Keyterm Prompting

Keyterm Prompting allows you to improve Keyword Recall Rate (KRR) for important keyterms or phrases up to 90%.

keyterm string

Instantly increase accuracy and recognition of up to 100 important terminology, product and company names, industry jargon, phrases and more.

Keyterm Prompting is only available for English transcription using the Nova-3 Model. To boost recognition of keywords using another Deepgram model, use the Keywords feature.

Enable Feature

To enable Keyterm Prompting, add a keyterm parameter in the query string and set it to your chosen key term:

keyterm=KEYTERM

To transcribe audio from a file on your computer, run the following cURL command in a terminal or your favorite API client.

cURL
$curl \
> --request POST \
> --header 'Authorization: Token YOUR_DEEPGRAM_API_KEY' \
> --header 'Content-Type: audio/wav' \
> --data-binary @youraudio.wav \
> --url 'https://api.deepgram.com/v1/listen?model=nova-3&keyterm=KEYTERM'

Replace YOUR_DEEPGRAM_API_KEY with your Deepgram API Key.

Using Multiple Keyterms

A space must be properly URL-encoded to ensure compatibility. Both %20 and + are valid encodings, but their usage depends on context. In URL paths, spaces must be encoded as %20, while in query parameters, either %20 or + can be used.

You can pass in multiple keywords in your query string in several ways:

Repeat the keyterm parameter for each keyterm to ensure each keyterm is processed individually.

cURL
$curl \
> --request POST \
> --header 'Authorization: Token YOUR_DEEPGRAM_API_KEY' \
> --header 'Content-Type: audio/wav' \
> --data-binary @youraudio.wav \
> --url "https://api.deepgram.com/v1/listen?model=nova-3&keyterm=KEYTERM1&keyterm=KEYTERM2"

Use an encoded space %20 to separate each keyterm and combine multiple keyterms into a single space-delimited value and boost an entire phrase as a cohesive unit.

cURL
$curl \
> --request POST \
> --header 'Authorization: Token YOUR_DEEPGRAM_API_KEY' \
> --header 'Content-Type: audio/wav' \
> --data-binary @youraudio.wav \
> --url "https://api.deepgram.com/v1/listen?model=nova-3&keyterm=term1%20term2"

Use a plus + to separate each keyterm and combine multiple keyterms into a single space-delimited value and boost an entire phrase as a cohesive unit.

cURL
$curl \
> --request POST \
> --header 'Authorization: Token YOUR_DEEPGRAM_API_KEY' \
> --header 'Content-Type: audio/wav' \
> --data-binary @youraudio.wav \
> --url "https://api.deepgram.com/v1/listen?model=nova-3&keyterm=term1+term2"

Case Sensitivity and Formatting

Keyterms preserve formatting (including case and punctuation) which can help control how proper nouns, product names, or company names are transcribed. The model will use both the keyterm formatting and the audio context to determine the final transcription format.

Best practices for keyterm formatting:

  • For proper nouns (names, brands, titles): Use appropriate capitalization (Deepgram, iPhone, Dr. Smith)
  • For non-proper nouns: Use lowercase (tretinoin, algorithm, protocol)

When smart formatting is applied to the transcript, words that start sentences may be automatically capitalized regardless of keyterm formatting.

Note that while the model was trained with formatted keyterms, the final transcription may not always exactly match the keyterm’s formatting. The model balances the keyterm information with the audio context when determining capitalization and punctuation in the output.

Example Using Key Terms

SourceConfidence Score beforeConfidence Score after
nacho stack double crunch taco"word": "macho", "confidence": 0.88728034"word": "nacho", "confidence": 0.99029267

Key Term Limits

Key Terms are limited to 500 tokens per request; anything beyond that will return an error like so:

Error
Keyterm limit exceeded. The maximum number of tokens across all keyterms is 500.
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