HeartbeatFrames are now control frames

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -34,6 +34,11 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ### Changed
 
+- `HeartbeatFrame`s are now control frames. This will make it easier to detect
+  pipeline freezes. Previously, heartbeat frames were system frames which meant
+  they were not get queued with other frames, making it difficult to detect
+  pipeline stalls.
+
 - Updated `OpenAIRealtimeBetaLLMService` to accept `language` in the
   `InputAudioTranscription` class for all models.
 

src/pipecat/frames/frames.py

@@ -485,16 +485,6 @@ class FatalErrorFrame(ErrorFrame):
     fatal: bool = field(default=True, init=False)
 
 
-@dataclass
-class HeartbeatFrame(SystemFrame):
-    """This frame is used by the pipeline task as a mechanism to know if the
-    pipeline is running properly.
-
-    """
-
-    timestamp: int
-
-
 @dataclass
 class EndTaskFrame(SystemFrame):
     """This is used to notify the pipeline task that the pipeline should be
@@ -877,6 +867,16 @@ class StopFrame(ControlFrame):
     pass
 
 
+@dataclass
+class HeartbeatFrame(ControlFrame):
+    """This frame is used by the pipeline task as a mechanism to know if the
+    pipeline is running properly.
+
+    """
+
+    timestamp: int
+
+
 @dataclass
 class FrameProcessorPauseFrame(ControlFrame):
     """This processor is used to pause frame processing for the given

src/pipecat/pipeline/task.py

@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ from pipecat.utils.tracing.setup import is_tracing_available
 from pipecat.utils.tracing.turn_trace_observer import TurnTraceObserver
 
 HEARTBEAT_SECONDS = 1.0
-HEARTBEAT_MONITOR_SECONDS = HEARTBEAT_SECONDS * 5
+HEARTBEAT_MONITOR_SECONDS = HEARTBEAT_SECONDS * 10
 
 
 class PipelineParams(BaseModel):