feat(realtime): default to passthrough when no initial prompt is provided

decart/realtime/messages.py

@@ -171,4 +171,9 @@ def message_to_json(message: OutgoingMessage) -> str:
     Returns:
         JSON string
     """
+    # SetAvatarImageMessage uses exclude_unset so explicitly-passed None values
+    # (e.g. image_data=None, prompt=None for passthrough) are serialized as null,
+    # while fields that were never set are omitted.
+    if isinstance(message, SetAvatarImageMessage):
+        return message.model_dump_json(exclude_unset=True)
     return message.model_dump_json(exclude_none=True)

decart/realtime/webrtc_connection.py

@@ -97,7 +97,9 @@ async def connect(
                 )
             elif initial_prompt:
                 await self._send_initial_prompt_and_wait(initial_prompt)
-
+            elif local_track is not None:
+                # No image and no prompt — send passthrough (skip for subscribe mode which has no local stream)
+                await self._send_passthrough_and_wait()
             await self._setup_peer_connection(local_track, model_name=model_name)
 
             await self._create_and_send_offer()
@@ -171,6 +173,31 @@ async def _send_initial_prompt_and_wait(self, prompt: dict, timeout: float = 15.
         finally:
             self.unregister_prompt_wait(prompt_text)
 
+    async def _send_passthrough_and_wait(self, timeout: float = 30.0) -> None:
+        """Send passthrough set_image (null image + null prompt) and wait for ack.
+
+        When connecting without an initial prompt or image, the server still
+        expects an explicit initial state.  Sending image_data=null + prompt=null
+        tells the server to use passthrough mode.
+        """
+        event, result = self.register_image_set_wait()
+
+        try:
+            message = SetAvatarImageMessage(type="set_image", image_data=None, prompt=None)
+            await self._send_message(message)
+
+            try:
+                await asyncio.wait_for(event.wait(), timeout=timeout)
+            except asyncio.TimeoutError:
+                raise WebRTCError("Passthrough acknowledgment timed out")
+
+            if not result["success"]:
+                raise WebRTCError(
+                    f"Failed to send passthrough: {result.get('error', 'unknown error')}"
+                )
+        finally:
+            self.unregister_image_set_wait()
+
     async def _setup_peer_connection(
         self,
         local_track: Optional[MediaStreamTrack],
@@ -344,6 +371,20 @@ def _handle_set_image_ack(self, message: SetImageAckMessage) -> None:
     def _handle_error(self, message: ErrorMessage) -> None:
         logger.error(f"Received error from server: {message.error}")
         error = WebRTCError(message.error)
+
+        # Fail-fast: resolve any pending Phase-2 waits so they surface the
+        # real server error instead of timing out after 30 s.
+        if self._pending_image_set:
+            event, result = self._pending_image_set
+            result["success"] = False
+            result["error"] = message.error
+            event.set()
+
+        for _prompt, (event, result) in list(self._pending_prompts.items()):
+            result["success"] = False
+            result["error"] = message.error
+            event.set()
+
         if self._on_error:
             self._on_error(error)
 

tests/test_realtime_unit.py

@@ -1094,3 +1094,175 @@ async def test_image_to_base64_file_path_string(tmp_path):
     mock_session = MagicMock()
     result = await _image_to_base64(str(img), mock_session)
     assert result == base64.b64encode(b"PNGDATA").decode("utf-8")
+
+
+# Tests for passthrough mode (no initial prompt/image)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_connect_without_initial_state_sends_passthrough():
+    """Connecting without prompt/image sends passthrough set_image (null image + null prompt)."""
+    client = DecartClient(api_key="test-key")
+
+    with (
+        patch("decart.realtime.client.WebRTCManager") as mock_manager_class,
+        patch("decart.realtime.client.aiohttp.ClientSession") as mock_session_cls,
+    ):
+        mock_manager = AsyncMock()
+        mock_manager.connect = AsyncMock(return_value=True)
+        mock_manager.is_connected = MagicMock(return_value=True)
+        mock_manager_class.return_value = mock_manager
+
+        mock_session = MagicMock()
+        mock_session.closed = False
+        mock_session.close = AsyncMock()
+        mock_session_cls.return_value = mock_session
+
+        mock_track = MagicMock()
+
+        from decart.realtime.types import RealtimeConnectOptions
+
+        realtime_client = await RealtimeClient.connect(
+            base_url=client.base_url,
+            api_key=client.api_key,
+            local_track=mock_track,
+            options=RealtimeConnectOptions(
+                model=models.realtime("mirage"),
+                on_remote_stream=lambda t: None,
+                # No initial_state — should trigger passthrough
+            ),
+        )
+
+        assert realtime_client is not None
+        mock_manager.connect.assert_called_once()
+        call_kwargs = mock_manager.connect.call_args[1]
+        # initial_image and initial_prompt should both be None
+        assert call_kwargs.get("initial_image") is None
+        assert call_kwargs.get("initial_prompt") is None
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_passthrough_sends_set_image_with_null_prompt():
+    """_send_passthrough_and_wait sends set_image with null image_data and null prompt."""
+    from decart.realtime.webrtc_connection import WebRTCConnection
+
+    connection = WebRTCConnection()
+
+    sent_messages: list = []
+
+    async def capture_send(message):
+        sent_messages.append(message)
+        # Simulate set_image_ack arriving immediately (like FakeWebSocket in JS tests)
+        if connection._pending_image_set:
+            event, result = connection._pending_image_set
+            result["success"] = True
+            event.set()
+
+    connection._send_message = capture_send  # type: ignore[assignment]
+
+    await connection._send_passthrough_and_wait()
+
+    assert len(sent_messages) == 1
+    msg = sent_messages[0]
+    assert msg.type == "set_image"
+    assert msg.image_data is None
+    assert msg.prompt is None
+
+    # Verify JSON serialization includes null values
+    from decart.realtime.messages import message_to_json
+    import json
+
+    json_str = message_to_json(msg)
+    parsed = json.loads(json_str)
+    assert parsed == {"type": "set_image", "image_data": None, "prompt": None}
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_subscribe_mode_skips_passthrough():
+    """Subscribe mode (null local_track) must not send passthrough set_image."""
+    client = DecartClient(api_key="test-key")
+
+    with (patch("decart.realtime.client.WebRTCManager") as mock_manager_class,):
+        mock_manager = AsyncMock()
+        mock_manager.connect = AsyncMock(return_value=True)
+        mock_manager_class.return_value = mock_manager
+
+        # subscribe() passes local_track=None internally
+        from decart.realtime.subscribe import SubscribeClient, encode_subscribe_token
+
+        token = encode_subscribe_token("test-sid", "1.2.3.4", 8080)
+
+        from decart.realtime.subscribe import SubscribeOptions
+
+        sub_client = await RealtimeClient.subscribe(
+            base_url=client.base_url,
+            api_key=client.api_key,
+            options=SubscribeOptions(
+                token=token,
+                on_remote_stream=lambda t: None,
+            ),
+        )
+
+        assert sub_client is not None
+        # Verify connect was called with local_track=None (subscribe mode)
+        mock_manager.connect.assert_called_once()
+        call_args = mock_manager.connect.call_args
+        assert call_args[0][0] is None  # first positional arg is local_track=None
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_server_error_during_passthrough_fails_fast():
+    """Server error during passthrough surfaces real error instead of 30s timeout."""
+    from decart.realtime.webrtc_connection import WebRTCConnection
+    from decart.realtime.messages import ErrorMessage
+    from decart.errors import WebRTCError
+
+    connection = WebRTCConnection()
+
+    async def fake_send(message):
+        # Simulate the server responding with an error instead of set_image_ack
+        await asyncio.sleep(0)  # yield so wait_for is listening
+        connection._handle_error(ErrorMessage(type="error", error="insufficient_credits"))
+
+    connection._send_message = fake_send  # type: ignore[assignment]
+
+    with pytest.raises(WebRTCError, match="insufficient_credits"):
+        await connection._send_passthrough_and_wait()
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_server_error_during_initial_image_fails_fast():
+    """Server error during initial image setup surfaces real error (pre-existing fix)."""
+    from decart.realtime.webrtc_connection import WebRTCConnection
+    from decart.realtime.messages import ErrorMessage
+    from decart.errors import WebRTCError
+
+    connection = WebRTCConnection()
+
+    async def fake_send(message):
+        await asyncio.sleep(0)
+        connection._handle_error(ErrorMessage(type="error", error="invalid_image"))
+
+    connection._send_message = fake_send  # type: ignore[assignment]
+
+    with pytest.raises(WebRTCError, match="invalid_image"):
+        await connection._send_initial_image_and_wait("base64data")
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_server_error_during_initial_prompt_fails_fast():
+    """Server error during initial prompt setup surfaces real error (pre-existing fix)."""
+    from decart.realtime.webrtc_connection import WebRTCConnection
+    from decart.realtime.messages import ErrorMessage
+    from decart.errors import WebRTCError
+
+    connection = WebRTCConnection()
+
+    async def fake_send(message):
+        await asyncio.sleep(0)
+        connection._handle_error(ErrorMessage(type="error", error="rate_limited"))
+
+    connection._send_message = fake_send  # type: ignore[assignment]
+
+    with pytest.raises(WebRTCError, match="rate_limited"):
+        await connection._send_initial_prompt_and_wait({"text": "test", "enhance": True})