---
name: deepgram-transcribe
description: Transcribe audio via Deepgram Nova-3 API (5.26% WER, 40x faster than Whisper, built-in speaker diarization). Use when user asks to transcribe audio, podcasts, meetings, voice recordings, or voice memos. Supports mp3, wav, m4a, ogg, flac, webm, aiff. Falls back to OpenAI Whisper skill if DEEPGRAM_API_KEY is not set.
---

# Deepgram Nova-3 Transcription

Transcribe audio files using Deepgram's Nova-3 model — more accurate and faster than OpenAI Whisper.

## Why Deepgram over Whisper
- 5.26% word error rate (vs ~8-10% for Whisper)
- 40x faster for batch processing
- Built-in speaker diarization (who said what)
- Smart formatting (numbers, dates, punctuation)
- $200 free credits on signup at deepgram.com

## Setup

Store your API key:
```bash
echo "YOUR_DEEPGRAM_API_KEY" > ~/.openclaw/secrets/deepgram-api-key.txt
```

Or set the environment variable:
```bash
export DEEPGRAM_API_KEY="your-key-here"
```

## Usage

```bash
bash scripts/transcribe.sh /path/to/audio.mp3
bash scripts/transcribe.sh recording.mp3 --out transcript.txt
bash scripts/transcribe.sh recording.mp3 --json --out full.json
bash scripts/transcribe.sh recording.mp3 --language es
bash scripts/transcribe.sh recording.mp3 --model nova-2
```

## Models

| Model | WER | Cost/min | Best for |
|-------|-----|----------|----------|
| nova-3 (default) | 5.26% | $0.0077 | Best accuracy |
| nova-2 | ~8% | $0.0043 | Budget-friendly |
| whisper-large | ~8-10% | $0.0048 | Whisper parity |

## Supported Formats

mp3, wav, m4a, ogg, flac, webm, aiff

## Fallback

If `DEEPGRAM_API_KEY` is not set, use the OpenAI Whisper skill instead (if installed).


---
Source attribution: modbender
Original project: https://github.com/modbender/skill-library-mcp/blob/d9c8fe903b5b4e82237dbe8d0df8567783022e18/data/deepgram-transcribe/SKILL.md
License: MIT
License information: https://opensource.org/license/mit
Original upstream instructions; downloaded from Mega AI Hub.

## Upstream license notice

MIT License

Copyright (c) 2025 skill-library-mcp contributors

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.



# Mega AI Hub resource metadata

Creator / publisher: modbender
Original project: https://github.com/modbender/skill-library-mcp/blob/d9c8fe903b5b4e82237dbe8d0df8567783022e18/data/deepgram-transcribe/SKILL.md
Attribution basis: Source repository record

Fields of work: Marketing, Customer Support
Roles: Content Marketer, Customer Experience, Influencer Marketer, Marketing Analyst, Social Media Manager
Specialties: API
Tools: Deepgram
Country applicability: Country not specified
Classification basis: Source catalog labels
Instruction SHA-256: addf06afa392a874a6ea6211239876c0d76a552712728629cfc4b9fccc3913c0