Cookbook

Executable how-tos for building with the realtime API — real endpoints, runnable pipelines, and the traps we hit so you don't have to.

Basicsbeginner

How to choose between realtime and batch transcription

Realtime WebSocket, Segment HTTP, or Batch jobs? The decision isn't 'do I need it live' — it's who does VAD and what happens to silence. A decision table and a minimal example for each plane.

7 minHow-to

Basicsintermediate

How to stream microphone audio over WebSocket

Your browser gives you float32 at 48kHz stereo; the realtime API wants PCM16LE at 16kHz mono in 100ms frames. The full capture → convert → frame → send pipeline, plus backpressure and reconnect.

9 minHow-to

Basicsbeginner

How to build realtime captions that don't jitter

Live captions that flicker and rewrite themselves destroy trust. Here's the StableStream model: the API only emits stable text, so your client is append-only — no partial→final replacement, no rollback, no debounce.

8 minHow-to