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Telnyx AI Assistants

Give a Telnyx AI Assistant live web search and page reading during a call: add SpecStream as an MCP server in the Mission Control Portal, allow two tools, and attach it to the assistant.

SpecStream for Telnyx AI AssistantsAgent frameworks & builders

What you need

  • A Telnyx account with access to the Mission Control Portal, and an AI Assistant to test with.
  • A SpecStream account. New accounts get $10 of credit on sign-up, no card. Create one.

  1. 1. Create a SpecStream API key

    A Telnyx assistant authenticates to an MCP server with a stored API key, so use a SpecStream key. In SpecStream, open Agents & API, choose API keys, then Create API key, and set a total spending limit. Copy the key.

  2. 2. Store the key as an Integration Secret

    In the Telnyx portal, open Integration Secrets and select Create New Integration Secret. Set Identifier to specstream-api-key and paste the SpecStream key as Secret Value, then select Save.

    The identifier is only a reference. The assistant's instructions, its greeting and the model never see the key.

  3. 3. Create the MCP server

    In the AI Assistants section of the sidebar, select Tools, then the MCP Servers tab, then Create MCP Server. Fill in the form:

  4. 4. Allow two tools and save

    When the server's tools are listed, select search_web and read_pages under Allowed tools, leave the others unselected, and select Save.

    search_web answers a question from the live web with the pages it came from. read_pages returns the main text of up to 20 pages by URL.

  5. 5. Attach SpecStream to the assistant

    Open AI Assistants, select your assistant, and choose Integrations in the editor's section selector. Scroll to MCP Servers, select Add MCP server, and choose SpecStream. A server saved under Tools is not attached to any assistant until you add it here.

    Click the play button on the SpecStream entry. Telnyx connects and lists the tools without starting a conversation, and shows MCP server connected successfully. If it fails, check the URL, the HTTP type and the secret.

  6. Go back to the Agent section and add to Instructions when to call each tool. For a phone line, ask for the fast search, which answers sooner and costs less:

    Agent instructions
    When the caller asks about something that changes, such as opening hours, prices, a flight or today's news, call search_web with speed set to fast, and answer from its results in one or two sentences.
    When you need the full text of a page from those results, call read_pages with its URL.
    If a tool fails, say you could not check it. Never guess a figure.

  7. 7. Test it on a call

    Select Save at the bottom of the editor. Open Test assistant and choose Inbound call or Outbound call, then ask something from this week. Open Conversation History to confirm the assistant called search_web. A connected server alone does not prove the assistant uses it.

Why only search_web and read_pages

Both tools answer in seconds and charge each call to your balance with no quote, which suits a live call. SpecStream's other tools build full lists with Deep Search: each run is quoted first and starts only after a person approves the price. Leave those to the workspace or an assistant at a desk, and let the phone line read the web.

Per caller keys

Telnyx can also send each conversation its own bearer token through the dynamic variables webhook. Use it to give each customer their own SpecStream key and spending limit. Telnyx documents the setup in Per-Caller Credentials (opens in a new tab).

Telnyx's own Web Search API

Telnyx sells its own Web Search API on the same account. Telnyx Web Search API compares its prices and replies with SpecStream's.

Cost

Connecting SpecStream to Telnyx is free. Each search_web call costs $5 per 1,000 searches of up to 10 results, or $1 per 1,000 with speed=fast, and a search that returns nothing costs nothing. Each page read_pages reads costs $0.80 per 1,000 pages, and a page with no text is not charged. Calls come out of your balance up to the key's spending limit. Balance, quotes, and billing has the details.

Disconnect

Remove SpecStream under the assistant's Integrations, delete the server under Tools, MCP Servers, and delete the Integration Secret. Then open Agents & API in your SpecStream workspace, choose API keys, and revoke the key. Questions go to [email protected].

More

SpecStream for Telnyx AI Assistants covers what it does in Telnyx AI Assistants on one page. Every other tool has its guide in Connect your tools. You see the most a request can cost before it starts, and the matches are paid from your balance. Billing has the details. For help, email [email protected].