---
id: ovos-bus-client
version: "1.5.0"
license: Apache-2.0
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# ovos-bus-client — OVOS Messagebus Client

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 87.6K/mo

## What it is and what it does

ovos-bus-client is a lightweight Python interface to the OpenVoiceOS messagebus, the event-driven backbone of the OVOS voice assistant system. It lets you connect to a running OVOS instance, emit messages to trigger actions (like speech synthesis), and register handlers to react to messages from the system. The client wraps the core Message and MessageBusClient classes, supporting both local and remote connections.

The package is typically used to integrate external applications with OVOS—either as a standalone client sending commands to a voice assistant, or as a plugin within OVOS itself (via the included solver and HiveMind agent plugins). It abstracts away the websocket and event-loop details, letting you focus on message types, data payloads, and context routing.

Use it for:

- Send commands to an OVOS instance from a Python script or external application (e.g., trigger speech synthesis or skill actions).
- Build a custom skill or plugin that listens for and reacts to OVOS messagebus events in real time.
- Integrate OVOS with Home Assistant or other home automation platforms by bridging the messagebus to external agents.
- Expose OVOS capabilities to OpenAI-compatible interfaces via the ovos-persona-server integration.
- Connect OVOS to a Mixture of Solvers (MOS) architecture for multi-agent reasoning.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

Provides a Python client to connect to OpenVoiceOS messagebus, send messages, and register handlers to react to messages from the OVOS system.

Yes. The package is actively maintained, has low install friction, carries a permissive license, and fills a clear role in the OVOS ecosystem. Install it if you need to communicate with an OVOS instance from Python or build OVOS integrations. The Beta status and lack of documented Python version requirements are minor caveats but not blockers for most use cases.

## Install

pip install ovos-bus-client
uv add ovos-bus-client
poetry add ovos-bus-client

## Installing ovos-bus-client

Before you install: Low install friction with a pure-Python wheel and four runtime dependencies. Actively maintained with a recent release in 2026-03-02 and commits through 2026-08-14.

License in practice: Apache-2.0 permissive license allows commercial and private use with minimal restrictions; suitable for most projects.

Quickstart:

from ovos_bus_client import MessageBusClient, Message

client = MessageBusClient()
client.run_in_thread()
client.emit(Message('speak', data={'utterance': 'Hello World'}))

Requires a running OpenVoiceOS instance on the local machine or a configured remote host and port to connect to.

Verify before relying:

- Whether the package requires a running OVOS instance or if it can operate in standalone/mock mode for testing
- Stability guarantees or breaking-change policy given Beta development status

## Package facts

- License: Apache-2.0 (permissive)
- Python support: unspecified
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 87.6K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

ovos messagebus client, openvoiceos message bus, ovos event messaging, voice assistant message queue, ovos plugin communication, messagebus event handler, ovos core integration, voice-assistant, messagebus, ovos-plugin

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