openai-api

Start by checking the official API reference and changelog to confirm current endpoints and model availability for your tier. Then choose the right API surface—Chat Completions for standard requests, Realtime for voice, or the Agents SDK for agent workflows—and test with a real API key.

The Realtime API provides low-latency bidirectional audio streaming over a WebSocket connection at the /realtime endpoint, not standard HTTP. It became generally available in 2025 and is designed for voice agents and real-time conversations.

Model choice depends on your task: frontier models like GPT-5.x for general work, o1-series for reasoning-focused tasks. Always verify availability for your tier, context window size, and pricing in the models documentation before committing.

Failures commonly occur because model availability varies by account tier, rate limits differ per model and plan, or the model name changed in a changelog update. Check the changelog and your tier's model access first.

Yes, 2025 updates added PDF-by-URL support for document workflows along with expanded file type support. PDF inputs require specific formatting, so verify the current requirements in the documentation before implementing.