This guide shows you how to dub a media file into another language with the Dubbing API. In this example you create a dubbing project from an English audio file and generate a Spanish dub.

A dubbing project has two parts: a **project**, which holds one source of media and its transcript, and one or more **language targets**, each producing a dubbed output in a single language. You create a project, wait for its source to be transcribed, add a language, then download the finished dub.

:::callout{intent="note"}
Creating a project charges you for one language up front — a dubbing project's minimum charge.
This prepays your first language target: the first language you add consumes it, and each
additional language is charged separately. See [How much does Dubbing cost?](/guides/help-center-8-product-dubbing-how-much-does-dubbing-cost) for details.
:::

Languages are specified as BCP-47 tags, for example `es` or `fr-CA`. See the [supported languages and dialects](/guides/overview-capabilities-dubbing#supported-languages) for all accepted values.

## Using the Dubbing API

#### Create an API key

[Create an API key in the dashboard here](https://elevenlabs.io/app/settings/api-keys), which you’ll use to securely [access the API](/guides/api-reference-authentication).

Store the key as a managed secret and pass it to the SDKs either as a environment variable via an `.env` file, or directly in your app’s configuration depending on your preference.

**`.env`**

```js title=".env"
ELEVENLABS_API_KEY=<your_api_key_here>
```

#### Install the SDK

#### SDK

We'll also use the `dotenv` library to load our API key from an environment variable.

```python
pip install elevenlabs
pip install python-dotenv
```

```typescript
npm install @elevenlabs/elevenlabs-js
npm install dotenv
```

#### CLI

Install the ElevenLabs CLI. Homebrew (macOS) and Scoop (Windows) are recommended.

**`Homebrew (macOS)`**

```bash title="Homebrew (macOS)"
brew install elevenlabs/tap/elevenlabs
```

**`Scoop (Windows)`**

```powershell title="Scoop (Windows)"
scoop bucket add elevenlabs https://github.com/elevenlabs/scoop-bucket
scoop install elevenlabs
```

**`npm`**

```bash title="npm"
npm install -g @elevenlabs/cli
```

**`curl`**

```bash title="curl"
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -LsSf https://github.com/elevenlabs/cli/releases/latest/download/elevenlabs-cli-installer.sh | sh
```

:::callout{intent="tip"}
Working with an AI coding assistant? Run `elevenlabs generate-skills` in your project to write a
`SKILL.md` for every command group into `skills/`, so your assistant knows the CLI's full surface
without you pasting docs. Use `--output-dir` to put them elsewhere. This reads the CLI's own
embedded API definition, so it needs no API key and works offline — and it stays in step with
whichever CLI version you have installed.
:::

Then authenticate — this opens your browser to authorize the CLI:

```bash
elevenlabs auth login
```

:::callout{intent="note"}
The Python example uses the `requests` library to download the dubbed audio. Install it
with `pip install requests`.
:::

#### Make the API request

#### SDK

Create a new file named `example.py` or `example.mts`, depending on your language of choice, and add the following code:

```python maxLines=0
# example.py
import os
import time
import requests
from dotenv import load_dotenv
from elevenlabs.client import ElevenLabs

load_dotenv()

elevenlabs = ElevenLabs(
    api_key=os.getenv("ELEVENLABS_API_KEY"),
)

# 1. Create a project from a source URL
project = elevenlabs.dubbing.project.create(
    source_url="https://storage.googleapis.com/eleven-public-cdn/audio/marketing/nicole.mp3",
    source_language="en",
    reference="Quickstart dub",
)

# 2. Wait for the source media to be transcribed
while True:
    project = elevenlabs.dubbing.project.get(project.project_id)
    if project.status == "ready":
        break
    if project.status == "failed":
        raise RuntimeError("Project preparation failed")
    print("Preparing project...")
    time.sleep(5)

# 3. Add a Spanish language target
language = elevenlabs.dubbing.project.language.create(
    project.project_id,
    target_language="es",
)

# 4. Wait for the dub to finish generating
while True:
    language = elevenlabs.dubbing.project.language.get(
        project.project_id, language.language_id
    )
    if language.status == "completed":
        break
    if language.status == "failed":
        raise RuntimeError("Dub generation failed")
    print("Generating dub...")
    time.sleep(5)

# 5. Download the dubbed audio from the signed URL
audio = requests.get(language.outputs.lossless_audio)
with open("dubbed.wav", "wb") as f:
    f.write(audio.content)

print("Saved dubbed audio to dubbed.wav")
```

```typescript maxLines=0
// example.mts
import { ElevenLabsClient } from "@elevenlabs/elevenlabs-js";
import { writeFile } from "fs/promises";
import "dotenv/config";

const elevenlabs = new ElevenLabsClient();

// 1. Create a project from a source URL
let project = await elevenlabs.dubbing.project.create({
  sourceUrl:
    "https://storage.googleapis.com/eleven-public-cdn/audio/marketing/nicole.mp3",
  sourceLanguage: "en",
  reference: "Quickstart dub",
});

// 2. Wait for the source media to be transcribed
while (true) {
  project = await elevenlabs.dubbing.project.get(project.projectId);
  if (project.status === "ready") break;
  if (project.status === "failed") throw new Error("Project preparation failed");
  console.log("Preparing project...");
  await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 5000));
}

// 3. Add a Spanish language target
let language = await elevenlabs.dubbing.project.language.create(project.projectId, {
  targetLanguage: "es",
});

// 4. Wait for the dub to finish generating
while (true) {
  language = await elevenlabs.dubbing.project.language.get(
    project.projectId,
    language.languageId
  );
  if (language.status === "completed") break;
  if (language.status === "failed") throw new Error("Dub generation failed");
  console.log("Generating dub...");
  await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 5000));
}

// 5. Download the dubbed audio from the signed URL
const response = await fetch(language.outputs!.losslessAudio!);
const buffer = Buffer.from(await response.arrayBuffer());
await writeFile("dubbed.wav", buffer);

console.log("Saved dubbed audio to dubbed.wav");
```

:::callout{intent="note"}
The download URL in `outputs.lossless_audio` is signed and expires about an hour after it
is issued. Fetch the language again to get a fresh URL if it has expired.
:::

Then run it:

```python
python example.py
```

```typescript
npx tsx example.mts
```

The dubbed audio is saved to `dubbed.wav` in your working directory.

#### CLI

The CLI mirrors the same flow. Each step prints JSON — copy the `project_id` and
`language_id` from the responses into the next command, and poll the `get` commands
until the status settles.

```bash
# 1. Create a project from a source URL (note the returned project_id)
elevenlabs dubbing project create \
  --source-url https://storage.googleapis.com/eleven-public-cdn/audio/marketing/nicole.mp3 \
  --source-language en \
  --reference "Quickstart dub"

# 2. Poll until the project status is "ready"
elevenlabs dubbing project get --project-id <project_id> --query status

# 3. Add a Spanish language target (note the returned language_id)
elevenlabs dubbing project language create --project-id <project_id> --target-language es

# 4. Poll until the language status is "completed"
elevenlabs dubbing project language get \
  --project-id <project_id> --language-id <language_id> --query status

# 5. Get the signed download URL, then save the dubbed audio
elevenlabs dubbing project language get \
  --project-id <project_id> --language-id <language_id> --query outputs.lossless_audio

curl -o dubbed.wav "<lossless_audio_url>"
```

The dubbed audio is saved to `dubbed.wav` in your working directory.

## Handling failures

If adding a language does not succeed, add the same language to the existing project again rather than creating a new project. The project and its transcribed source are reusable, so retrying the language is faster and avoids paying the [one-language minimum charge](/guides/help-center-8-product-dubbing-how-much-does-dubbing-cost) a second time.

Only create a new project if the project itself reaches `failed` while preparing, which means its source could not be transcribed. Check the source file or URL, then create a new project.

:::callout{intent="tip"}
Enterprise workspaces can review and correct the source transcript before adding a language, which
produces more accurate translations. See [Refine and regenerate a dub](/guides/elevenapi-guides-how-to-dubbing-refine-and-regenerate).
:::

## Next steps

#### [Bring your own transcript](/guides/elevenapi-guides-how-to-dubbing-bring-your-own-transcript)

Create a project from an existing transcript and supply your own translations

#### [Refine and regenerate a dub](/guides/elevenapi-guides-how-to-dubbing-refine-and-regenerate)

Edit the source transcript and translations, then regenerate the dub

#### [Dub into multiple languages](/guides/elevenapi-guides-how-to-dubbing-multiple-languages)

Add several target languages to a single project

#### [API reference](/guides/changelog-api-reference-dubbing-create-project)

Explore all Dubbing API parameters and response formats

## Related pages

- [Administration](./administration-index.md)
- [API reference](./api-reference-index.md)
- [Changelog](./changelog-index.md)
- [ElevenAgents](./elevenagents-index.md)
- [ElevenAPI](./elevenapi-index.md)
- [ElevenCreative](./elevencreative-index.md)
- [ElevenLabs Documentation Docs](../index.md)
- [General Troubleshooting FAQ](./troubleshooting-index.md)
- [General Website FAQ](./website-index.md)
- [Help Center](./help-center-2-index.md)

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