Translation | transcript1 docs

transcript1 transcribes the media first, then translates the transcript text into one language of your choice. Translation is aligned per segment and keeps the original timestamps and speakers. It is text translation only: there is no dubbing and no translated audio.

Translation is free. It uses 0 minutes and appears in your usage history as a free "Translation" entry. Transcription minutes apply as usual, and a failed translation never fails or refunds the transcript.

Translate while transcribing

Add translate_to to the request that creates the transcription. It is a two-letter lowercase ISO 639-1 code such as es or en. It works with a video link in the JSON body of POST /v1/transcriptions, a chunked upload reservation and a one-shot multipart upload.

curl -X POST "https://api.transcript1.com/v1/transcriptions?wait=60" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT1_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ", "translate_to": "es"}'

For a file upload, send translate_to as a form field:

curl -X POST "https://api.transcript1.com/v1/transcriptions?wait=60" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT1_API_KEY" \
  -F [email protected] \
  -F translate_to=en

The MCP transcribe tool takes translate_to as well. One target language per request.

Translate an existing transcript

Request a translation for a completed transcription:

curl -X POST "https://api.transcript1.com/v1/transcriptions/tr_8fK2Lm0PqRsTuVwXyZaBcD/translations" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT1_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"language": "en"}'

The API answers 202:

{
  "transcription_id": "tr_8fK2Lm0PqRsTuVwXyZaBcD",
  "language": "en",
  "status": "processing"
}

Status	Meaning
`404`	The transcription was not found.
`409 transcript_not_ready`	The transcription is not `completed` yet.
`422`	The language is not a valid two-letter code.

The call is idempotent. A translation that is processing or completed is returned as it is, and a failed one is retried. The MCP tool translate_transcription takes id and language.

Read the translation

GET /v1/transcriptions/:id and the text, SRT and VTT downloads accept translation:

`translation`	Result
`both` (default)	JSON segments get a `translation` field. Text puts the translated line under the original. SRT and VTT cues have two lines: the original, then the translation.
`only`	The translated text replaces `text`. Timestamps and speakers stay the same.
`none`	The original transcript only.

The response has a translation object, or null when no translation was requested:

{
  "translation": { "language": "es", "status": "completed" }
}

status is processing, completed or failed. A failed translation also has an error message. wait also waits for a requested translation; when the wait times out, the status is processing. The MCP get_transcription tool takes a translation parameter with the same values.

Webhooks

Two events report translation results, in addition to transcription.completed and transcription.failed, which are unchanged:

`type`	Sent when
`transcription.translation.completed`	The translation reached `completed`.
`transcription.translation.failed`	The translation reached `failed`.

data is the transcription object plus translation: { language, status, error }. See Webhooks for signatures and delivery rules.