Feedback: guides-oai_to_aai

Documentation Feedback

Original URL: https://www.assemblyai.com/docs/guides/oai_to_aai
Category: guides
Generated: 05/08/2025, 4:38:46 pm

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Claude Sonnet 4 Feedback

Generated: 05/08/2025, 4:38:45 pm

Technical Documentation Analysis: OpenAI to AssemblyAI Migration Guide

Overall Assessment

This migration guide provides a solid foundation but has several gaps that could frustrate users during implementation. The side-by-side comparison approach is excellent, but the documentation needs more comprehensive coverage and clearer explanations.

Critical Missing Information

1. Prerequisites and Setup

• Missing: SDK installation commands for both services
• Missing: Environment variable setup examples
• Missing: Required Python version compatibility
• Add:

  # Installation section should include:
  pip install openai  # For comparison
  pip install assemblyai
  
  # Environment setup examples:
  export ASSEMBLYAI_API_KEY="your_api_key_here"

2. Error Handling and Status Management

• Issue: AssemblyAI example shows error handling, but OpenAI doesn’t
• Missing: Common error scenarios and solutions
• Add: Comprehensive error handling section with retry logic examples

3. Cost and Limits Comparison

• Missing: Pricing model differences
• Missing: Rate limits comparison
• Missing: Processing time expectations

Structural Improvements

1. Reorganize Content Flow

Suggested new structure:
1. Prerequisites & Setup
2. Quick Start Comparison
3. Core Differences Overview
4. Detailed Feature Migration
5. Advanced Features
6. Troubleshooting
7. Best Practices

2. Add Migration Checklist

Create a practical checklist:

• Install AssemblyAI SDK
• Update API key configuration
• Modify audio file handling
• Update error handling
• Test with sample files

Code Examples Need Improvement

1. Complete Working Examples

Current examples are fragments. Provide complete, runnable scripts:

# Complete migration example
import os
import assemblyai as aai
from pathlib import Path

def migrate_from_openai():
    # Setup
    aai.settings.api_key = os.getenv("ASSEMBLYAI_API_KEY")
    transcriber = aai.Transcriber()

    # Your audio file
    audio_file = "path/to/your/audio.wav"

    try:
        transcript = transcriber.transcribe(audio_file)

        if transcript.status == aai.TranscriptStatus.error:
            print(f"Error: {transcript.error}")
            return None

        return transcript.text
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Transcription failed: {e}")
        return None

2. Add Async Examples

Many users need async processing:

import asyncio
import assemblyai as aai

async def async_transcribe(audio_file):
    # Async implementation example
    pass

Unclear Explanations That Need Clarification

1. “SDK handles polling under the hood”

• Issue: Users don’t understand what this means
• Fix: Explain that AssemblyAI is asynchronous and the SDK waits for completion automatically
• Add: Show how to implement custom polling if needed

2. Feature Configuration

• Issue: TranscriptionConfig usage is not intuitive
• Fix: Show progressive examples from basic to advanced configurations

3. LeMUR Integration

• Issue: Suddenly introduces LeMUR without context
• Fix: Add dedicated section explaining what LeMUR is and when to use it

User Experience Pain Points

1. File Format Migration

• Add: Clear mapping of supported formats
• Add: File size limit comparison table
• Add: Quality recommendations

2. Response Object Differences

Current documentation doesn’t clearly show how to access different data:

# Add comprehensive response object guide
transcript = transcriber.transcribe(audio_file)

# Basic transcription
print(f"Text: {transcript.text}")

# Timestamps
for word in transcript.words:
    print(f"{word.text}: {word.start}ms - {word.end}ms")

# Speaker diarization (if enabled)
for utterance in transcript.utterances:
    print(f"Speaker {utterance.speaker}: {utterance.text}")

3. Authentication Migration

Show both environment variable and direct methods:

# Method 1: Environment variable (recommended)
aai.settings.api_key = os.getenv("ASSEMBLYAI_API_KEY")

# Method 2: Direct assignment (for testing)
aai.settings.api_key = "your_api_key_here"

Additional Sections Needed

1. Performance Comparison

• Processing speed differences
• Accuracy comparison notes
• Resource usage implications

2. Advanced Migration Scenarios

• Batch processing migration
• Webhook integration
• Custom vocabulary migration

3. Testing Your Migration

def test_migration():
    # Provide test script to verify migration success
    sample_audio = "test_file.wav"
    # Test basic transcription
    # Test with features
    # Compare results

4. Rollback Strategy

• How to maintain OpenAI as fallback
• Gradual migration approach
• A/B testing setup

Quick Wins for Immediate Improvement

1. Add a complete, copy-pasteable example at the top
2. Create a features comparison table (OpenAI vs AssemblyAI)
3. Add troubleshooting section with common migration issues
4. Include expected output examples for both services
5. Add links to relevant deeper documentation for each feature mentioned

This documentation has good bones but needs more meat to truly help users migrate successfully without frustration.

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