modbender Deepgram Nova-3 Transcription
Transcribe audio files using Deepgram's Nova-3 model — more accurate and faster than OpenAI Whisper.
Why Deepgram over Whisper
- 5.26% word error rate (vs ~8-10% for Whisper)
- 40x faster for batch processing
- Built-in speaker diarization (who said what)
- Smart formatting (numbers, dates, punctuation)
- $200 free credits on signup at deepgram.com
Setup
Store your API key:
echo "YOUR_DEEPGRAM_API_KEY" > ~/.openclaw/secrets/deepgram-api-key.txt
Or set the environment variable:
export DEEPGRAM_API_KEY="your-key-here"
Usage
bash scripts/transcribe.sh /path/to/audio.mp3
bash scripts/transcribe.sh recording.mp3 --out transcript.txt
bash scripts/transcribe.sh recording.mp3 --json --out full.json
bash scripts/transcribe.sh recording.mp3 --language es
bash scripts/transcribe.sh recording.mp3 --model nova-2
Models
| Model | WER | Cost/min | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| nova-3 (default) | 5.26% | $0.0077 | Best accuracy |
| nova-2 | ~8% | $0.0043 | Budget-friendly |
| whisper-large | ~8-10% | $0.0048 | Whisper parity |
Supported Formats
mp3, wav, m4a, ogg, flac, webm, aiff
Fallback
If DEEPGRAM_API_KEY is not set, use the OpenAI Whisper skill instead (if installed).