> ## 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.

# Transcribe Multiple Files Simultaneously Using the Python SDK

In this guide, we'll show you how to use the AssemblyAI API to transcribe multiple audio files at once. This guide focuses on demonstrating how to use the AssemblyAI Python SDK to achieve this.

## Quickstart

```python expandable theme={null}
import assemblyai as aai
import threading
import os

aai.settings.api_key = "YOUR_API_KEY"
batch_folder = "audio"
transcription_result_folder = "transcripts"

config = aai.TranscriptionConfig()
transcriber = aai.Transcriber()

def transcribe_audio(audio_file):
    transcriber = aai.Transcriber()
    transcript = transcriber.transcribe(os.path.join(batch_folder, audio_file), config)
    if transcript.status == "completed":
        with open(f"{transcription_result_folder}/{audio_file}.txt", "w") as f:
            f.write(transcript.text)
    elif transcript.status == "error":
        print("Error: ", transcript.error)

threads = []
for filename in os.listdir(batch_folder):
    thread = threading.Thread(target=transcribe_audio, args=(filename,))
    threads.append(thread)
    thread.start()

for thread in threads:
    thread.join()

print("All transcriptions are complete.")
```

## Get Started

Before we begin, make sure you have an AssemblyAI account and an API key. You can [sign up](https://assemblyai.com/dashboard/signup) for a free account and get your API key from your dashboard.

## Step-by-Step Guide

Install the SDK.

```bash theme={null}
pip install -U assemblyai
```

Import the `assemblyai `package and set the API key. Import `threading` and `OS` Python libraries that enable concurrent task processing and file path interactions respectively.

```python theme={null}
import assemblyai as aai
import threading
import os

aai.settings.api_key = "YOUR_API_KEY"
```

Set the folders. The `batch` folder contains the audio files that you want to process and transcribe. The `transcription_result_folder` stores the .txt transcript files.

```python theme={null}
batch_folder = "audio"
transcription_result_folder = "transcripts"
```

Create a `Transcriber` object.

```python theme={null}
transcriber = aai.Transcriber()
```

Function to transcribe an audio file. Once the transcript is complete, a .txt file is generated to the `transcription_result_folder`. If there is an error with the transcription, it will not be processed to the results folder.

```python theme={null}
def transcribe_audio(audio_file):
    config = aai.TranscriptionConfig()
    transcriber = aai.Transcriber()
    transcript = transcriber.transcribe(os.path.join(batch_folder, audio_file), config)
    if transcript.status == "completed":
        with open(f"{transcription_result_folder}/{audio_file}.txt", "w") as f:
            f.write(transcript.text)
    elif transcript.status == "error":
        print("Error: ", transcript.error)
```

Open threads to transcribe each file concurrently. Once all the threads are complete you will receive the "All transcriptions are complete" message in your terminal.

```python theme={null}
threads = []
for filename in os.listdir(batch_folder):
    thread = threading.Thread(target=transcribe_audio, args=(filename,))
    threads.append(thread)
    thread.start()

for thread in threads:
    thread.join()

print("All transcriptions are complete.")
```

## Conclusion

This guide aims to demonstrate how to use AssemblyAI Python SDK to concurrently process multiple audio files at once. The output is transcript text files for each audio file in the specified folder.

Other integrations and features can be built on top of this main function. These include and are not limited to: exporting the file in different formats, adding Core Transcription or Speech Understanding features.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to our Support team at [support@assemblyai.com](mailto:support@assemblyai.com).