source, AUDIO_TAIL_MS);
     await waitForVoicePlayout(source);
   } catch (err) {
     console.warn(`[voice] Gemini voice publish failed: ${(err as Error).message}`);
@@ -188,3 +221,25 @@ export async function speak(room: Room, message: string): Promise<void> {
   voiceQueue = voiceQueue.catch(() => {}).then(() => speakAudio(room, message));
   await voiceQueue;
 }
+
+export async function speakInRoom(roomName: string, message: string): Promise<void> {
+  const room = new Room();
+  try {
+    const at = new AccessToken(env.LIVEKIT_API_KEY, env.LIVEKIT_API_SECRET, {
+      identity: `podman-voice-${Date.now()}`,
+      name: 'PodMan voice',
+      ttl: '5m',
+    });
+    at.addGrant({
+      roomJoin: true,
+      room: roomName,
+      canPublish: true,
+      canSubscribe: true,
+      canPublishData: true,
+    });
+    await room.connect(env.LIVEKIT_URL, await at.toJwt());
+    await speak(room, message);
+  } finally {
+    await room.disconnect().catch(() => {});
+  }
+}

frontend/src/components/PodView.tsx

@@ -20,9 +20,10 @@ import {
   WorkflowIcon,
   XIcon,
 } from 'lucide-react';
-import type { Room, RemoteTrack, RemoteTrackPublication, RemoteParticipant } from 'livekit-client';
+import type { Room, RemoteTrack, RemoteTrackPublication } from 'livekit-client';
 import type { Pod, PodActivityEvent, PodActivityKind, PodActivitySource } from '@podman/shared';
 import { useBeat } from '../livekit/useBeat.js';
+import { testPodVoice } from '../lib/api.js';
 import { useInterventions, primeSpeech } from '../livekit/useInterventions.js';
 import { usePodActivity } from '../hooks/use-pod-activity.js';
 import LiveWaveform from '@/components/ruixen/live-waveform';
@@ -109,6 +110,7 @@ export function PodView({
 }) {
   const [participants, setParticipants] = useState<PInfo[]>([]);
   const [sharing, setSharing] = useState(false);
+  const [testingVoice, setTestingVoice] = useState(false);
   const [note, setNote] = useState<string | null>(null);
   const [audioBlocked, setAudioBlocked] = useState(false);
   const [leftStreamOpen, setLeftStreamOpen] = useState(() =>
@@ -122,6 +124,7 @@ export function PodView({
   const activity = usePodActivity(team.id, me);
 
   const audioRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
+  const audioElementsRef = useRef(new Map<string, HTMLElement>());
   const screenTrackRef = useRef<MediaStreamTrack | null>(null);
   const onLeaveRef = useRef(onLeave);
   onLeaveRef.current = onLeave;
@@ -131,12 +134,34 @@ export function PodView({
     const refresh = () => setParticipants(snapshot(room, me));
     refresh();
 
-    const onAudio = (track: RemoteTrack, _pub: RemoteTrackPublication, _p: RemoteParticipant) => {
-      if (track.kind === Track.Kind.Audio && audioRef.current) {
-        audioRef.current.appendChild(track.attach());
-      }
+    const attachAudio = (track: RemoteTrack, pub: RemoteTrackPublication) => {
+      if (track.kind !== Track.Kind.Audio || !audioRef.current) return;
+      const key = pub.trackSid || track.sid || track.mediaStreamTrack.id;
+      if (audioElementsRef.current.has(key)) return;
+      const element = track.attach();
+      element.autoplay = true;
+      audioElementsRef.current.set(key, element);
+      audioRef.current.appendChild(element);
     };
-    const onAudioGone = (track: RemoteTrack) => track.detach().forEach((el) => el.remove());
+    const removeAudio = (track: RemoteTrack, pub?: RemoteTrackPublication) => {
+      const key = pub?.trackSid || track.sid || track.mediaStreamTrack.id;
+      const attached = audioElementsRef.current.get(key);
+      if (attached) {
+        attached.remove();
+        audioElementsRef.current.delete(key);
+      }
+      track.detach().forEach((el) => el.remove());
+    };
+    const attachExistingAudio = () => {
+      room.remoteParticipants.forEach((participant) => {
+        participant.audioTrackPublications.forEach((publication) => {
+          const track = publication.track;
+          if (track) attachAudio(track, publication);
+        });
+      });
+    };
+    const onAudio = (track: RemoteTrack, pub: RemoteTrackPublication) => attachAudio(track, pub);
+    const onAudioGone = (track: RemoteTrack, pub: RemoteTrackPublication) => removeAudio(track, pub);
     const onDisconnected = () => onLeaveRef.current();
     // Browsers block autoplay of incoming audio until a user gesture unlocks it.
     // Surface a button whenever the room can't play sound so PodMan's voice cues
@@ -152,6 +177,7 @@ export function PodView({
       .on(RoomEvent.TrackUnsubscribed, onAudioGone)
       .on(RoomEvent.AudioPlaybackStatusChanged, onPlaybackChanged)
       .on(RoomEvent.Disconnected, onDisconnected);
+    attachExistingAudio();
 
     return () => {
       room
@@ -162,6 +188,8 @@ export function PodView({
         .off(RoomEvent.TrackUnsubscribed, onAudioGone)
         .off(RoomEvent.AudioPlaybackStatusChanged, onPlaybackChanged)
         .off(RoomEvent.Disconnected, onDisconnected);
+      audioElementsRef.current.forEach((el) => el.remove());
+      audioElementsRef.current.clear();
     };
   }, [room, me]);
 
@@ -200,6 +228,22 @@ export function PodView({
     }
   }
 
+  async function playPodManVoiceTest() {
+    if (!room) return;
+    setNote(null);
+    setTestingVoice(true);
+    try {
+      await room.startAudio().catch(() => {});
+      setAudioBlocked(!room.canPlaybackAudio);
+      await testPodVoice(team.id);
+      setNote('PodMan voice test sent.');
+    } catch (e) {
+      setNote(`PodMan voice test failed: ${(e as Error).message}`);
+    } finally {
+      setTestingVoice(false);
+    }
+  }
+
   async function toggleScreen() {
     primeSpeech(); // unlock browser voice from this gesture too
     if (!room) return;
@@ -317,6 +361,14 @@ export function PodView({
                     <Volume2Icon data-icon="inline-start" />
                     {beat.on ? (beat.mine ? 'Stop audio' : `Stop (${beat.by})`) : 'Test audio'}
                   </Button>
+                  <Button
+                    variant="outline"
+                    onClick={() => void playPodManVoiceTest()}
+                    disabled={!room || testingVoice}
+                  >
+                    <RadioTowerIcon data-icon="inline-start" />
+                    {testingVoice ? 'Sending voice' : 'Test PodMan voice'}
+                  </Button>
                   <Button onClick={toggleScreen} disabled={!room}>
                     <MonitorUpIcon data-icon="inline-start" />
                     {sharing ? 'Stop sharing' : 'Share screen'}
@@ -516,6 +568,7 @@ export function PodView({
             </main>
             <div
               ref={audioRef}
+              data-testid="livekit-audio-sink"
               className="pointer-events-none fixed size-px overflow-hidden opacity-0"
             />
           </div>

frontend/src/lib/api.ts

@@ -122,6 +122,17 @@ export async function addMember(id: string, name: string): Promise<Pod> {
   );
 }
 
+export async function testPodVoice(id: string): Promise<void> {
+  const res = await fetch(`${BACKEND_URL}/api/pods/${encodeURIComponent(id)}/voice-test`, {
+    method: 'POST',
+    headers: { 'content-type': 'application/json' },
+    body: JSON.stringify({
+      message: 'PodMan voice test. Gemini TTS is playing through LiveKit.',
+    }),
+  });
+  if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`voice test failed: ${res.status}`);
+}
+
 export async function removeMember(id: string, name: string): Promise<Pod> {
   return json(
     await fetch(

package.json

@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
     "deploy:static:local": "node scripts/deploy-static-local.mjs",
     "hermes:watchdog": "node scripts/hermes-watchdog.mjs",
     "hermes:watchdog:strict": "node scripts/hermes-watchdog.mjs --strict",
+    "hermes:notify": "node scripts/hermes-notify.mjs",
     "hermes:sync-deploy": "node scripts/hermes-sync-deploy.mjs",
     "hermes:install": "node scripts/install-hermes-ops.mjs",
     "healthcheck:public": "node scripts/healthcheck-public.mjs",

scripts/hermes-notify.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+import { existsSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { config as loadEnv } from 'dotenv';
+
+const envPath = process.env.DOTENV_CONFIG_PATH ?? (existsSync('.env') ? '.env' : 'backend/.env');
+loadEnv({ path: envPath, quiet: true });
+
+function usage() {
+  console.error(
+    'Usage: node scripts/hermes-notify.mjs --pod <podId> --message <text> [--engineers alice,bob] [--file path] [--urgent]',
+  );
+  process.exit(1);
+}
+
+function arg(name) {
+  const index = process.argv.indexOf(name);
+  return index === -1 ? '' : (process.argv[index + 1] ?? '');
+}
+
+const podId = arg('--pod');
+const message = arg('--message');
+if (!podId || !message) usage();
+
+const apiBase = (
+  process.env.PODMAN_API_URL ??
+  process.env.BACKEND_URL ??
+  `http://127.0.0.1:${process.env.PORT ?? '8787'}`
+).replace(/\/$/, '');
+
+const engineers = arg('--engineers')
+  .split(',')
+  .map((name) => name.trim())
+  .filter(Boolean);
+const file = arg('--file');
+const urgent = process.argv.includes('--urgent');
+
+const res = await globalThis.fetch(`${apiBase}/api/pods/${encodeURIComponent(podId)}/hermes/notify`, {
+  method: 'POST',
+  headers: { 'content-type': 'application/json' },
+  body: JSON.stringify({
+    message,
+    ...(engineers.length ? { engineers } : {}),
+    ...(file ? { file } : {}),
+    ...(urgent ? { urgency: 'urgent' } : {}),
+  }),
+});
+
+const text = await res.text();
+if (!res.ok) {
+  console.error(text);
+  process.exit(1);
+}
+
+console.log(text);

scripts/verify-backend.mjs

@@ -95,6 +95,25 @@ async function verifyApi() {
   );
   if (!withMember.members.includes('Hermes')) fail('member add did not persist');
 
+  const hermesNotify = await json(
+    await doFetch(`${baseUrl}/api/pods/${encodeURIComponent(created.id)}/hermes/notify`, {
+      method: 'POST',
+      headers: { 'content-type': 'application/json' },
+      body: JSON.stringify({
+        message: 'Hermes verification notification.',
+        engineers: ['Alice', 'Bob'],
+        file: 'src/verify-hermes.ts',
+        dryRun: true,
+      }),
+    }),
+  );
+  if (
+    hermesNotify.livekit !== 'dry-run' ||
+    hermesNotify.intervention?.message !== 'Hermes verification notification.'
+  ) {
+    fail('Hermes notify endpoint returned unexpected payload');
+  }
+
   await json(
     await doFetch(`${baseUrl}/api/pods/${encodeURIComponent(created.id)}`, { method: 'DELETE' }),
   );
@@ -262,6 +281,7 @@ try {
           'health',
           'token',
           'pod-crud',
+          'hermes-notify',
           'collision',
           'memory-recall',
           'graph',

scripts/verify-frontend.mjs

@@ -21,7 +21,14 @@ const { DATA_TOPIC } = await import('../shared/dist/messages.js').catch(() => ({
   DATA_TOPIC: 'podman.intervention',
 }));
 const backendRequire = createRequire(new URL('../backend/package.json', import.meta.url));
-const { Room } = backendRequire('@livekit/rtc-node');
+const {
+  AudioFrame,
+  AudioSource,
+  LocalAudioTrack,
+  Room,
+  TrackPublishOptions,
+  TrackSource,
+} = backendRequire('@livekit/rtc-node');
 const pods = await fetchJson('/api/pods');
 const verifyPod = pods.find((pod) => pod.id === 'frontend-pod') ?? pods[0];
 if (!verifyPod) throw new Error('no pods available for frontend verification');
@@ -123,6 +130,27 @@ async function publishDataMessage(room, message) {
   });
 }
 
+async function publishAudioProbe(room) {
+  const source = new AudioSource(24_000, 1, 5_000);
+  const track = LocalAudioTrack.createAudioTrack(`verify-audio-${process.pid}`, source);
+  const options = new TrackPublishOptions();
+  options.source = TrackSource.SOURCE_MICROPHONE;
+  const publication = await room.localParticipant.publishTrack(track, options);
+  await source.captureFrame(new AudioFrame(new Int16Array(24_000), 24_000, 1, 24_000));
+  return { source, publication };
+}
+
+async function waitForAttachedAudio(page) {
+  const audioSink = page.getByTestId('livekit-audio-sink');
+  await audioSink.waitFor({ timeout: 15_000 });
+  for (let i = 0; i < 30; i++) {
+    const count = await audioSink.locator('audio').count();
+    if (count > 0) return;
+    await delay(250);
+  }
+  throw new Error('LiveKit audio track was not attached to the hidden audio sink');
+}
+
 async function waitForInterventionCard(page, room, podId) {
   const cardText = 'Verification collision: two engineers are editing frontend/src/App.tsx.';
   for (let attempt = 1; attempt <= 3; attempt++) {
@@ -284,8 +312,8 @@ try {
   const podCard = page
     .getByText(verifyPod.name, { exact: true })
     .locator('xpath=ancestor::*[.//input[@placeholder="Your name"]][1]');
-  await podCard.getByPlaceholder('Your name').fill(verifyMember);
-  await podCard.getByRole('button', { name: 'Add and join' }).click();
+  await podCard.getByPlaceholder('Your name').first().fill(verifyMember);
+  await podCard.getByRole('button', { name: 'Join' }).first().click();
   await page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Share screen' }).waitFor({ timeout: 15_000 });
   if (new URL(page.url()).pathname !== `/${verifyPod.id}`) {
     throw new Error(`join did not update URL to /${verifyPod.id}: ${page.url()}`);
@@ -384,6 +412,18 @@ try {
 
   const publisher = await connectPublisher(verifyPod.id);
   try {
+    const audioProbe = await publishAudioProbe(publisher);
+    try {
+      await waitForAttachedAudio(page);
+    } finally {
+      if (audioProbe.publication.sid) {
+        await publisher.localParticipant
+          .unpublishTrack(audioProbe.publication.sid, true)
+          .catch(() => {});
+      }
+      await audioProbe.source.close().catch(() => {});
+    }
+
     const intervention = await waitForInterventionCard(page, publisher, verifyPod.id);
     await publishDataMessage(publisher, {
       type: 'HERMES_MESSAGE',
@@ -432,6 +472,7 @@ try {
         graph: true,
         joined: true,
         screenShare: 'livekit-published',
+        audioSink: 'livekit-attached',
         intervention: 'collision-hermes-voice',
         podId: verifyPod.id,
         member: verifyMember,