Live Transcription

Gladia's live API transcribes audio in real-time over WebSocket.

> SDK-first: always use the official SDK — see sdk-integration for policy, setup, and fallback criteria.

When to Use

• Real-time transcription for microphone, telephony, or broadcast streams
• Voice agents, meeting assistants, call center tools, or live subtitles
• Live audio intelligence (translation, sentiment, NER)

When NOT to use: If the user has a pre-existing audio/video file or URL to transcribe after the fact, use the pre-recorded-transcription skill instead. Pre-recorded supports additional features like speaker diarization and PII redaction that are unavailable in live mode.

References

Consult these resources as needed:

• ./references/recommended-params.md -- Use-case presets and tuning
• ./references/session-config.md -- Full startSession() config (JS + Python)
• ./references/managing-sessions.md -- get, list, getFile, delete
• ./references/websocket-events.md -- WebSocket event reference
• ../audio-intelligence/SKILL.md -- Feature availability
• ../audio-intelligence/references/live-audio-intelligence.md -- Live feature details
• ../sdk-integration/SKILL.md -- Setup, config, SDK vs raw API
• ../sdk-integration/references/sdk-versions.md -- Current SDK versions
• ../troubleshooting/SKILL.md -- Errors and diagnostics

API Endpoints (reference — prefer SDK methods)

Session Lifecycle

SDK flow: startSession() -> sendAudio() -> receive transcript events -> stopRecording() -> get(id) for final result.

Quick Start

For SDK installation and client initialization, see the sdk-integration skill.

JavaScript/TypeScript

const session = client.liveV2().startSession({
  model: "solaria-1",
  encoding: "wav/pcm",
  sample_rate: 16000,
  bit_depth: 16,
  channels: 1,
  language_config: { languages: ["en"] },
  messages_config: { receive_partial_transcripts: true },
});

session.on("message", (msg) => {
  if (msg.type === "transcript") console.log(msg.data.utterance.text);
});
session.sendAudio(audioBuffer);
session.stopRecording();

Python (sync)

from gladiaio_sdk import (
    LiveV2InitRequest,
    LiveV2LanguageConfig,
    LiveV2MessagesConfig,
    LiveV2WebSocketMessage,
)

live_client = client.live()

session = live_client.start_session(
    LiveV2InitRequest(
        model="solaria-1",
        encoding="wav/pcm",
        sample_rate=16000,
        bit_depth=16,
        channels=1,
        language_config=LiveV2LanguageConfig(languages=["en"]),
        messages_config=LiveV2MessagesConfig(receive_partial_transcripts=True),
    )
)

@session.on("message")
def on_message(message: LiveV2WebSocketMessage):
    if message.type == "transcript":
        print(message.data.utterance.text.strip())

session.send_audio(audio_bytes)
session.stop_recording()

Session Configuration

Core fields to set on every session:

• Audio format: encoding, sample_rate, bit_depth, channels (must exactly match the stream)
• Language: language_config.languages and optional code_switching
• Message behavior: messages_config.receive_partial_transcripts and speech events
• Optional processing: pre_processing, realtime_processing, post_processing

See ./references/session-config.md for full examples and sdk-integration for client retry/timeout settings.

Key Tuning Parameters

endpointing is the primary latency-versus-completeness control for final transcripts.

For maximum_duration_without_endpointing, speech_threshold, and full tuning guidance, see ./references/recommended-params.md.

Audio Streaming

Use session.sendAudio(chunk) (JS) / session.send_audio(chunk) (Python) to stream audio data. The SDK sends each chunk as a binary WebSocket frame.

• Chunk size: 100ms of audio per frame (recommended)
• Send continuously — do not batch large chunks
• Audio format MUST match the encoding, sample_rate, bit_depth, and channels in session config

Stopping and Reconnection

Normal stop

session.stopRecording(); // Triggers post-processing, then session ends

session.stop_recording()  # Triggers post-processing, then session ends

Force end (skip post-processing)

session.endSession(); // Immediately closes, no post-processing

session.end_session()  # Immediately closes, no post-processing

Reconnection

SDK reconnection is automatic (wsRetry). For raw WebSocket fallback, reconnect to the same URL.

Limits

Managing Sessions

Use SDK methods for post-capture operations:

• JavaScript: client.liveV2().get(id), .list(filters), .getFile(id), .delete(id)
• Python: client.live().get(id), .list(filters), .get_file(id), .delete(id)

For full examples and pagination filters, see ./references/managing-sessions.md.

Common Mistakes

• Audio format mismatch: the encoding, sample_rate, bit_depth, and channels in session config MUST match the actual audio stream exactly.
• Forgetting to stop recording: leaving a session open without stopRecording() keeps it hanging.
• Wrong audio file path: the audio download endpoint is /v2/live/:id/file, not /v2/live/:id/audio.

For the full list of gotchas and diagnostics, see the troubleshooting skill.

Further Reading

• Live quickstart
• Partial transcripts
• Endpointing
• API reference: init