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hail-hq

hail-hq/hail

Open-source API and voice pipeline that gives AI agents a real phone number, SMS, and email inbox, with a bring-your-own LLM option.

Open-source alternative to:Twilio

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Last commit
13 hours ago

What is it?

Hail lets an AI agent place and receive phone calls, send and receive SMS, and use an email inbox. It connects to carriers such as Twilio, Telnyx and DIDWW through LiveKit, and runs the voice pipeline for speech-to-text, text-to-speech and turn detection. The agent's reasoning comes from either any OpenAI chat-completions-compatible endpoint or a bundled fallback chain of Anthropic, OpenAI and Gemini models.

The project exposes its functions through a Python SDK, a `hail` CLI, a REST API with an OpenAPI spec, and a remote MCP server, so tools like Claude Code or Cursor can drive calls and messages directly. It can be self-hosted with Docker Compose, while LiveKit Cloud, carriers, and speech providers remain external services. The code is licensed under AGPLv3.

Key features

  • 01Outbound and inbound phone calls via Twilio, Telnyx and DIDWW
  • 02SMS sending and receiving with opt-out suppression lists
  • 03Email sending and receiving on Hail domains or custom domains via AWS SES
  • 04Bring-your-own OpenAI-compatible LLM endpoint per call or as a standing org setting
  • 05Remote MCP server, Python SDK, CLI and OpenAPI-based HTTP API
  • 06Docker Compose self-hosting with Postgres

Use cases

  • Letting an agent call a customer to confirm or reschedule an appointment
  • Giving an AI assistant a dedicated number for SMS and voice
  • Routing inbound calls or emails to an agent that answers them
  • Connecting a coding assistant over MCP to send messages or place calls

Quick start

  1. 1

    Clone the repository

    git clone https://github.com/hail-hq/hail
  2. 2

    Enter the project folder and copy the environment template

    cd hail && cp .env.example .env
  3. 3

    Run database migrations with the local Docker Compose stack

    docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.local.yml run --rm api alembic upgrade head
  4. 4

    Start the self-hosted stack in the background

    docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.local.yml up -d

Things to know

  • Voice calls need external services: LiveKit Cloud, a carrier (Twilio, Telnyx or DIDWW), Deepgram, Cartesia and an LLM provider.
  • Email requires AWS SES and is optional.
  • Licensed under AGPL-3.0, so modified versions run as a network service must have their source released.
  • Some planned features such as Whisper, AssemblyAI and diarization are not yet shipped.

Topics

#ai-agents#telephony#sms#email#voice-ai#mcp#livekit#twilio

FAQ

What is hail?
Open-source API and voice pipeline that gives AI agents a real phone number, SMS, and email inbox, with a bring-your-own LLM option. Hail lets an AI agent place and receive phone calls, send and receive SMS, and use an email inbox. It connects to carriers such as Twilio, Telnyx and DIDWW through LiveKit, and runs the voice pipeline for speech-to-text, text-to-speech and turn detection. The agent's reasoning comes from either any OpenAI chat-completions-compatible endpoint or a bundled fallback chain of Anthropic, OpenAI and Gemini models.
Is hail free to use? What license does it have?
hail is open source under the AGPL-3.0 license. Check the license terms before using it in commercial products.
Is hail still maintained?
Actively maintained. The last commit to hail was on Oct 20, 2026.
What can I use hail for?
Letting an agent call a customer to confirm or reschedule an appointment Giving an AI assistant a dedicated number for SMS and voice Routing inbound calls or emails to an agent that answers them Connecting a coding assistant over MCP to send messages or place calls
How do I install hail?
Clone the repository: git clone https://github.com/hail-hq/hail Enter the project folder and copy the environment template: cd hail && cp .env.example .env Run database migrations with the local Docker Compose stack: docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.local.yml run --rm api alembic upgrade head Start the self-hosted stack in the background: docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.local.yml up -d
Where can I get hail?
The source code and installation instructions are on GitHub: https://github.com/hail-hq/hail

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