When running a live session with the ADK, a websockets.exceptions.ConnectionClosedError occurs with error code 1011 (internal error).

[mohamed-em2m]

Describe the bug When running a live session with the ADK, a websockets.exceptions.ConnectionClosedError occurs with error code 1011 (internal error). The error message indicates that a thread was cancelled while writing a status, leading to a premature closing of the streaming connection.
Logs:

Start the application which utilizes google-adk for live interactions.
Initiate a live chat/voice session which calls the runner.run_live(...) method.
During the streaming communication with the backend, the connection is unexpectedly terminated.
The following error and stack trace are observed:
ERROR:google_adk.google.adk.flows.llm_flows.base_llm_flow:Connection closed: received 1011 (internal error) Thread was cancelled when writing StartStep status to channel.; Failed to close the streaming context; status = CANCELLED: ; then sent 1011 (internal error) Thread was cancelled when writing StartStep status to channel.; Failed to close the streaming context; status = CANCELLED: .
[2025-11-24 18:36:20] error: ADK receive failed: received 1011 (internal error) Thread was cancelled when writing StartStep status to channel.; Failed to close the streaming context; status = CANCELLED: ; then sent 1011 (internal error) Thread was cancelled when writing StartStep status to channel.; Failed to close the streaming context; status = CANCELLED:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/home/emam/deeb_realities_projects/HIM/src/api/routers/chat.py", line 921, in run_adk_live
async for event in runner.run_live(
File "/home/emam/.pyenv/versions/3.12.7/lib/python3.12/site-packages/google/adk/runners.py", line 856, in run_live
async for event in agen:
File "/home/emam/.pyenv/versions/3.12.7/lib/python3.12/site-packages/google/adk/runners.py", line 653, in _exec_with_plugin
async for event in agen:
File "/home/emam/.pyenv/versions/3.12.7/lib/python3.12/site-packages/google/adk/runners.py", line 845, in execute
async for event in agen:
File "/home/emam/.pyenv/versions/3.12.7/lib/python3.12/site-packages/google/adk/agents/base_agent.py", line 327, in run_live
async for event in agen:
File "/home/emam/.pyenv/versions/3.12.7/lib/python3.12/site-packages/google/adk/agents/llm_agent.py", line 462, in _run_live_impl
async for event in agen:
File "/home/emam/.pyenv/versions/3.12.7/lib/python3.12/site-packages/google/adk/flows/llm_flows/base_llm_flow.py", line 153, in run_live
async for event in agen:
File "/home/emam/.pyenv/versions/3.12.7/lib/python3.12/site-packages/google/adk/flows/llm_flows/base_llm_flow.py", line 300, in _receive_from_model
async for llm_response in agen:
File "/home/emam/.pyenv/versions/3.12.7/lib/python3.12/site-packages/google/adk/models/gemini_llm_connection.py", line 149, in receive
async for message in agen:
File "/home/emam/.pyenv/versions/3.12.7/lib/python3.12/site-packages/google/genai/live.py", line 448, in receive
while result := await self._receive():
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/home/emam/.pyenv/versions/3.12.7/lib/python3.12/site-packages/google/genai/live.py", line 529, in _receive
raw_response = await self._ws.recv(decode=False)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "/home/emam/.pyenv/versions/3.12.7/lib/python3.12/site-packages/websockets/asyncio/connection.py", line 322, in recv
raise self.protocol.close_exc from self.recv_exc
websockets.exceptions.ConnectionClosedError: received 1011 (internal error) Thread was cancelled when writing StartStep status to channel.; Failed to close the streaming context; status = CANCELLED: ; then sent 1011 (internal error) Thread was cancelled when writing StartStep status to channel.; Failed to close the streaming context; status = CANCELLED:
Expected behavior The live streaming connection should remain stable throughout the interaction, without being abruptly closed by an internal error. The run_live session should complete successfully or be terminated gracefully by the client or server, not by a thread cancellation error.

OS: Linux,fedora
Python version(python -V): Python 3.12.7
ADK version(pip show google-adk): 1.18.0
Model Information:

Are you using LiteLLM: No
Which model is being used(e.g. gemini-1.5-pro): gemini-2.5-flash-native-audio-preview-09-2025
Additional context The error seems to stem from the underlying google-generativeai and websockets libraries that the ADK uses for live/streaming functionality. The specific error message "Thread was cancelled when writing StartStep status to channel" suggests a potential race condition or an issue with how asynchronous tasks are being managed within the ADK or its dependencies during a live session

[nirmalvibecoder]

I face the same issue as well.
Needed support on this.

[surajksharma07]

@mohamed-em2m This error originates from the Gemini Live API backend (google-generativeai library), not ADK - the thread cancellation happens server-side during the StartStep phase.

Try upgrading to ADK v1.19.0 first, then switch to a stable model like gemini-2.0-flash-exp instead of the preview model to see if that resolves it.

If the issue persists, this needs escalation to the Gemini API team since ADK is correctly handling the error it receives. As a workaround, you can add retry logic for 1011 errors with exponential backoff.

Thanks!

[man-o-to]

Facing same issue #3918