> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://assemblyai.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Transcript Status

After you've submitted a file for transcription, your transcript has one of the following statuses:

| Status       | Description                                                                                                                                                                                              |
| ------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `processing` | The audio file is being processed.                                                                                                                                                                       |
| `queued`     | The audio file is waiting to be processed. This status is only returned when a job is actually queued, such as when you've exceeded your rate limit. Otherwise, transcripts go directly to `processing`. |
| `completed`  | The transcription has completed successfully.                                                                                                                                                            |
| `error`      | An error occurred while processing the audio file.                                                                                                                                                       |

## Handling errors

If the transcription fails, the status of the transcript is `error`, and the transcript includes an `error` property explaining what went wrong.

<CodeGroup>
  ```python title="Python SDK" highlight={12-14}  theme={null}
  import assemblyai as aai

  aai.settings.api_key = "<YOUR_API_KEY>"

  # audio_file = "./local_file.mp3"
  audio_file = "https://assembly.ai/wildfires.mp3"

  config = aai.TranscriptionConfig(
    speech_models=["universal-3-pro", "universal-2"],
    language_detection=True
  )

  transcript = aai.Transcriber().transcribe(audio_file, config)

  if transcript.status == aai.TranscriptStatus.error:
      print(f"Transcription failed: {transcript.error}")
      exit(1)

  print(transcript.text)
  ```

  ```python title="Python" highlight={34-35}  expandable theme={null}
  import requests
  import time

  base_url = "https://api.assemblyai.com"

  headers = {
      "authorization": "<YOUR_API_KEY>"
  }

  with open("./my-audio.mp3", "rb") as f:
    response = requests.post(base_url + "/v2/upload",
                            headers=headers,
                            data=f)

  upload_url = response.json()["upload_url"]

  data = {
      "audio_url": upload_url, # You can also use a URL to an audio or video file on the web
      "speech_models": ["universal-3-pro", "universal-2"],
      "language_detection": True
  }

  url = base_url + "/v2/transcript"
  response = requests.post(url, json=data, headers=headers)

  transcript_id = response.json()['id']
  polling_endpoint = base_url + "/v2/transcript/" + transcript_id

  while True:
    transcription_result = requests.get(polling_endpoint, headers=headers).json()

    if transcription_result['status'] == 'completed':
      print(f"Transcript: {transcription_result['text']}")
      break

    elif transcription_result['status'] == 'error':
      raise RuntimeError(f"Transcription failed: {transcription_result['error']}")

    else:
      time.sleep(3)
  ```

  ```javascript title="JavaScript SDK" highlight={17-20} expandable theme={null}
  import { AssemblyAI } from "assemblyai";

  const client = new AssemblyAI({
    apiKey: "<YOUR_API_KEY>",
  });

  // const audioFile = './local_file.mp3'
  const audioFile = "https://assembly.ai/wildfires.mp3";

  const params = {
    audio: audioFile,
    speech_models: ["universal-3-pro", "universal-2"],
    language_detection: true,
  };

  const run = async () => {
    const transcript = await client.transcripts.transcribe(params);

    if (transcript.status === "error") {
      console.error(`Transcription failed: ${transcript.error}`);
      process.exit(1);
    }

    console.log(transcript.text);
  };

  run();
  ```

  ```javascript title="JavaScript" highlight={36-37}  expandable theme={null}
  import fs from "fs-extra";

  const baseUrl = "https://api.assemblyai.com";

  const headers = {
    authorization: "<YOUR_API_KEY>",
  };

  const path = "./my-audio.mp3";
  const audioData = await fs.readFile(path);
  let res = await fetch(`${baseUrl}/v2/upload`, {
    method: "POST",
    headers,
    body: audioData,
  });
  if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`Error: ${res.status}`);
  const uploadResponse = await res.json();
  const uploadUrl = uploadResponse.upload_url;

  const data = {
    audio_url: uploadUrl, // You can also use a URL to an audio or video file on the web
    speech_models: ["universal-3-pro", "universal-2"],
    language_detection: true,
  };

  const url = `${baseUrl}/v2/transcript`;
  res = await fetch(url, {
    method: "POST",
    headers: { ...headers, "Content-Type": "application/json" },
    body: JSON.stringify(data),
  });
  if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`Error: ${res.status}`);
  const response = await res.json();

  const transcriptId = response.id;
  const pollingEndpoint = `${baseUrl}/v2/transcript/${transcriptId}`;

  while (true) {
    res = await fetch(pollingEndpoint, { headers });
    if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`Error: ${res.status}`);
    const transcriptionResult = await res.json();

    if (transcriptionResult.status === "completed") {
      console.log(transcriptionResult.text);
      break;
    } else if (transcriptionResult.status === "error") {
      throw new Error(`Transcription failed: ${transcriptionResult.error}`);
    } else {
      await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 3000));
    }
  }
  ```
</CodeGroup>

<Note>
  A transcription may fail for various reasons:

  * Unsupported file format
  * Missing audio in file
  * Unreachable audio URL

  If a transcription fails due to a server error, we recommend that you resubmit the file for transcription to allow another server to process the audio.
</Note>

<Accordion title={`Why am I receiving a "400 Bad Request" error when making an API request?`} theme="dark" iconColor="white">
  A "400 Bad Request" error typically indicates that there's a problem with the formatting or content of the API request. Double-check the syntax of your request and ensure that all required parameters are included as described in the [API reference](/api-reference/transcripts). If the issue persists, contact our support team for assistance.
</Accordion>