Deepgram Install & Auth

Current State

!npm list @deepgram/sdk 2>/dev/null || echo '@deepgram/sdk not installed' !pip show deepgram-sdk 2>/dev/null | grep Version || echo 'deepgram-sdk (Python) not installed'

Overview

Install the Deepgram SDK and configure API key authentication. Deepgram provides speech-to-text (Nova-3, Nova-2), text-to-speech (Aura-2), and audio intelligence APIs. The JS SDK uses createClient() (v3/v4) or new DeepgramClient() (v5+).

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+ or Python 3.10+
• Deepgram account at console.deepgram.com
• API key from Console > Settings > API Keys

Instructions

Step 1: Install SDK

Node.js (v3/v4 — current stable):

bash
npm install @deepgram/sdk
# or
pnpm add @deepgram/sdk

Python:

bash
pip install deepgram-sdk

Step 2: Configure API Key

bash
# Option A: Environment variable (recommended)
export DEEPGRAM_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"

# Option B: .env file (add .env to .gitignore)
echo 'DEEPGRAM_API_KEY=your-api-key-here' >> .env

Never hardcode keys. Use dotenv for local dev, secret managers in production.

Step 3: Initialize Client (TypeScript)

typescript
import { createClient } from '@deepgram/sdk';

// Reads DEEPGRAM_API_KEY from env automatically
const deepgram = createClient(process.env.DEEPGRAM_API_KEY!);

SDK v5+ uses a different constructor:

typescript
import { DeepgramClient } from '@deepgram/sdk';
const deepgram = new DeepgramClient({ apiKey: process.env.DEEPGRAM_API_KEY });

Step 4: Initialize Client (Python)

python
from deepgram import DeepgramClient, PrerecordedOptions, LiveOptions
import os

client = DeepgramClient(os.environ["DEEPGRAM_API_KEY"])

Step 5: Verify Connection

typescript
// TypeScript — list projects to verify key is valid
async function verify() {
  const deepgram = createClient(process.env.DEEPGRAM_API_KEY!);
  const { result, error } = await deepgram.manage.getProjects();
  if (error) {
    console.error('Auth failed:', error.message);
    process.exit(1);
  }
  console.log(`Connected. Projects: ${result.projects.length}`);
  result.projects.forEach(p => console.log(`  - ${p.name} (${p.project_id})`));
}
verify();

python
# Python — verify connection
from deepgram import DeepgramClient
import os

client = DeepgramClient(os.environ["DEEPGRAM_API_KEY"])
response = client.manage.v("1").get_projects()
print(f"Connected. Projects: {len(response.projects)}")
for p in response.projects:
    print(f"  - {p.name} ({p.project_id})")

Step 6: Configure for Production

typescript
// Singleton client with custom options
import { createClient, DeepgramClient } from '@deepgram/sdk';

let client: DeepgramClient | null = null;

export function getDeepgramClient(): DeepgramClient {
  if (!client) {
    const apiKey = process.env.DEEPGRAM_API_KEY;
    if (!apiKey) throw new Error('DEEPGRAM_API_KEY is required');
    client = createClient(apiKey);
  }
  return client;
}

API Key Scopes

| Scope | Permission | Use Case | |-------|-----------|----------| | member | Full access | Development only | | listen | STT transcription | Production transcription services | | speak | TTS synthesis | Voice generation services | | manage | Project management | Admin tools | | usage | Usage data | Monitoring dashboards |

Create scoped keys in Console > Settings > API Keys > Create Key.

Output

• Installed @deepgram/sdk (Node.js) or deepgram-sdk (Python)
• API key configured via environment variable or .env
• Verified connection with project listing
• Singleton client pattern for production use

Error Handling

| Error | Cause | Solution | |-------|-------|----------| | 401 Unauthorized | Invalid or expired API key | Regenerate key in Console > API Keys | | 403 Forbidden | Key lacks required scope | Create new key with correct scopes | | MODULE_NOT_FOUND | SDK not installed | Run npm install @deepgram/sdk | | ENOTFOUND api.deepgram.com | Network/DNS issue | Check internet, verify no proxy blocking | | TypeError: createClient is not a function | SDK v5 installed | Use new DeepgramClient() instead |

Resources

• Deepgram Console
• JavaScript SDK
• Python SDK
• API Key Management
• SDK Feature Matrix

Next Steps

Proceed to deepgram-hello-world for your first transcription.