Deepgram Migration Deep Dive

Table of Contents

• Overview

• Prerequisites

• Instructions

• Output

• Error Handling

• Examples

• Resources

Overview

Comprehensive guide for migrating to Deepgram from other transcription providers (AWS Transcribe, Google Cloud STT, Azure Speech, OpenAI Whisper, Rev.ai, AssemblyAI) using an adapter pattern with parallel running and gradual traffic shifting.

Prerequisites

• Current provider SDK and credentials

• Deepgram API key and project configured

• Test audio dataset for comparison

• Monitoring infrastructure ready

Instructions

Step 1: Assessment

Audit current usage (hours/month, features), map features to Deepgram equivalents, and estimate costs.

Step 2: Implement Adapter Pattern

Create a TranscriptionAdapter interface with transcribe() and transcribeFile() methods, then implement both the legacy adapter and DeepgramAdapter .

Step 3: Build Migration Router

Create a MigrationRouter that routes traffic by percentage (0-100%) between providers, with optional parallel comparison mode.

Step 4: Parallel Running & Validation

Run both providers simultaneously, compare results using Jaccard similarity, and verify accuracy meets >= 90% threshold.

Step 5: Gradual Rollout

Shift traffic incrementally: 5% -> 25% (monitor 1 week) -> 50% (monitor 1 week) -> 100%.

Step 6: Cutover & Cleanup

Complete migration, decommission old provider, update documentation.

Output

• TranscriptionAdapter interface and implementations

• MigrationRouter with percentage-based routing

• Validation script with similarity scoring

• Feature mapping tables (AWS/Google -> Deepgram)

• Rollback manager with checkpoint/restore

Error Handling

Issue Cause Resolution

Low similarity scores Feature mismatch Check feature mapping, adjust options

Deepgram latency higher Cold start or model Pre-warm connections, verify model selection

Missing features Incomplete mapping Use Deepgram keywords for custom vocabulary

Rollback needed Quality regression Call emergencyRollback() to set percentage to 0%

Examples

Feature Mapping (AWS -> Deepgram)

• LanguageCode: en-US -> language: "en" (ISO 639-1)

• ShowSpeakerLabels: true -> diarize: true

• VocabularyName: custom -> keywords: ["term:1.5"]

• ContentRedaction -> redact: ["pci", "ssn"]

Migration Checklist

Pre-migration, validation phase, rollout phase (5% -> 25% -> 50% -> 100%), post-migration cleanup.

See detailed implementation for advanced patterns.

Resources

• Deepgram Migration Guide

• Feature Comparison

• Pricing Calculator