How can I simulate real-time streaming transcription using OpenAI API?

[Santoshchodipilli]

I'm working on a project where I want to convert speech to text in real-time using OpenAI's Whisper model. I see that Whisper's hosted API (whisper-1) currently only supports batch mode — sending a full audio file and receiving the full transcript.

I'm trying to achieve a streaming-like transcription experience, where I can start receiving partial transcriptions as audio is still being recorded or uploaded.

Is there a way to simulate streaming transcription using Whisper?

I'm using Python.

I considered chunking the audio into small parts and sending them sequentially.

Is that the best approach, or is there a better method?

Also, is there any public roadmap or timeline for when the official OpenAI Whisper API might support real-time streaming transcription?

Thanks in advance!

[pravakarp98]

You're on the right path of emulating streaming transcription with Whisper — that's the best workaround available at the moment, TheOpenAI's whisper-1 API is only capable of batch processing and not streaming.

let me describe it for you -

• Emulating Streaming with Whisper (Python)
  first, breaking down the audio into small segments (e.g., every 2-5 seconds) and processing them in chunked form and passing them into Whisper is the most prevalent and efficient method for simulating real-time transcription. Here's what you can do:

Method: Chunked Streaming Simulation
Record audio in chunks via a microphone stream.
Store each chunk into a temporary buffer or file.
Pass the chunk to Whisper (whisper-1) API or locally execute if you have the open-source model.
Show the transcription incrementally.

• Python Utilities You May Use:
  pyaudio or sounddevice — for recording microphone sound in chunks.
  queue.Queue — for handling chunks of audio asynchronously.
  openai.Audio.transcribe("whisper-1",.) — for transcribing a chunk if you are using the OpenAI API.
  Or use OpenAI whisper for local inference with faster turnaround.

If you're interested, I can help you set up a full real-time transcription.

[Santoshchodipilli]

It's not about to microphone stream, I am expecting streaming response for recorded audio file which is static.
So, as you said if i chunk the audio with respect to 2-5 seconds. if any word falls at the chunking endpoint, then the chunks goes to be wrong.

[pravakarp98]

You can use an offset or overlap to map the last word of chunk A with the first word of chunk B.