{"slug": "how-to-batch-transcribe-audio-files-on-your-computer-with-a-local-api-in-2026", "title": "How to Batch-Transcribe Audio Files on Your Computer With a Local API in 2026", "summary": "OGAD (Off Grid AI Desktop) version 0.0.51 exposes a local OpenAI-compatible transcription endpoint at /v1/audio/transcriptions, letting users batch-transcribe WAV files on their own machine with a downloaded local model instead of sending audio to an online service. A provided Bash script iterates over an audio folder, writes one .txt transcript per file, and reports failures without leaving partial output; the endpoint caps uploads at 200 MiB and requires no API key, so the port should stay on a trusted network.", "body_md": "A folder of recordings should not need a separate manual transcription request for every file.\n\nOGAD (Off Grid AI Desktop) exposes local transcription through `/v1/audio/transcriptions`. A small script can send recordings one at a time and save a text file for each. With a downloaded local transcription model selected, the audio is processed on your computer instead of an online transcription service.\n\n[Download OGAD for Mac or Windows](https://getoffgridai.co/desktop/)\n\nInstall OGAD and download a local transcription model in **Models**. Select the local model, then open **Gateway** and check the address. The usual local port is `7878`; change the examples if the app uses another one.\n\nFor multilingual recordings, select a multilingual transcription model. An English-only model is not the right route for a folder of Hindi or Spanish recordings.\n\nThe gateway is part of the core app. You do not need Pro meeting capture to submit existing audio files through this endpoint. Initial model downloads need internet; the configured local transcription route can then work offline.\n\nTry one WAV file first:\n\n```\ncurl --fail --show-error \\\n  http://127.0.0.1:7878/v1/audio/transcriptions \\\n  -F 'file=@./audio/sample.wav' \\\n  -F 'response_format=text'\n```\n\nThe expected result is the transcript text printed in the terminal. Listen to a short section of the original and check the words before processing the folder.\n\nThe following Bash script processes `.wav` files directly inside an `audio` folder. It uses a new output directory and refuses to overwrite an existing one.\n\nSave it as `transcribe-folder.sh`:\n\n``` bash\n#!/usr/bin/env bash\nset -u\nshopt -s nullglob\n\nbase='http://127.0.0.1:7878'\ninput_dir='./audio'\noutput_dir='./transcripts'\nfiles=(\"$input_dir\"/*.wav)\n\nif [ \"${#files[@]}\" -eq 0 ]; then\n  echo 'No WAV files found in ./audio' >&2\n  exit 1\nfi\nif ! mkdir \"$output_dir\"; then\n  echo 'Choose a new output directory before running again.' >&2\n  exit 1\nfi\n\nfailed=0\nfor file in \"${files[@]}\"; do\n  name=$(basename \"$file\" .wav)\n  target=\"$output_dir/$name.txt\"\n  temporary=\"$target.partial\"\n  echo \"Transcribing: $file\"\n  if curl --fail --show-error --silent \\\n      \"$base/v1/audio/transcriptions\" \\\n      -F \"file=@$file\" -F 'response_format=text' \\\n      -o \"$temporary\"; then\n    mv \"$temporary\" \"$target\"\n  else\n    echo \"Failed: $file\" >&2\n    rm -f \"$temporary\"\n    failed=1\n  fi\ndone\nexit \"$failed\"\n```\n\nRun it from the directory that contains `audio`:\n\n```\nbash transcribe-folder.sh\n```\n\nEach successful request becomes a `.txt` file. Failed requests are reported and do not leave a completed transcript under the expected name. Keep the original audio until you have checked the results.\n\nThe released endpoint limits the complete upload request to 200 MiB, including multipart overhead. Leave room below that limit. Split a larger recording into smaller audio files before submitting it.\n\nThis example sends one file at a time. That keeps the batch simple and avoids launching multiple heavy requests merely because the folder has many files. Processing time depends on the selected model, audio length and hardware.\n\nThe text response is a transcript. It does not give this script speaker identities, word timestamps or an SRT subtitle file. Add those only through a separately verified route if your workflow needs them.\n\nNames, technical terms and mixed-language speech still need review. Check important passages against the audio before quoting them in a report.\n\nThe gateway listens on network interfaces and its inference endpoints do not require an API key. These examples use `127.0.0.1` on the same computer. Keep the host on a trusted network and do not expose this port to the public internet.\n\nThese API routes are present in [OGAD 0.0.51](https://github.com/off-grid-ai/OGAD/releases/tag/v0.0.51). The running gateway also serves its API reference at `/docs`.\n\n[Download OGAD](https://getoffgridai.co/desktop/), test one recording and run a small batch. Keep a transcript beside each source file so your notes can become searchable without a cloud AI upload.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/how-to-batch-transcribe-audio-files-on-your-computer-with-a-local-api-in-2026", "canonical_source": "https://dev.to/alichherawalla/how-to-batch-transcribe-audio-files-on-your-computer-with-a-local-api-in-2026-5fon", "published_at": "2026-09-29 10:40:54+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-09-29 10:46:50.062829+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-tools", "natural-language-processing", "ai-products"], "entities": ["OGAD", "Off Grid AI Desktop", "Off Grid AI"], "also_reported_by": [], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/how-to-batch-transcribe-audio-files-on-your-computer-with-a-local-api-in-2026", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/how-to-batch-transcribe-audio-files-on-your-computer-with-a-local-api-in-2026.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/how-to-batch-transcribe-audio-files-on-your-computer-with-a-local-api-in-2026.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/how-to-batch-transcribe-audio-files-on-your-computer-with-a-local-api-in-2026.jsonld"}}