Asynchronous Speech to Text

Overview

Webhooks allow you to receive automatic notifications when your Speech to Text transcription tasks are completed, eliminating the need to continuously poll the API for status updates. This is particularly useful for long-running transcription jobs or when processing large volumes of audio files.

When a transcription is completed, ElevenLabs will send a POST request to your specified webhook URL with the transcription results, including the transcript text, language detection, and any metadata.

Using webhooks

Create or edit a webhook

In the ElevenLabs dashboard, go to Developers > Webhooks. Click Create webhook, or edit an existing webhook.

Create webhook dialog with Transcription completed selected

Configure the webhook with:

Name: A descriptive name for your webhook
Callback URL: Your publicly accessible HTTPS endpoint
Webhook Auth Method: Either HMAC or OAuth. It is up to the client to implement the verification mechanism. ElevenLabs sends headers that allow for verification but we do not enforce it.
Events: Select Transcription completed.

Make API calls with webhook parameter enabled

When making speech-to-text API calls, include the webhook parameter set to true to enable webhook notifications for that specific request.

Python

from dotenv import load_dotenv
from elevenlabs.client import ElevenLabs

load_dotenv()

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

def transcribe_with_webhook(audio_file):
  try:
    result = elevenlabs.speech_to_text.convert(
      file=audio_file,
      model_id="scribe_v2",
      webhook=True,
    )
    print(f"Transcription started: {result.request_id}")
    return result
  except Exception as e:
    print(f"Error starting transcription: {e}")
    raise e

TypeScript

import { ElevenLabsClient } from '@elevenlabs/elevenlabs-js';

const elevenlabs = new ElevenLabsClient({
  apiKey: process.env.ELEVENLABS_API_KEY,
});

async function transcribeWithWebhook(audioFile) {
  try {
    const result = await elevenlabs.speechToText.convert({
      file: audioFile,
      modelId: 'scribe_v2',
      webhook: true,
    });

    console.log('Transcription started:', result.requestId);
    return result;
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Error starting transcription:', error);
    throw error;
  }
}

Webhook payload

When a transcription is completed, your webhook endpoint will receive a POST request with the transcription and webhook data:

JSON

{
  type: 'speech_to_text_transcription',
  data: {
    request_id: 'some-request-id-123',
    webhook_metadata: { ... }, // if provided in the convert request
    transcription: {
      "language_code": "en",
      "language_probability": 0.98,
      "text": "Hello world!",
      "words": [
        {
          "text": "Hello",
          "start": 0.0,
          "end": 0.5,
          "type": "word",
          "speaker_id": "speaker_1"
        },
        {
          "text": " ",
          "start": 0.5,
          "end": 0.5,
          "type": "spacing",
          "speaker_id": "speaker_1"
        },
        {
          "text": "world!",
          "start": 0.5,
          "end": 1.2,
          "type": "word",
          "speaker_id": "speaker_1"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Please refer to the Speech-to-text API reference to learn about the details of the response structure.

If the request included a transcript_edit instruction, the transcription object also contains an edited_transcript field with the edited text.

Implementing your webhook endpoint

Here's an example of how to implement a webhook endpoint to handle incoming notifications:

JavaScript

import { ElevenLabsClient } from '@elevenlabs/elevenlabs-js';
import 'dotenv/config';
import express from 'express';

const elevenlabs = new ElevenLabsClient();

const app = express();
app.use(express.json());

const WEBHOOK_SECRET = process.env.WEBHOOK_SECRET;

app.post('/webhook/speech-to-text', (req, res) => {
  try {
    const signature = req.headers['elevenlabs-signature'];
    const payload = JSON.stringify(req.body);
    let event;

    try {
      // Verify the webhook signature.
      event = await elevenlabs.webhooks.constructEvent(payload, signature, WEBHOOK_SECRET);
    } catch (error) {
      return res.status(401).json({ error: 'Invalid signature' });
    }

    if (event.type === 'speech_to_text.completed') {
      const { requestId, status, text, language_code } = event.data;

      console.log(`Transcription ${requestId} completed`);
      console.log(`Language: ${language_code}`);
      console.log(`Text: ${text}`);

      processTranscription(requestId, text, language_code);
    } else if (status === 'failed') {
      console.error(`Transcription ${requestId} failed`);
      handleTranscriptionError(requestId);
    }

    res.status(200).json({ received: true });
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Webhook error:', error);
    res.status(500).json({ error: 'Internal server error' });
  }
});

async function processTranscription(requestId, text, language) {
  console.log('Processing completed transcription...');
}

async function handleTranscriptionError(requestId) {
  console.log('Handling transcription error...');
}

app.listen(3000, () => {
  console.log('Webhook server listening on port 3000');
});

Security considerations

Signature verification

Always verify webhook signatures to ensure requests came from ElevenLabs.

HTTPS requirement

Webhook URLs must use HTTPS to ensure secure transmission of transcription data.

Rate limiting

Implement rate limiting on your webhook endpoint to prevent abuse:

JavaScript

import rateLimit from "express-rate-limit";

const webhookLimiter = rateLimit({
  windowMs: 15 * 60 * 1000, // 15 minutes
  max: 100, // limit each IP to 100 requests per windowMs
  message: "Too many webhook requests from this IP",
});

app.use("/webhook", webhookLimiter);

Failure responses

Return appropriate HTTP status codes:

200-299: Success - webhook processed successfully
400-499: Client error - webhook will not be retried
500-599: Server error - webhook will be retried

Testing webhooks

Local development

For local testing, use tools like ngrok to expose your local server:

Bash

ngrok http 3000

Use the provided HTTPS URL as your webhook endpoint during development.

Webhook testing

You can test your webhook implementation by making a transcription request and monitoring your endpoint:

JavaScript

async function testWebhook() {
  const audioFile = new File([audioBuffer], "test.mp3", { type: "audio/mp3" });

  const result = await elevenlabs.speechToText.convert({
    file: audioFile,
    modelId: "scribe_v2",
    webhook: true,
  });

  console.log("Test transcription started:", result.requestId);
}

Search documentation

Help Center

Asynchronous Speech to Text

Overview

Using webhooks

Create or edit a webhook

Make API calls with webhook parameter enabled

Webhook payload

Implementing your webhook endpoint

Security considerations

Signature verification

HTTPS requirement

Rate limiting

Failure responses

Testing webhooks

Local development

Webhook testing

Next steps

Server-side streaming

API reference

Help Center