Transcribe pre-recorded audio files or URLs with Gladia. Use when the user needs batch/async transcription, speaker diarization, subtitles (SRT/VTT), PII red...
5 installs
Design & media
Gladia Using Cli
Try itTerminal transcription of audio files and URLs with the Gladia CLI (gladia speech-to-text). Use when the user has gladia-cli installed, wants shell-based tra...
What it does
Terminal transcription of audio files and URLs with the Gladia CLI (gladia speech-to-text). Use when the user has gladia-cli installed, wants shell-based transcription, or asks an agent to transcribe audio then answer questions about the content. For audio intelligence features not available as CLI flags, use the SDK skills instead.
The skill document
Gladia CLI
The Gladia CLI (gladia) transcribes pre-recorded audio from the terminal. Local files are auto-uploaded; URLs are passed directly to the API.
CLI vs SDK: use the CLI for quick terminal workflows when
gladiais on PATH. For app integration or audio intelligence not exposed as CLI flags, see gladia-sdk-integration and gladia-audio-intelligence.
When to Use
- User mentions gladia-cli,
gladia transcribe, or wants quick terminal transcription - Agent should transcribe a local file, a
http(s)URL, or a YouTube URL, then answer follow-up questions about the content - One-off transcription without writing application code
Prerequisites: verify gladia --version succeeds and an API key is configured (GLADIA_API_KEY, ~/.gladia, or --gladia-key).
When NOT to Use
- Live / real-time audio — use gladia-live-transcription
- Building an app or CI pipeline in code — use gladia-sdk-integration
- Audio intelligence not in CLI (translation, summarization, NER, PII, audio-to-LLM) — use gladia-audio-intelligence with the SDK
References
Consult these resources as needed:
- ./references/cli-vs-sdk.md -- CLI vs SDK routing: which features have CLI flags and which require SDK skills
- ../gladia-pre-recorded-transcription/SKILL.md -- SDK pre-recorded workflow and options
- ../gladia-audio-intelligence/SKILL.md -- Addons beyond CLI flags
- ../gladia-troubleshooting/SKILL.md -- API key, upload, and polling errors
- gladia-cli repository
Setup
Install (macOS/Linux):
curl -fsSL https://github.com/gladiaio/gladia-cli/releases/latest/download/install.sh | sh
Auth — get a key at app.gladia.io/account. Three options:
# 1. Environment variable (preferred for CI and shells)
export GLADIA_API_KEY=
# 2. Persist locally
gladia auth set
# 3. Pass per command (global flag, works on any command)
gladia transcribe meeting.wav --gladia-key
Credential order: GLADIA_API_KEY → ~/.gladia → --gladia-key (first match wins)
List valid language codes: gladia languages
Commands
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
gladia transcribe | Transcribe a local file, a http(s) URL, or a YouTube URL |
gladia auth set | Save API key to ~/.gladia |
gladia languages | List supported ISO 639-1 codes |
Transcribe Flags
| Flag | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
-o, --output | text | text, json, json-full, srt, vtt |
--language | — | Expected language(s), comma-separated (en or en,fr,de) |
--code-switching, --code-switch | off | Detect language per utterance |
--diarize | off | Speaker identification |
--model | API default | solaria-1 or solaria-3 |
-v, --verbose | off | Show progress while polling |
Global: --gladia-key — API key override
Agent Workflow: Transcribe Then Q&A
- Check CLI —
gladia --version; install or use SDK skills if missing - Pick flags — match output format and options to the user's question (tables below)
- Run —
gladia transcribe [flags]; capture stdout - Answer — ground responses only in captured output; cite speakers and timestamps when available
- Re-run if needed — if the question requires data not in the current output (e.g. timestamps, speakers), re-transcribe with different flags
- Long audio — use
-vfor progress; for very long transcripts, redirect stdout to a temp file and read selectively
Do not invent transcript content. If output is empty or unclear, say so and suggest different flags or SDK skills.
Output Format Selection
| User need | CLI approach |
|---|---|
| Plain transcript | default or -o text |
| Who spoke when | --diarize -o text or -o json |
| Timestamps per utterance | -o json (utterance list with time_begin, time_end) |
| Full API payload | -o json-full |
| Subtitle file | -o srt or -o vtt (add --diarize for speaker labels) |
| Model choice | --model solaria-1 or --model solaria-3 |
Language behavior
You can list all the possible languages compatible with gladia with the command gladia languages.
| Goal | Command |
|---|---|
| Auto-detect | gladia transcribe |
| Constrain detection | --language en,fr,de (does not enable code switching) |
| Code switching | --code-switching (+ optional --language hints) |
CLI vs SDK (summary)
For full CLI vs SDK routing, see ./references/cli-vs-sdk.md.
| Feature | CLI | If not in CLI |
|---|---|---|
| Basic transcription | gladia transcribe | — |
| Speaker diarization | --diarize | gladia-audio-intelligence for advanced config |
| Language / code-switch | --language, --code-switching | SDK for advanced language_config |
| Translation, NER, PII, sentiment, audio-to-LLM | No | gladia-audio-intelligence |
| API summarization addon | No | SDK (agent may summarize -o text output informally) |
| Live streaming | No | gladia-live-transcription |
Examples
gladia transcribe meeting.wav
gladia transcribe https://example.com/podcast.mp3 -o json
gladia transcribe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw
gladia transcribe call.wav --diarize -o srt
gladia transcribe interview.mp3 --language en,fr --code-switching -v
gladia transcribe podcast.mp3 --model solaria-1 -o json-full
gladia transcribe meeting.wav --gladia-key # inline key, no env or ~/.gladia needed
Common Mistakes
- Treating
--language en,fras code-switching — it only constrains detection; add--code-switchingseparately for per-utterance language detection - Answering without re-running — timestamp or speaker questions need
-o jsonor--diarize; plain text may lack required fields - Inventing CLI flags — translation, summarization, NER, and PII have no CLI flags today; route to SDK skills
- Using SDK code when CLI is requested — if the user has
gladiainstalled and wants terminal workflow, run shell commands - Skipping auth check — transcription fails without a valid API key in env,
~/.gladia, or--gladia-key
For API errors and diagnostics, see gladia-troubleshooting.
Further Reading
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