Media Transport Adapters

Media Transport Adapters bridge WebRTC and other transport protocols. Adapters handle protocol conversion, codec transcoding, and bidirectional media flow between WebRTC sessions and external endpoints.

Adapters extend Realtime beyond WebRTC-to-WebRTC communication:

• Ingest audio/video from external sources into WebRTC sessions
• Stream WebRTC media to external systems for processing or storage
• Integrate with AI services for transcription, translation, or generation
• Bridge WebRTC applications with legacy communication systems

Stream audio and video between WebRTC tracks and WebSocket endpoints. Video is egress-only and is converted to JPEG. Currently in beta; the API may change.

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Media Transport Adapters operate as intermediaries between Cloudflare Realtime SFU sessions and external endpoints:

graph LR
    A[WebRTC Client] <--> B[Realtime SFU Session]
    B <--> C[Media Transport Adapter]
    C <--> D[External Endpoint]

Adapter instance: Each connection creates a unique instance with an adapterId to manage its lifecycle.

Location types:

• local (Ingest): Receives media from external endpoints to create new WebRTC tracks
• remote (Stream): Sends media from existing WebRTC tracks to external endpoints

Codec support: Adapters convert between WebRTC and external system formats.

• Speech-to-text transcription
• Text-to-speech generation
• Real-time translation
• Audio enhancement

• Cloud recording
• Content delivery networks
• Media processing pipelines

• Traditional telephony
• Broadcasting infrastructure
• Custom media servers

Media Transport Adapters are managed through the Realtime SFU API:

POST /v1/apps/{appId}/adapters/{adapterType}/new
POST /v1/apps/{appId}/adapters/{adapterType}/close

Each adapter type has specific configuration requirements and capabilities. Refer to individual adapter documentation for detailed API specifications.

• Close adapter instances when no longer needed
• Implement reconnection logic for network failures
• Choose codecs based on bandwidth and quality requirements
• Secure endpoints with authentication for sensitive media

• Each adapter type has specific codec and format support
• Network latency between Cloudflare edge and external endpoints affects real-time performance
• Maximum message size and streaming modes vary by adapter type

WebSocket adapter (beta) - Stream audio and video between WebRTC and WebSocket endpoints (video egress to JPEG)