Diagnose and fix common Deepgram errors and issues. Use when troubleshooting Deepgram API errors, debugging transcription failures, or resolving integration issues. Trigger: "deepgram error", "deepgram not working", "fix deepgram", "deepgram troubleshoot", "transcription failed", "deepgram 401".
Installation
Details
Usage
After installing, this skill will be available to your AI coding assistant.
Verify installation:
npx agent-skills-cli listSkill Instructions
name: deepgram-common-errors description: 'Diagnose and fix common Deepgram errors and issues.
Use when troubleshooting Deepgram API errors, debugging transcription failures,
or resolving integration issues.
Trigger: "deepgram error", "deepgram not working", "fix deepgram",
"deepgram troubleshoot", "transcription failed", "deepgram 401".
' allowed-tools: Read, Grep, Bash(curl:*) version: 1.0.0 license: MIT author: Jeremy Longshore jeremy@intentsolutions.io tags:
- saas
- deepgram
- api
- debugging
- transcription compatibility: Designed for Claude Code, also compatible with Codex and OpenClaw
Deepgram Common Errors
Overview
Comprehensive error reference for Deepgram API integration. Covers HTTP error codes, WebSocket errors, transcription quality issues, SDK-specific problems, and audio format debugging with real diagnostic commands.
Prerequisites
- Deepgram API key configured
curlavailable for API testing- Access to application logs
Instructions
Step 1: Quick Diagnostic
# Test API key validity
curl -s -w "\nHTTP %{http_code}\n" \
'https://api.deepgram.com/v1/projects' \
-H "Authorization: Token $DEEPGRAM_API_KEY"
# Test transcription endpoint
curl -s -w "\nHTTP %{http_code}\n" \
-X POST 'https://api.deepgram.com/v1/listen?model=nova-3&smart_format=true' \
-H "Authorization: Token $DEEPGRAM_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"url":"https://static.deepgram.com/examples/Bueller-Life-moves-702702706.wav"}'
Step 2: HTTP Error Reference
| Code | Error | Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|---|
| 400 | Bad Request | Invalid audio format, bad params | Check audio headers, validate query params |
| 401 | Unauthorized | Invalid/expired API key | Regenerate in Console > API Keys |
| 403 | Forbidden | Key lacks scope | Create key with listen scope for STT |
| 404 | Not Found | Wrong endpoint URL | Use api.deepgram.com/v1/listen |
| 408 | Timeout | Audio too long for sync | Use callback param for async |
| 413 | Payload Too Large | File exceeds 2GB | Split with ffmpeg -f segment -segment_time 3600 |
| 429 | Too Many Requests | Concurrency limit hit | Implement backoff, check plan limits |
| 500 | Internal Error | Deepgram server error | Retry with backoff, check status.deepgram.com |
| 502 | Bad Gateway | Upstream failure | Retry after 5-10 seconds |
| 503 | Service Unavailable | Maintenance/overload | Check status.deepgram.com, retry later |
Step 3: WebSocket Errors
import { LiveTranscriptionEvents } from '@deepgram/sdk';
connection.on(LiveTranscriptionEvents.Error, (error) => {
console.error('WebSocket error:', {
message: error.message,
type: error.type,
});
});
// Common WebSocket issues:
// 1. Connection closes after ~10s of silence
// Fix: Send keepAlive() every 8 seconds
connection.keepAlive();
// 2. "Could not process audio" errors
// Fix: Verify encoding matches what you send
// Must match: encoding, sample_rate, channels in listen.live() options
// 3. Connection refused / ECONNREFUSED
// Fix: Check firewall allows wss://api.deepgram.com:443
// 4. Immediate disconnect with 1008 (Policy Violation)
// Fix: API key invalid or lacks live streaming scope
Step 4: Transcription Quality Issues
# Check audio properties with ffprobe
ffprobe -v quiet -print_format json -show_format -show_streams input.wav
# Optimal audio for Deepgram:
# - Sample rate: 8000-48000 Hz (16000 recommended)
# - Channels: 1 (mono) or 2 (stereo for multichannel)
# - Bit depth: 16-bit
# - Format: WAV, MP3, FLAC, OGG, M4A, WebM
# Fix audio quality
ffmpeg -i noisy.wav \
-af "highpass=f=200,lowpass=f=3000,volume=2" \
-ar 16000 -ac 1 -acodec pcm_s16le \
clean.wav
| Quality Issue | Likely Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Empty transcript | No speech / too quiet | Boost volume: -af "volume=3" |
| Garbled output | Wrong encoding parameter | Match encoding to actual audio format |
| Missing words | Background noise | Apply noise filter before transcription |
| Wrong language | Language not specified | Set language: 'en' (or correct ISO code) |
| Low confidence | Poor audio quality | Preprocess to 16kHz mono, noise-reduce |
| Speaker mismatch | Diarization off | Enable diarize: true |
Step 5: SDK-Specific Errors
// TypeError: createClient is not a function
// You have SDK v5 installed. Use:
import { DeepgramClient } from '@deepgram/sdk';
const dg = new DeepgramClient({ apiKey: process.env.DEEPGRAM_API_KEY });
// TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'prerecorded')
// v5 uses versioned namespaces:
await dg.listen.v1.media.transcribeUrl(source, options);
// "error": { "message": "..." } in result
// Always check the error field:
const { result, error } = await dg.listen.prerecorded.transcribeUrl(source, opts);
if (error) {
console.error('Deepgram error:', error.message);
// Don't try to access result — it may be undefined
}
// Python: deepgram.errors.DeepgramApiError
// Catch with try/except:
try:
response = client.listen.rest.v("1").transcribe_url(source, options)
except Exception as e:
print(f"API error: {e}")
Step 6: Retry Pattern for Transient Errors
async function transcribeWithRetry(
client: any,
source: any,
options: any,
maxRetries = 3
) {
for (let attempt = 0; attempt <= maxRetries; attempt++) {
try {
const { result, error } = await client.listen.prerecorded.transcribeUrl(
source, options
);
if (error) {
// 429 and 5xx are retryable
if (error.status === 429 || error.status >= 500) {
throw new Error(`Retryable: ${error.status}`);
}
throw new Error(`Non-retryable: ${error.message}`);
}
return result;
} catch (err: any) {
if (attempt === maxRetries || !err.message.startsWith('Retryable')) {
throw err;
}
const delay = Math.min(1000 * Math.pow(2, attempt) + Math.random() * 1000, 30000);
console.log(`Retry ${attempt + 1}/${maxRetries} in ${Math.round(delay)}ms`);
await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, delay));
}
}
}
Output
- API diagnostic curl commands
- HTTP error reference with solutions
- WebSocket error handling patterns
- Audio quality debugging with ffprobe/ffmpeg
- SDK version-specific error fixes
- Retry pattern for transient failures
Error Handling
| Error | Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
ECONNRESET | Network interruption | Implement retry with backoff |
ETIMEDOUT | Slow network or large file | Increase timeout, use callback |
ERR_INVALID_ARG_TYPE | Passing string instead of Buffer to transcribeFile | Use readFileSync(path) |
CORS error (browser) | API called from client-side | Proxy through your server |
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