Deepgram

Deepgram is a speech-to-text API. In OpenClaw it is used for inbound audio/voice-note transcription through tools.media.audio and for Voice Call streaming STT through plugins.entries.voice-call.config.streaming.

For batch transcription, OpenClaw uploads the complete audio file to Deepgram and injects the transcript into the reply pipeline ({{Transcript}} + [Audio] block). For Voice Call streaming, OpenClaw forwards live G.711 u-law frames over Deepgram's WebSocket listen endpoint and emits partial or final transcripts as Deepgram returns them.

Detail	Value
Website	deepgram.com
Docs	developers.deepgram.com
Auth	`DEEPGRAM_API_KEY`
Default model	`nova-3`

Getting started

Set your API key
Add your Deepgram API key to the environment:
```
DEEPGRAM_API_KEY=dg_...
```

Enable the audio provider

{
  tools: {
    media: {
      audio: {
        enabled: true,
        models: [{ provider: "deepgram", model: "nova-3" }],
      },
    },
  },
}

Send a voice note
Send an audio message through any connected channel. OpenClaw transcribes it via Deepgram and injects the transcript into the reply pipeline.

Configuration options

Option	Path	Description
`model`	`tools.media.audio.models[].model`	Deepgram model id (default: `nova-3`)
`language`	`tools.media.audio.models[].language`	Language hint (optional)
`detect_language`	`tools.media.audio.providerOptions.deepgram.detect_language`	Enable language detection (optional)
`punctuate`	`tools.media.audio.providerOptions.deepgram.punctuate`	Enable punctuation (optional)
`smart_format`	`tools.media.audio.providerOptions.deepgram.smart_format`	Enable smart formatting (optional)

With language hint

{
  tools: {
    media: {
      audio: {
        enabled: true,
        models: [{ provider: "deepgram", model: "nova-3", language: "en" }],
      },
    },
  },
}

With Deepgram options

{
  tools: {
    media: {
      audio: {
        enabled: true,
        providerOptions: {
          deepgram: {
            detect_language: true,
            punctuate: true,
            smart_format: true,
          },
        },
        models: [{ provider: "deepgram", model: "nova-3" }],
      },
    },
  },
}

Voice Call streaming STT

The bundled deepgram plugin also registers a realtime transcription provider for the Voice Call plugin.

Setting	Config path	Default
API key	`plugins.entries.voice-call.config.streaming.providers.deepgram.apiKey`	Falls back to `DEEPGRAM_API_KEY`
Model	`...deepgram.model`	`nova-3`
Language	`...deepgram.language`	(unset)
Encoding	`...deepgram.encoding`	`mulaw`
Sample rate	`...deepgram.sampleRate`	`8000`
Endpointing	`...deepgram.endpointingMs`	`800`
Interim results	`...deepgram.interimResults`	`true`

{
  plugins: {
    entries: {
      "voice-call": {
        config: {
          streaming: {
            enabled: true,
            provider: "deepgram",
            providers: {
              deepgram: {
                apiKey: "${DEEPGRAM_API_KEY}",
                model: "nova-3",
                endpointingMs: 800,
                language: "en-US",
              },
            },
          },
        },
      },
    },
  },
}

NOTE

Voice Call receives telephony audio as 8 kHz G.711 u-law. The Deepgram streaming provider defaults to encoding: "mulaw" and sampleRate: 8000, so Twilio media frames can be forwarded directly.