> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.avaturn.live/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Properties

> Constructor signature and configuration options for AvaturnHead.

## Constructor

Two overloads:

```typescript theme={null}
new AvaturnHead(options: AvaturnHeadConfig)
new AvaturnHead(rootElement: HTMLElement, options: AvaturnHeadConfig)
```

Pass a DOM element as the first argument to render the avatar into it on `init()`. Omit it and the avatar isn't rendered until you call [`attachDOMNode()`](/web-sdk/reference/methods#attachdomnode).

```typescript theme={null}
import { AvaturnHead } from "@avaturn-live/web-sdk";

const root = document.querySelector<HTMLDivElement>("#avaturn-video")!;

const avatar = new AvaturnHead(root, {
  sessionToken: "<SESSION_TOKEN>",
  audioSource: true,
  immediatelyJoin: true,
  startAudioOff: false,
  preloadBundle: false,
  preconnect: false,
  keepAlive: false,
  apiHost: "https://api.avaturn.live",
});

await avatar.init();
```

<ParamField path="rootElement" type="HTMLElement">
  Optional first positional argument. When passed, the avatar renders into this element on `init()`. Without it, call [`attachDOMNode()`](/web-sdk/reference/methods#attachdomnode) before rendering becomes visible.
</ParamField>

## Config

<ParamField path="sessionToken" type="string" required>
  Per-session token from [`POST /api/v1/sessions`](/api-reference/create-session). Must be minted on your backend.
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="audioSource" type="boolean" default="false">
  Requests microphone access and routes the user's voice into the conversation engine. Required for voice-to-voice flows ([OpenAI Realtime](/howtos/openai_realtime_api), [Cartesia](/howtos/cartesia)).
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="startAudioOff" type="boolean" default="!audioSource">
  Starts the session with the microphone muted. Defaults to the opposite of `audioSource` — voice-to-voice sessions start unmuted, text-echo sessions start muted.
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="immediatelyJoin" type="boolean" default="true">
  Joins the avatar room as soon as `init()` resolves. Set to `false` if you need a manual gap between init and join — then call [`join()`](/web-sdk/reference/methods#join) yourself.
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="preloadBundle" type="boolean" default="false">
  Fetches the SDK runtime bundle eagerly. Reduces first-interaction latency at the cost of an extra network request on page load.
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="preconnect" type="boolean" default="false">
  Opens the stream connection before `init()` completes. Trades a small amount of bandwidth for faster time-to-first-frame.
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="keepAlive" type="boolean" default="false">
  Keeps the local SDK state alive during user inactivity. With the default (`false`), the SDK tears down its local Daily call object after 5 minutes idle and emits the [`idle`](/web-sdk/reference/events#idle) event. The backend session terminates separately via `user_absent_timeout`.
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="apiHost" type="string" default="https://api.avaturn.live">
  Override the API host. Rarely needed — when set, expose both `${apiHost}/api/v1` and `${apiHost}/_sdk/v0` (see [Under the hood](/web-sdk/integration-guide#under-the-hood)).
</ParamField>