From d313d56776a288b0038fd16323e231e0f8b740c3 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Mark Backman <mark@daily.co>
Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2026 16:47:11 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] Fix RTVI events not delivered over WebSocket transports

The base serializer filters out RTVI protocol messages by default
(ignore_rtvi_messages=True) to prevent them from being sent over
telephony media streams. ProtobufFrameSerializer is used by WebSocket
transports, which are the delivery channel for these messages, so
disable the filter there.
---
 changelog/4176.fixed.md             | 1 +
 src/pipecat/serializers/protobuf.py | 5 +++++
 2 files changed, 6 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 changelog/4176.fixed.md

diff --git a/changelog/4176.fixed.md b/changelog/4176.fixed.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..90e9b6b88
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/4176.fixed.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+- Fixed RTVI events not being delivered to clients when using WebSocket transports. `ProtobufFrameSerializer` now sets `ignore_rtvi_messages=False` by default.
diff --git a/src/pipecat/serializers/protobuf.py b/src/pipecat/serializers/protobuf.py
index fd21af2bf..66f4d0daa 100644
--- a/src/pipecat/serializers/protobuf.py
+++ b/src/pipecat/serializers/protobuf.py
@@ -68,6 +68,11 @@ class ProtobufFrameSerializer(FrameSerializer):
             params: Configuration parameters.
         """
         super().__init__(params)
+        # The base serializer defaults to filtering out RTVI protocol messages
+        # to avoid sending them over telephony media streams. ProtobufFrameSerializer
+        # is used by WebSocket transports, which are the delivery channel for
+        # these messages, so we disable the filter.
+        self._params.ignore_rtvi_messages = False
 
     async def serialize(self, frame: Frame) -> str | bytes | None:
         """Serialize a frame to Protocol Buffer binary format.