Only start monitoring for user idleness once a User or Bot StartedSpeakingFrame is processed

src/pipecat/processors/user_idle_processor.py

@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@ from pipecat.frames.frames import (
     CancelFrame,
     EndFrame,
     Frame,
-    StartFrame,
     UserStartedSpeakingFrame,
     UserStoppedSpeakingFrame,
 )
@@ -26,11 +25,15 @@ class UserIdleProcessor(FrameProcessor):
     If the timeout is reached before any interaction occurred the provided callback will be called.
 
     The callback can be either:
-    - async def callback(processor: UserIdleProcessor) -> None  # Legacy
+    - async def callback(processor: UserIdleProcessor) -> None  # Old
     - async def callback(processor: UserIdleProcessor, retry_count: int) -> bool  # New
 
     The new style callback receives the current retry count and should return True
     to continue monitoring or False to stop.
+
+    The processor starts monitoring for idle time only after receiving the first
+    UserStartedSpeakingFrame or BotSpeakingFrame, ensuring that idle detection
+    begins when the actual conversation starts.
     """
 
     def __init__(
@@ -48,6 +51,9 @@ class UserIdleProcessor(FrameProcessor):
         self._timeout = timeout
         self._retry_count = 0
         self._interrupted = False
+        self._conversation_started = False
+        self._idle_task = None
+        self._idle_event = asyncio.Event()
 
     def _wrap_callback(
         self,
@@ -74,9 +80,17 @@ class UserIdleProcessor(FrameProcessor):
 
         return wrapper
 
+    def _create_idle_task(self):
+        """Create the idle task if it hasn't been created yet."""
+        if self._idle_task is None:
+            self._idle_task = self.get_event_loop().create_task(self._idle_task_handler())
+
     async def _stop(self):
+        """Stop the idle task if it exists"""
+        if self._idle_task is not None:
             self._idle_task.cancel()
             await self._idle_task
+            self._idle_task = None
 
     async def process_frame(self, frame: Frame, direction: FrameDirection):
         await super().process_frame(frame, direction)
@@ -84,11 +98,21 @@ class UserIdleProcessor(FrameProcessor):
         # Check for end frames before processing
         if isinstance(frame, (EndFrame, CancelFrame)):
             await self.push_frame(frame, direction)  # Push the frame down the pipeline
-            await self._stop()  # Then stop the idle task
+            if self._idle_task:
-            return  # Return early since we're ending
+                await self._stop()  # Stop the idle task, if it exists
+            return
 
         await self.push_frame(frame, direction)
 
+        # Start monitoring on first conversation activity
+        if not self._conversation_started and isinstance(
+            frame, (UserStartedSpeakingFrame, BotSpeakingFrame)
+        ):
+            self._conversation_started = True
+            self._create_idle_task()
+
+        # Only process these events if conversation has started
+        if self._conversation_started:
             # We shouldn't call the idle callback if the user or the bot are speaking
             if isinstance(frame, UserStartedSpeakingFrame):
                 self._interrupted = True
@@ -100,12 +124,9 @@ class UserIdleProcessor(FrameProcessor):
                 self._idle_event.set()
 
     async def cleanup(self):
+        if self._idle_task:  # Only stop if task exists
             await self._stop()
 
-    def _create_idle_task(self):
-        self._idle_event = asyncio.Event()
-        self._idle_task = self.get_event_loop().create_task(self._idle_task_handler())
-
     async def _idle_task_handler(self):
         while True:
             try: