Feedback: guides-sdk-node-batch

Documentation Feedback

Original URL: https://www.assemblyai.com/docs/guides/sdk-node-batch
Category: guides
Generated: 05/08/2025, 4:37:30 pm

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Claude Sonnet 4 Feedback

Generated: 05/08/2025, 4:37:29 pm

Technical Documentation Analysis & Recommendations

🔴 Critical Issues

1. Missing Prerequisites & Dependencies

Issue: No package.json setup or Node.js version requirements specified.

Fix: Add a prerequisites section:

## Prerequisites
- Node.js 14.0 or higher
- npm or yarn package manager
- AssemblyAI account with API key

## Installation
```bash
npm init -y
npm install assemblyai

### 2. **Incomplete API Key Implementation**
**Issue**: `<Your API Key>` placeholder without proper guidance on secure handling.

**Fix**:
```markdown
## Environment Setup
Create a `.env` file in your project root:
```bash
ASSEMBLYAI_API_KEY=your_actual_api_key_here

Then install dotenv and update your code:

npm install dotenv

import dotenv from 'dotenv';
dotenv.config();

const client = new AssemblyAI({
  apiKey: process.env.ASSEMBLYAI_API_KEY,
});

### 3. **No Error Handling for Common Scenarios**
**Issue**: Code will fail silently or crash on common issues.

**Fix**: Add comprehensive error handling:
```javascript
const processFile = async (file) => {
  try {
    // Check if file exists
    if (!fs.existsSync(file)) {
      throw new Error(`Audio file not found: ${file}`);
    }

    const transcript = await getTranscript(file);

    if (!transcript.text) {
      throw new Error(`Transcription failed for ${file}`);
    }

    // Rest of implementation...
  } catch (error) {
    console.error(`Error processing ${file}:`, error.message);
    throw error;
  }
};

🟡 Structure & Clarity Issues

4. Poor Code Organization

Issue: All code in one file with top-level awaits that may not work in all Node.js versions.

Recommended Structure:

## Recommended Project Structure

BatchTranscription/ ├── .env # Environment variables ├── package.json # Dependencies ├── src/ │ └── batch.js # Main application ├── audio/ # Input audio files │ ├── sample1.mp3 │ └── sample2.wav └── transcripts/ # Output transcriptions

5. Missing Execution Instructions

Issue: No clear instructions on how to run the code.

Fix: Add execution section:

## Running the Application
1. Place your audio files in the `audio/` folder
2. Ensure the `transcripts/` folder exists:
   ```bash
   mkdir -p transcripts

3. Run the application:

   node src/batch.js

## 🟢 Enhancement Opportunities

### 6. **Limited File Format Support Information**
**Fix**: Add supported formats section:
```markdown
## Supported Audio Formats
- MP3, MP4, WAV, FLAC, OGG, WMA, 3GP, AMR, AAC, M4A
- Maximum file size: 2.2GB
- For larger files, consider using streaming transcription

7. No Progress Tracking

Fix: Add progress indicators:

const run = async () => {
  console.log(`Starting transcription of ${filePathArr.length} files...`);

  const results = await Promise.allSettled(
    filePathArr.map(async (file, index) => {
      console.log(`Processing file ${index + 1}/${filePathArr.length}: ${file}`);
      return processFile(file);
    })
  );

  const successful = results.filter(r => r.status === 'fulfilled').length;
  const failed = results.filter(r => r.status === 'rejected').length;

  console.log(`\nCompleted: ${successful} successful, ${failed} failed`);
};

8. Missing Configuration Options

Fix: Add configuration section:

## Configuration Options
You can customize transcription parameters:

```javascript
const getTranscript = (filePath) => new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
  client.transcripts.transcribe({
    audio: filePath,
    language_detection: true,
    punctuate: true,              // Add punctuation
    format_text: true,            // Format text
    speaker_labels: true,         // Identify speakers
    sentiment_analysis: true,     // Analyze sentiment
    // Add other parameters as needed
  })
  .then(result => resolve(result))
  .catch(error => reject(error));
});

## 🔧 Code Quality Improvements

### 9. **Inefficient File Path Handling**
**Current Issue**: Hardcoded string splitting
```javascript
const getFileName = file.split('audio/'); // Fragile

Better Approach:

const getFileName = path.basename(file, path.extname(file));

10. Mixed Promise Patterns

Issue: Mixing async/await with Promise constructors unnecessarily.

Fix: Simplify the file writing:

const processFile = async (file) => {
  const fileName = path.basename(file, path.extname(file));
  const outputPath = path.join(transcriptsFolder, `${fileName}.txt`);

  const transcript = await getTranscript(file);
  await fs.promises.writeFile(outputPath, transcript.text);

  console.log(`✅ Transcribed: ${fileName}`);
  return { success: true, file: fileName };
};

📋 Additional Recommendations

11. Add Troubleshooting Section

## Troubleshooting
- **"API key not found"**: Ensure your .env file is in the project root
- **"File not found"**: Check that audio files exist in the audio/ folder
- **Rate limiting**: The API has rate limits; consider adding delays for large batches
- **Memory issues**: For many large files, process them in smaller batches

12. Add Examples Section

## Example Output
After successful execution, your transcripts folder will contain:

transcripts/ ├── audio-1.mp3.txt └── audio-2.mp3.txt

Each file contains the transcribed text from the corresponding audio file.

These improvements will significantly enhance the documentation’s usability, reduce user friction, and prevent common implementation issues.

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