**Interruptibility is a core feature of EVI that enables natural, real-time interaction.** Users can speak over the assistant at any time. When they do, EVI detects the interruption, stops generating the response, and immediately notifies the client.

### How interruption works

EVI continuously processes incoming audio, even while generating responses. An interruption occurs when speech is detected while the assistant is responding. Upon detecting an interruption, EVI:

- Stops generating the current response
- Stops streaming response audio
- Sends a [user_interruption](https://dev.hume.ai/reference/speech-to-speech-evi/chat#receive.UserInterruption) message to the client.

### Handling interruptions client-side

To make the interruption perceptible, the client must stop audio playback.

Although EVI halts response generation, the user won’t experience the interruption unless the assistant’s voice also stops.

When a `user_interruption` message is received, the client should:

1. **Stop audio playback**: Halt any ongoing playback of the interrupted response.
2. **Clear queued audio**: Discard any queued audio from the previous assistant response.

Interruption is handled automatically when using the [React SDK](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@humeai/voice-react).

### Configuring interruption sensitivity

By default, EVI interrupts as soon as it detects user speech. To adjust how much speech is required before EVI yields, see the [Interruption configuration guide](https://dev.hume.ai/docs/speech-to-speech-evi/configuration/interruption).