How to build push-to-talk dictation with the Sync API

Push-to-talk dictation requires especially low latency because users wait directly for text to appear, and the described implementation uses AssemblyAI’s Sync API to send a completed short audio clip and receive a transcript in one HTTP response. The workflow captures audio when a user holds a key or microphone button, converts browser audio to WAV or PCM, validates that it falls within the 80-millisecond to two-minute limit, and inserts the resulting transcription into the active input. To reduce perceived delay, the approach recommends pre-warming the HTTP connection when recording begins, using the same client, endpoint, and connection pool for the subsequent transcription request. Accuracy for names, product terms, and specialized vocabulary can be improved with targeted keyterm prompts or domain descriptions, though excessive prompting may cause incorrect substitutions. Production handling should quietly ignore accidental very short recordings, route oversized clips to pre-recorded transcription, validate malformed audio, respect rate-limit retry guidance, and retry transient capacity failures cautiously. The discussion distinguishes completed-utterance dictation from continuous real-time transcription and notes that optional post-processing may be needed when users want cleaned-up text rather than a verbatim transcript.

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