ASR (Speech to Text) Skill

This skill guides the implementation of speech-to-text (ASR) functionality using the z-ai-web-dev-sdk package, enabling accurate transcription of spoken audio into text.

Skills Path

Skill Location: {project_path}/skills/ASR

this skill is located at above path in your project.

Reference Scripts: Example test scripts are available in the {Skill Location}/scripts/ directory for quick testing and reference. See {Skill Location}/scripts/asr.ts for a working example.

Overview

Speech-to-Text (ASR - Automatic Speech Recognition) allows you to build applications that convert spoken language in audio files into written text, enabling voice-controlled interfaces, transcription services, and audio content analysis.

IMPORTANT: z-ai-web-dev-sdk MUST be used in backend code only. Never use it in client-side code.

Prerequisites

The z-ai-web-dev-sdk package is already installed. Import it as shown in the examples below.

CLI Usage (For Simple Tasks)

For simple audio transcription tasks, you can use the z-ai CLI instead of writing code. This is ideal for quick transcriptions, testing audio files, or batch processing.

Basic Transcription from File

# Transcribe an audio file
z-ai asr --file ./audio.wav

# Save transcription to JSON file
z-ai asr -f ./recording.mp3 -o transcript.json

# Transcribe and view output
z-ai asr --file ./interview.wav --output result.json

Transcription from Base64

# Transcribe from base64 encoded audio
z-ai asr --base64 "UklGRiQAAABXQVZFZm10..." -o result.json

# Using short option
z-ai asr -b "base64_encoded_audio_data" -o transcript.json

Streaming Output

# Stream transcription results
z-ai asr -f ./audio.wav --stream

CLI Parameters

• --file, -f <path>: Required (if not using --base64) - Audio file path
• --base64, -b <base64>: Required (if not using --file) - Base64 encoded audio
• --output, -o <path>: Optional - Output file path (JSON format)
• --stream: Optional - Stream the transcription output

Supported Audio Formats

The ASR service supports various audio formats including:

• WAV (.wav)
• MP3 (.mp3)
• Other common audio formats

When to Use CLI vs SDK

Use CLI for:

• Quick audio file transcriptions
• Testing audio recognition accuracy
• Simple batch processing scripts
• One-off transcription tasks

Use SDK for:

• Real-time audio transcription in applications
• Integration with recording systems
• Custom audio processing workflows
• Production applications with streaming audio

Basic ASR Implementation

Simple Audio Transcription

import ZAI from 'z-ai-web-dev-sdk';
import fs from 'fs';

async function transcribeAudio(audioFilePath) {
  const zai = await ZAI.create();

  // Read audio file and convert to base64
  const audioFile = fs.readFileSync(audioFilePath);
  const base64Audio = audioFile.toString('base64');

  const response = await zai.audio.asr.create({
    file_base64: base64Audio
  });

  return response.text;
}

// Usage
const transcription = await transcribeAudio('./audio.wav');
console.log('Transcription:', transcription);

Transcribe Multiple Audio Files

import ZAI from 'z-ai-web-dev-sdk';
import fs from 'fs';

async function transcribeBatch(audioFilePaths) {
  const zai = await ZAI.create();
  const results = [];

  for (const filePath of audioFilePaths) {
    try {
      const audioFile = fs.readFileSync(filePath);
      const base64Audio = audioFile.toString('base64');

      const response = await zai.audio.asr.create({
        file_base64: base64Audio
      });

      results.push({
        file: filePath,
        success: true,
        transcription: response.text
      });
    } catch (error) {
      results.push({
        file: filePath,
        success: false,
        error: error.message
      });
    }
  }

  return results;
}

// Usage
const files = ['./interview1.wav', './interview2.wav', './interview3.wav'];
const transcriptions = await transcribeBatch(files);

transcriptions.forEach(result => {
  if (result.success) {
    console.log(`${result.file}: ${result.transcription}`);
  } else {
    console.error(`${result.file}: Error - ${result.error}`);
  }
});

Advanced Use Cases

Audio File Processing with Metadata

import ZAI from 'z-ai-web-dev-sdk';
import fs from 'fs';
import path from 'path';

async function transcribeWithMetadata(audioFilePath) {
  const zai = await ZAI.create();

  // Get file metadata
  const stats = fs.statSync(audioFilePath);
  const audioFile = fs.readFileSync(audioFilePath);
  const base64Audio = audioFile.toString('base64');

  const startTime = Date.now();

  const response = await zai.audio.asr.create({
    file_base64: base64Audio
  });

  co