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

References

Consult these sibling skills as needed:

• ../gladia-sdk-integration/SKILL.md -- SDK setup, client initialization, error handling, and SDK vs raw API decision guide
• ../gladia-sdk-integration/references/sdk-versions.md -- Current SDK versions (auto-synced by CI)
• ../gladia-troubleshooting/SKILL.md -- Common errors, gotchas, and verification checklist
• ../gladia-live-transcription/SKILL.md -- Live streaming transcription
• ../gladia-pre-recorded-transcription/SKILL.md -- Pre-recorded file transcription

name: gladia description: Use when transcribing audio or video to text, building real-time voice applications, extracting insights from speech (diarization, translation, sentiment), or integrating speech-to-text into voice agents, meeting recorders, or multilingual applications. Supports both pre-recorded (async) and live (streaming) transcription with 100+ languages. metadata: mintlify-proj: gladia version: "1.0"

Gladia Skill

Product summary

Gladia is a speech-to-text (STT) API for transcribing audio and video to text. It supports two modes: pre-recorded (async file upload) and live (real-time WebSocket streaming). The API includes audio intelligence features (diarization, translation, sentiment analysis, PII redaction, summarization) and two models: Solaria-3 (highest accuracy on European audio, pre-recorded only, 5 languages) and Solaria-1 (default, 100+ languages, live + async, code switching).

Key files and endpoints:

• API key: Get from https://app.gladia.io/apikeys
• Pre-recorded: POST /v2/pre-recorded (create job), GET /v2/pre-recorded/:id (poll result)
• Live: POST /v2/live (init session), WebSocket connection for streaming
• Authentication: Header x-gladia-key: YOUR_API_KEY
• SDKs: @gladiaio/sdk (JavaScript/TypeScript), gladiaio-sdk (Python)
• CLI: gladia transcribe <file> for terminal use

Primary docs: https://docs.gladia.io

When to use

Reach for Gladia when:

• Transcribing pre-recorded audio/video files (MP3, WAV, M4A, etc.) asynchronously
• Building real-time voice applications (live captions, voice agents, meeting recorders)
• Extracting structured data from speech (who spoke when, sentiment, entities, translations)
• Handling multilingual audio (100+ languages, code switching)
• Needing high accuracy on European business audio (Solaria-3)
• Integrating with Pipecat, LiveKit, Vapi, Twilio, or other voice platforms
• Running transcription from the terminal (CLI)

Do not use Gladia for:

• Audio longer than 135 minutes in a single pre-recorded request (use enterprise plan for 4h15)
• Live sessions exceeding 3 hours (start a new session before the limit)
• Solaria-3 with code switching or languages outside EN/FR/DE/ES/IT
• Storing audio indefinitely (configure data retention policy)

Quick reference

Authentication

# Set API key in environment
export GLADIA_API_KEY=your_key

# Or pass per request
curl -H "x-gladia-key: your_key" https://api.gladia.io/v2/pre-recorded

Pre-recorded transcription (SDK)

const gladia = new GladiaClient({ apiKey: "YOUR_KEY" });
const result = await gladia.preRecorded().transcribe("audio.mp3");

gladia = GladiaClient(api_key="YOUR_KEY").prerecorded()
result = gladia.transcribe("audio.mp3")

Live transcription (SDK)

const session = gladia.liveV2().startSession({
  encoding: "wav/pcm",
  sample_rate: 16000,
  bit_depth: 16,
  channels: 1,
});
session.on("message", (msg) => {
  if (msg.type === "transcript" && msg.data.is_final) {
    console.log(msg.data.utterance.text);
  }
});
session.sendAudio(audioChunk);
session.stopRecording();

CLI

gladia auth set your_key
gladia transcribe meeting.wav                    # text output
gladia transcribe podcast.mp3 -o json            # JSON output
gladia transcribe call.wav --diarize -o srt      # subtitles with speakers
gladia transcribe mixed.mp3 --code-switching     # mixed languages
gladia transcribe audio.mp3 --model solaria-3 --language en

Model selection

Audio Intelligence features

• Diarization: Identify speakers (diarization: true)
• Translation: Translate to 100+ languages (translation: true, set target_languages)
• Sentiment analysis: Extract emotion and tone (sentiment_analysis: true)
• PII redaction: Anonymize sensitive data (pii_redaction: true)
• Summarization: Generate summaries (summarization: true, set type: "general" | "bullet_points" | "concise")
• Named Entity Recognition: Extract entities (named_entity_recognition: true)
• Custom vocabulary: Boost accuracy for domain terms (custom_vocabulary: true, provide vocabulary list)
• Subtitles: Generate SRT/VTT (subtitles: true, set formats)

Limits

Decision guidance

When to use Solaria-3 vs Solaria-1

When to use pre-recorded vs live

When to use SDK vs API vs CLI

Result retrieval: polling vs webhooks vs callbacks

Workflow

Pre-recorded transcription (typical flow)

1. Get API key from https://app.gladia.io/apikeys and set GLADIA_API_KEY environment variable.

2. Choose model and features: Decide between Solaria-3 (accuracy, 5 languages) or Solaria-1 (coverage, 100+ languages). List required audio intelligence features (diarization, translation, etc.).

3. Prepare audio: Ensure file is under 135 minutes, under 1000 MB, and in a supported format (MP3, WAV, M4A, FLAC, OGG, etc.).

4. Upload and transcribe (SDK):

   const result = await gladia.preRecorded().transcribe("audio.mp3", {
     model: "solaria-3",
     language_config: { languages: ["en"] },
     diarization: true,
   });
   

5. Poll or wait for callback: SDK .transcribe() polls automatically. For raw API, use .poll() or configure a callback URL.

6. Extract results: Access result.transcription.full_transcript, result.transcription.utterances, result.diarization, result.translation, etc.

7. Handle errors: Check result.status for "done" or "error". Inspect error details before retrying (transient vs. input issues).

Live transcription (typical flow)

1. Initialize session (backend):

   const response = await fetch("https://api.gladia.io/v2/live", {
     method: "POST",
     headers: { "x-gladia-key": "YOUR_KEY", "Content-Type": "application/json" },
     body: JSON.stringify({
       encoding: "wav/pcm",
       sample_rate: 16000,
       bit_depth: 16,
       channels: 1,
       language_config: { languages: ["en"] },
     }),
   });
   const { id, url } = await response.json();
   

2. Return secure URL to client: Pass url (contains temporary token) to frontend/mobile app. Keep API key on backend.

3. Client connects to WebSocket and sends audio chunks as they arrive.

4. Listen for messages: Handle transcript (partial/final), speech_start, speech_end, sentiment_analysis, etc.

5. Stop recording: Send stop_recording message or close WebSocket with code 1000. Server processes remaining audio and post-processing.

6. Retrieve final results: Call GET /v2/live/:id to fetch complete transcript, diarization, translation, etc.

Common gotchas

• Solaria-3 with multiple languages: Solaria-3 does not support code switching. Pass exactly one language in language_config.languages (e.g., ["fr"]), not multiple. Use Solaria-1 for mixed-language audio.

• Live session timeout: A single WebSocket session cannot exceed 3 hours. For longer events, start a new session before reaching the limit. Track session duration and reconnect proactively.

• Resubmitting the same audio: If a POST already returned 200 or you received a transcription.created webhook, do not resubmit the same audio. Wait on that job ID. Resubmitting creates a new billable job.

• Polling without backoff: Polling too aggressively wastes API quota. Use exponential backoff (start at 1s, cap at 10s) or switch to callbacks/webhooks.

• Audio format mismatch: Ensure encoding, sample_rate, bit_depth, and channels match your actual audio. Mismatches cause silent failures or garbled output.

• Missing language specification: If you know the language, set language_config.languages to skip auto-detection and reduce latency. Auto-detection adds 1–2 seconds.

• Callback URL not reachable: If using callbacks, ensure your endpoint is publicly accessible and returns 2xx within a reasonable timeout. Gladia retries failed callbacks.

• Concurrency limits: Free tier: 3 pre-recorded concurrent, 1 live. Paid: 25 pre-recorded concurrent, 30 live. Requests beyond the limit queue. Monitor queue time during high load.

• Data retention: By default, audio and transcripts are retained. If GDPR/privacy is a concern, enable Zero Data Retention (results delivered only via callbacks, no retrieval).

• Partial transcripts accuracy: Partial transcripts use a faster, smaller model than finals. Accuracy degrades with multiple languages or code switching. Use for UX only, not for final output.

Verification checklist

Before submitting work:

• API key is set in environment or passed securely (never hardcoded in client code).
• Model choice matches use case (Solaria-3 for European accuracy, Solaria-1 for live or 100+ languages).
• Language configuration is correct: single language for Solaria-3, multiple allowed for Solaria-1 with code switching.
• Audio file is under 135 minutes and 1000 MB (or enterprise plan for longer).
• Audio format, encoding, sample rate, and channels are specified correctly.
• Audio Intelligence features are enabled only if needed (diarization, translation, etc.).
• Callback or webhook URL is configured if using async notification (not polling).
• Error handling is in place: check job status, inspect error details, retry only on transient failures.
• Live session duration is monitored; new session started before 3-hour limit.
• Results are extracted from the correct fields: transcription.full_transcript, transcription.utterances, diarization.speakers, translation.results, etc.
• Concurrency limits are respected; requests queue gracefully when limits are hit.
• Data retention policy is configured (default: stored; set to zero-retention if required).

Resources

Comprehensive page-by-page navigation: https://docs.gladia.io/llms.txt

Critical documentation pages:

1. Pre-recorded STT Quickstart — Upload, create job, poll results, configure features
2. Live STT Quickstart — WebSocket init, streaming, message handling
3. Models — Solaria-3 vs Solaria-1 comparison and selection guide
4. Audio Intelligence — Diarization, translation, sentiment, PII redaction, summarization
5. Limits & Specifications — Concurrency, duration, file size, rate limits
6. CLI — Terminal transcription without code
7. API Reference — Full endpoint documentation, request/response schemas

For additional documentation and navigation, see: https://docs.gladia.io/llms.txt

This file is auto-synced from https://docs.gladia.io/.well-known/agent-skills/gladia/skill.md Do not edit manually — changes will be overwritten by CI. For additional documentation and navigation, see: https://docs.gladia.io/llms.txt