Feedback: guides-transcribe_from_s3

Documentation Feedback

Original URL: https://www.assemblyai.com/docs/guides/transcribe_from_s3
Category: guides
Generated: 05/08/2025, 4:34:58 pm

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Claude Sonnet 4 Feedback

Generated: 05/08/2025, 4:34:57 pm

Technical Documentation Analysis: Transcribe from an S3 Bucket

Overall Assessment

This documentation covers a useful integration but has several areas for improvement in clarity, completeness, and user experience. Here’s my detailed analysis:

🔴 Critical Issues

1. Missing Error Handling

Problem: The code lacks comprehensive error handling for critical failure points.

Solutions:

# Add proper error handling for API requests
try:
    post_response = requests.post(transcript_endpoint, json=json, headers=headers)
    post_response.raise_for_status()  # Raises exception for HTTP errors

    if post_response.json().get("error"):
        raise Exception(f"AssemblyAI API Error: {post_response.json()['error']}")

except requests.exceptions.RequestException as e:
    print(f"Request failed: {e}")
    exit(1)
except Exception as e:
    print(f"Transcription request failed: {e}")
    exit(1)

2. Incomplete Prerequisites Section

Missing Information:

• Python version requirements
• Required AWS account setup
• S3 bucket configuration requirements
• Supported audio file formats and size limits

Add:

## System Requirements
- Python 3.7 or higher
- Active AWS account with S3 access
- Audio file in supported format (MP3, MP4, WAV, FLAC, etc.)
- File size limit: 5GB maximum

## S3 Bucket Setup
Your S3 bucket must be configured with:
- Proper IAM permissions for the user account
- Audio files uploaded to the bucket
- Bucket located in a supported AWS region

🟡 Structure and Organization Issues

3. Improve Section Flow

Current Problem: Jumps between concepts without clear transitions.

Recommended Structure:

# Transcribe from an S3 Bucket

## Overview
[Brief explanation + use cases]

## How It Works
[3-step process with diagram]

## Prerequisites
### AssemblyAI Account Setup
### AWS Account Setup
### System Requirements

## Step-by-Step Implementation
### Step 1: Set Up AWS IAM User
### Step 2: Install Dependencies
### Step 3: Configure Credentials
### Step 4: Generate Presigned URL
### Step 5: Submit Transcription Request
### Step 6: Retrieve Results

## Complete Code Example
## Troubleshooting
## Next Steps

4. Better Code Organization

Problem: Code is fragmented across sections.

Solution: Provide both step-by-step breakdown AND complete working example:

#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""
Complete example: Transcribe audio file from AWS S3 using AssemblyAI
"""
import boto3
from botocore.exceptions import ClientError
import requests
import time
import sys
from typing import Optional

class S3Transcriber:
    def __init__(self, assembly_api_key: str, aws_access_key: str, aws_secret_key: str):
        self.assembly_api_key = assembly_api_key
        self.s3_client = boto3.client(
            "s3",
            aws_access_key_id=aws_access_key,
            aws_secret_access_key=aws_secret_key
        )
        self.headers = {
            "authorization": assembly_api_key,
            "content-type": "application/json"
        }

    def generate_presigned_url(self, bucket_name: str, object_name: str,
                             expiration: int = 3600) -> Optional[str]:
        """Generate presigned URL for S3 object"""
        try:
            url = self.s3_client.generate_presigned_url(
                ClientMethod="get_object",
                Params={"Bucket": bucket_name, "Key": object_name},
                ExpiresIn=expiration,
            )
            return url
        except ClientError as e:
            print(f"Error generating presigned URL: {e}")
            return None

    def submit_transcription(self, presigned_url: str) -> Optional[str]:
        """Submit transcription request to AssemblyAI"""
        # Implementation with error handling...

    def wait_for_completion(self, transcript_id: str) -> dict:
        """Wait for transcription to complete and return results"""
        # Implementation with timeout and error handling...

# Usage example
if __name__ == "__main__":
    transcriber = S3Transcriber(
        assembly_api_key="your-key-here",
        aws_access_key="your-aws-key",
        aws_secret_key="your-aws-secret"
    )

    result = transcriber.transcribe_from_s3("my-bucket", "audio.mp3")
    print(result)

🟡 Content Gaps

5. Missing Configuration Best Practices

Add Section:

## Security Best Practices

### Environment Variables
Store sensitive credentials as environment variables:

```bash
export ASSEMBLYAI_API_KEY="your-api-key"
export AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID="your-access-key"
export AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY="your-secret-key"

import os

assembly_key = os.getenv("ASSEMBLYAI_API_KEY")
if not assembly_key:
    raise ValueError("ASSEMBLYAI_API_KEY environment variable not set")

AWS Credentials File

Alternatively, use AWS credentials file (~/.aws/credentials):

[default]
aws_access_key_id = YOUR_ACCESS_KEY
aws_secret_access_key = YOUR_SECRET_KEY

6. Add Troubleshooting Section

## Troubleshooting

### Common Issues

**"Access Denied" Error**
- Verify IAM user has S3 read permissions
- Check bucket policy allows access
- Ensure object exists in specified bucket

**"Invalid Audio URL" Error**
- Verify presigned URL is not expired
- Check audio file format is supported
- Ensure file size is under 5GB limit

**Transcription Stuck in "processing"**
- Large files can take 15+ minutes
- Check file isn't corrupted
- Verify sufficient API quota

### Getting Help
- Check [AssemblyAI Status Page](https://status.assemblyai.com)
- Contact support: support@assemblyai.com
- Community forum: [link]

🟡 User Experience Issues

7. Unclear Variable Naming

Problem: Generic placeholder names don’t help users understand what values to use.

Better Examples:

# Instead of generic placeholders:
bucket_name = "<BUCKET_NAME>"
object_name = "<AUDIO_FILE_NAME>"

# Use realistic examples:
bucket_name = "my-company-audio-files"  # Your S3 bucket name
object_name = "recordings/meeting-2024-01-15.mp3"  # Path to your audio file

# Or provide multiple examples:
# Examples:
# bucket_name = "podcast-episodes"
# object_name = "episode-001.wav"
#
# bucket_name = "customer-calls"
# object_name = "calls/2024/january/call-123.mp3"

8. Add Success Indicators

Problem: Users don’t know if setup worked correctly.

Add Validation Steps:

# Test AWS connection
def test_s3_connection():
    try:
        response = s3_client.list_buckets()
        print(f"✅ Successfully connected to AWS. Found {len(response['Buckets'])} buckets.")
        return True
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"❌ AWS connection failed: {e}")
        return False

# Test AssemblyAI API key
def test_assemblyai_connection():
    try:
        response = requests.get("https://api.assemblyai.com/v2/transcript", headers=headers)
        if response.status_code == 200:
            print("✅ Ass

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