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Overview

When deploying to production, do not expose your API key publicly. Instead:
  1. Exchange your API key for a short-lived session token on the server side
  2. Pass this token to the client
  3. Initialize the Anam SDK with the session token
Anam AI offers two types of session tokens: Stateful and Ephemeral.
API Change Notice: Recent API changes mean we now use a POST request instead of GET, and you define your persona configuration at this point in the request body. This allows you to configure your persona on the server side, preventing sensitive configuration details from being exposed to the client.

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Session Token Types

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Stateful Session Tokens

Stateful tokens reference a persona that you’ve created and configured in the Anam AI Lab, or using the Anam AI API. These are referenced by a unique ID.

Pros

Configuration changes are managed in the Lab interface without needing code changes. Ideal for personas that don’t need to change from session to session.

Cons

Less flexibility for per-user customization.

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Ephemeral Session Tokens

Ephemeral tokens allow you to define the persona configuration at runtime.

Pros

Define your persona configuration at runtime, enabling per-session customization and fast feedback during development.

Cons

Requires managing persona configuration inside your application.

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Getting a Session Token

Session tokens are valid for 1 hour by default. You should request a new token for each user session rather than caching tokens long-term.
The session token endpoint must be called from your server, not from client-side code. Making this request from the browser would expose your API key.

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Stateful Session Token

From your server, make a request to get a stateful session token, referencing your persona ID (found in the Anam Lab under your persona’s settings):
Fetching a stateful session token on your server
interface SessionTokenResponse {
  sessionToken: string;
}

async function getStatefulSessionToken(
  apiKey: string,
  personaId: string
): Promise<string> {
  const response = await fetch("https://api.anam.ai/v1/auth/session-token", {
    method: "POST",
    headers: {
      "Content-Type": "application/json",
      Authorization: `Bearer ${apiKey}`,
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      personaConfig: {
        personaId,
      },
    }),
  });

  if (!response.ok) {
    const error = await response.text();
    throw new Error(`Failed to get session token: ${response.status} ${error}`);
  }

  const data: SessionTokenResponse = await response.json();
  return data.sessionToken;
}

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Ephemeral Session Token

From your server, make a request to get an ephemeral session token with your persona configuration:
Fetching an ephemeral session token on your server
interface EphemeralPersonaConfig {
  name: string;
  avatarId: string;
  voiceId: string;
  llmId: string;
  systemPrompt: string;
}

interface SessionTokenResponse {
  sessionToken: string;
}

async function getEphemeralSessionToken(
  apiKey: string,
  personaConfig: EphemeralPersonaConfig
): Promise<string> {
  const response = await fetch("https://api.anam.ai/v1/auth/session-token", {
    method: "POST",
    headers: {
      "Content-Type": "application/json",
      Authorization: `Bearer ${apiKey}`,
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      personaConfig,
    }),
  });

  if (!response.ok) {
    const error = await response.text();
    throw new Error(`Failed to get session token: ${response.status} ${error}`);
  }

  const data: SessionTokenResponse = await response.json();
  return data.sessionToken;
}

// Example usage
const sessionToken = await getEphemeralSessionToken(apiKey, {
  name: "Cara",
  avatarId: "30fa96d0-26c4-4e55-94a0-517025942e18",
  voiceId: "6bfbe25a-979d-40f3-a92b-5394170af54b",
  llmId: "0934d97d-0c3a-4f33-91b0-5e136a0ef466",
  systemPrompt:
    "[STYLE] Reply in natural speech without formatting. Add pauses using '...' and very occasionally a disfluency. [PERSONALITY] You are Cara, a helpful assistant.",
});

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Common Error Responses

Status CodeMeaningSolution
401Invalid or missing API keyCheck your API key is correct and included in the Authorization header
403API key does not have permissionVerify your API key has the correct permissions in the Lab
404Persona not found (stateful tokens)Check the persona ID exists and belongs to your account
429Rate limitedReduce request frequency or contact support for higher limits

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Client Initialization

Once you have a session token from your server, use the createClient method to initialize the Anam client:
HelloWorld.ts
import { createClient } from "@anam-ai/js-sdk";

const anamClient = createClient(sessionToken);
The client exposes the same methods whether initialized with an API key or session token. See Basic Usage for streaming and interaction examples.

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Understanding a Session

The sequence diagram below shows how a typical session is started.
Session initialization sequence diagram

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Next Steps

Talk Commands

Control persona output using talk commands

Audio Control

Control audio input and streaming behavior
Last modified on April 14, 2026