Feedback: guides-generate-action-items-with-le-mur

Documentation Feedback

Original URL: https://www.assemblyai.com/docs/guides/generate-action-items-with-le-mur
Category: guides
Generated: 05/08/2025, 4:41:15 pm

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Claude Sonnet 4 Feedback

Generated: 05/08/2025, 4:41:14 pm

Technical Documentation Analysis & Feedback

Critical Issues to Address

1. Missing Essential Information

API Key Security

• Issue: Shows aai.settings.api_key = "API_KEY" in plain text without security warnings
• Fix: Add security best practices section:

import os
aai.settings.api_key = os.environ.get("ASSEMBLYAI_API_KEY")

• Include warning about never hardcoding API keys in production code

Prerequisites Section Missing

• Add Python version requirements
• List required dependencies beyond the main SDK
• Specify system requirements

2. Incomplete Error Handling

Current Gap: No error handling for common failure scenarios Add:

try:
    transcript = aai.Transcriber().transcribe(audio_url)
    if transcript.status == aai.TranscriptStatus.error:
        print(f"Transcription failed: {transcript.error}")
        return
except Exception as e:
    print(f"Error during transcription: {e}")
    return

3. Poor Example Quality

Current Issues:

• Uses external URL without explaining the content
• No sample output shown
• No explanation of what makes a good vs. poor action item

Improvements Needed:

• Show actual output from the example
• Provide 2-3 different example scenarios (meeting types)
• Include a “bad example” with explanation of what went wrong

4. Structure Problems

Redundant Code: The quickstart and step-by-step sections contain identical code Better Structure:

1. Overview & Use Cases
2. Prerequisites & Setup
3. Basic Example (with output)
4. Advanced Examples
5. Customization Options
6. Error Handling
7. Best Practices
8. Troubleshooting

Specific Actionable Improvements

Add Missing Context

## When to Use This Guide
- Extract actionable tasks from team meetings
- Process sales calls for follow-up items
- Analyze customer support calls for resolution steps
- Generate project deliverables from planning sessions

Include Actual Output Example

## Sample Output
For a project planning meeting, you might get:
• Schedule follow-up meeting with design team by Friday
• Sarah to research competitor pricing by next week
• Update project timeline document with new milestones
• Send client proposal draft for review by Monday

Add Customization Section

## Customizing Action Items

### Different Output Formats
- Numbered lists: `answer_format = "Numbered List"`
- JSON format: `answer_format = "JSON with priority levels"`
- Categorized: `answer_format = "Grouped by department/person"`

### Prompt Variations for Different Meeting Types
```python
# For sales calls
sales_prompt = "Focus on follow-up actions, next steps with prospects, and internal tasks..."

# For customer support
support_prompt = "Identify resolution steps, escalation items, and customer commitments..."

Improve Code Comments

Current code lacks explanation. Add:

# Transcribe the audio file first
transcript = aai.Transcriber().transcribe(audio_url)

# Wait for transcription to complete before proceeding
if transcript.status != aai.TranscriptStatus.completed:
    print("Transcription not ready")
    return

Add Troubleshooting Section

## Common Issues
- **Empty action items**: Your meeting may lack clear commitments. Try a more specific prompt.
- **Too many action items**: Add "limit to 5 most important items" to your prompt
- **Vague action items**: Include "specify who, what, and when" in guidelines

Include Cost Information

• Add token usage estimation
• Explain how transcript length affects pricing
• Link to detailed pricing calculator

Better Navigation

• Add table of contents
• Include “What you’ll learn” section
• Add “Next steps” with related guides

User Pain Points to Address

1. No validation: Users don’t know if their transcript is suitable for action item extraction
2. No customization guidance: Users can’t adapt the example to their specific needs
3. No quality assessment: Users can’t evaluate if the generated action items are good
4. No integration help: Users don’t know how to incorporate this into existing workflows

Quick Wins for Immediate Improvement

1. Add a complete, working example with visible output
2. Include proper error handling in all code samples
3. Add security warning about API keys
4. Show 2-3 different prompt variations for common use cases
5. Include a “What makes good action items” explanation section

This documentation has good bones but needs significant enhancement to be truly user-friendly and production-ready.

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