Skills Development Speak API Integration Patterns Guide

Speak API Integration Patterns Guide

v20260423
speak-sdk-patterns
This guide provides production-ready patterns for integrating the Speak language learning API. It covers managing conversation sessions, performing pronunciation assessment, preprocessing audio files using ffmpeg, implementing robust retry mechanisms (with backoff), and tracking user learning progress. Use this when developing a full-featured, high-reliability language learning application or troubleshooting complex API integrations.
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Overview

Speak SDK Patterns

Overview

Production patterns for Speak language learning API: conversation sessions, pronunciation assessment, audio preprocessing, and batch operations.

Prerequisites

  • Completed speak-install-auth setup
  • Valid API credentials configured
  • ffmpeg installed for audio processing

Instructions

Pattern 1: Conversation Session Manager

class ConversationManager {
  private client: SpeakClient;
  private sessions: Map<string, SessionState> = new Map();

  async startLesson(language: string, scenario: string, level: string) {
    const session = await this.client.startConversation({
      scenario, language, level, nativeLanguage: 'en',
    });
    this.sessions.set(session.id, {
      turns: [], startTime: Date.now(), language,
    });
    return session;
  }

  async submitResponse(sessionId: string, audioPath: string) {
    const turn = await this.client.sendTurn(sessionId, { audioPath });
    this.sessions.get(sessionId)?.turns.push(turn);
    return turn;
  }

  async endAndReport(sessionId: string) {
    const summary = await this.client.endSession(sessionId);
    const state = this.sessions.get(sessionId)!;
    return {
      ...summary,
      duration: (Date.now() - state.startTime) / 1000,
      totalTurns: state.turns.length,
      avgPronunciation: state.turns.reduce((s, t) =>
        s + (t.pronunciationScore || 0), 0) / state.turns.length,
    };
  }
}

Pattern 2: Audio Preprocessor

import { execSync } from 'child_process';

function preprocessAudio(inputPath: string): string {
  const outputPath = inputPath.replace(/\.[^.]+$/, '.processed.wav');
  // Convert to WAV 16kHz mono PCM — required by Speak API
  execSync(
    `ffmpeg -y -i "${inputPath}" -ar 16000 -ac 1 -c:a pcm_s16le "${outputPath}"`,
    { stdio: 'pipe' }
  );
  return outputPath;
}

Pattern 3: Retry with Backoff

async function withRetry<T>(fn: () => Promise<T>, maxRetries = 3): Promise<T> {
  for (let i = 0; i < maxRetries; i++) {
    try {
      return await fn();
    } catch (err: any) {
      if (err.response?.status === 429 && i < maxRetries - 1) {
        const wait = parseInt(err.response.headers['retry-after'] || '5');
        await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, wait * 1000));
        continue;
      }
      throw err;
    }
  }
  throw new Error('Max retries exceeded');
}

Pattern 4: Progress Tracker

class LearningProgress {
  private history: SessionSummary[] = [];

  addSession(summary: SessionSummary) {
    this.history.push(summary);
  }

  getReport() {
    const recent = this.history.slice(-10);
    return {
      totalSessions: this.history.length,
      avgPronunciation: recent.reduce((s, h) => s + h.avgPronunciationScore, 0) / recent.length,
      totalMinutes: this.history.reduce((s, h) => s + h.durationMinutes, 0),
      vocabularyLearned: [...new Set(this.history.flatMap(h => h.newWords))].length,
    };
  }
}

Output

  • Patterns implementation complete
  • Speak API integration verified
  • Production-ready patterns applied

Error Handling

Error Cause Solution
401 Unauthorized Invalid API key Verify SPEAK_API_KEY environment variable
429 Rate Limited Too many requests Wait Retry-After seconds, use backoff
Audio format error Wrong codec/sample rate Convert to WAV 16kHz mono with ffmpeg
Session expired Timeout after 30 min Start a new conversation session

Resources

Next Steps

See speak-prod-checklist for production readiness.

Examples

Basic: Apply sdk patterns with default configuration for a standard Speak integration.

Advanced: Customize for production with error recovery, monitoring, and team-specific requirements.

Info
Category Development
Name speak-sdk-patterns
Version v20260423
Size 3.44KB
Updated At 2026-04-28
Language