Last Updated: July 25, 2025 This quick start tutorial will teach you the basics of using the Salad Transcription API Python SDK. It demonstrates how to install the SDK, authenticate with your API key, submit transcription jobs, and access results.

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Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure that:
  • You have a SaladCloud account and a valid API key. Generate one via the Salad Portal.
  • You have Python 3.9+ with pip properly configured on your system.

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Step 1: Install the SDK

Install the SaladCloud Transcription SDK using pip: 
pip install salad-cloud-transcription-sdk

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Step 2: Submit a file for transcription and retrieve the result

The following example demonstrates how to transcribe a local audio or video file. Replace:
  • <YOUR_API_KEY> with your SaladCloud API key
  • <ORG_NAME> with your organization name
  • <FILE_PATH> with the path to your local file (or use a downloadable URL)
from salad_cloud_transcription_sdk import SaladCloudTranscriptionSdk
from salad_cloud_transcription_sdk.models.transcription_job_input import TranscriptionJobInput
from salad_cloud_transcription_sdk.models.transcription_request import TranscriptionRequest

# Initialize the SDK with your API key
sdk = SaladCloudTranscriptionSdk(api_key="<YOUR_API_KEY>")

# Configure the transcription job parameters
request = TranscriptionRequest(
    options=TranscriptionJobInput(
        language_code="en",
        srt=True,
        return_as_file=False,
    ),
    metadata={"project": "quick_start_example"},

# Submit the job and wait for it to finish
job = sdk.transcribe(
    source="<FILE_PATH>",
    organization_name="<ORG_NAME>",
    request=request,
    auto_poll=True  # Automatically waits until the job completes
)

# Print the transcript text
print("Transcript:\n", job.output['text'])

# Access full JSON output (timestamps, SRT, metadata)
print("\nFull output object:\n", job.output)

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Next Steps

You should now have a working transcription pipeline. To learn more:
  • Explore Code Examples for polling jobs options, webhook handling, Lite vs. Full engine usage and parameters setup.
  • Review the Full Documentation for advanced features like summaries, translations, custom vocabulary, and sentiment analysis.