Deepgram Async MCP Server

Remote MCP server for Deepgram Async Speech-to-Text API with webhook relay support. Transcribe long audio and video files asynchronously - perfect for marketers transcribing hour-long videos and podcasts without timeout issues.

Why This Server?

Problem: Claude MCP Connect has a 10-second timeout, but long videos take minutes to transcribe.

Solution: True async processing with polling:

1. Submit transcription job (returns immediately with request_id)

2. Deepgram processes in background

3. Results stored in webhook relay (Cloudflare Worker)

4. Poll every 30 seconds until ready

5. Get full transcript with all features

Architecture

Your AI → MCP Server → Deepgram API (async)
                          ↓
                    Webhook Relay (Cloudflare Worker + KV Storage)
                          ↑
         MCP Server ← Poll for results

Features

Two MCP Tools

1. submit_transcription_job - Send audio/video URLs for async transcription

   • ✅ Handles 1-hour+ videos without timeout

   • ✅ Speaker diarization (detect different speakers)

   • ✅ Smart formatting and punctuation

   • ✅ Sentiment analysis

   • ✅ Topic detection

   • ✅ Entity extraction (names, places, brands)

   • ✅ Summarization

   • ✅ Multi-language support

   • ✅ Multiple AI models (Nova-3, Nova-2, Whisper)

2. check_job_status - Retrieve transcription results when ready

   • ✅ Poll for job completion

   • ✅ Get full transcription with all requested features

   • ✅ Automatic fallback to Deepgram Management API

3. test_deepgram_connection - Verify setup is working

Prerequisites

1. Deepgram API key (Get one here)

2. Webhook Relay (Cloudflare Worker) - Required!

3. Smithery account for deployment

Quick Start

Step 1: Deploy Webhook Relay

See the complete guide: SETUP_GUIDE.md

Quick version:

cd deepgram-webhook-relay
npm install -g wrangler
wrangler login
wrangler kv:namespace create TRANSCRIPTS
# Update wrangler.toml with KV namespace ID
wrangler deploy

You'll get a URL like: https://deepgram-webhook-relay.YOUR_SUBDOMAIN.workers.dev

Step 2: Deploy MCP Server to Smithery

1. Push this repo to GitHub

2. Go to Smithery

3. Connect your GitHub repository

4. Smithery will auto-deploy

Step 3: Configure

Provide these values in Smithery:

{
  "deepgramApiKey": "your-deepgram-api-key",
  "webhookUrl": "https://your-worker.workers.dev/callback"
}

Step 4: Use in Claude

System Prompt:

When transcribing audio/video:
1. Use submit_transcription_job to start
2. Get the request_id from response
3. Wait 30 seconds (use sleep tool)
4. Use check_job_status with request_id
5. If "Still Processing", repeat steps 3-4
6. When "Complete", present the transcript

Example:

User: Transcribe this podcast: https://example.com/podcast.mp4

AI: I'll transcribe that for you.
[Uses submit_transcription_job]
Job submitted! Request ID: abc123
[Waits 30s]
[Uses check_job_status]
Still processing...
[Waits 30s]
[Uses check_job_status]
✅ Complete! Here's the transcript: ...

Configuration

Required

• deepgramApiKey: Your Deepgram API key (must have Member role or higher)

• webhookUrl: Your Cloudflare Worker callback URL (e.g., https://your-worker.workers.dev/callback)

Optional

• projectId: Your Deepgram project ID (auto-detected if not provided)

API Key Requirements

⚠️ Important: Your Deepgram API key must have Member role or higher.

Required permissions:

• project:write - Submit transcription jobs

• project:read - Auto-detect project ID (optional if you provide projectId)

• usage:read - Check job status via Management API

How to create a proper API key:

1. Go to Deepgram Console

2. Navigate to API Keys

3. Click Create a New API Key

4. Select Member role (or Admin/Owner)

5. Copy the key and use it in your configuration

See API_PERMISSIONS.md for detailed troubleshooting.

Usage Examples

Basic Transcription

Tool: submit_transcription_job
Parameters:
  url: "https://example.com/video.mp4"
  smart_format: true
  punctuate: true

Marketing Use Case (Full Features)

Tool: submit_transcription_job
Parameters:
  url: "https://example.com/podcast.mp4"
  diarize: true              # Detect speakers
  smart_format: true         # Professional formatting
  punctuate: true            # Add punctuation
  paragraphs: true           # Split into paragraphs
  sentiment: true            # Analyze sentiment
  topics: true               # Detect topics
  detect_entities: true      # Extract names, brands
  summarize: true            # Generate summary
  model: "nova-3"            # Latest model

Check Status

Tool: check_job_status
Parameters:
  request_id: "abc123-def456-..."

Processing Times

Typical processing times (varies by file length and complexity):

• 5-minute video: 30-60 seconds

• 30-minute video: 1-2 minutes

• 1-hour video: 2-3 minutes

• 2-hour podcast: 5-8 minutes

Recommendation: Poll every 30 seconds to balance responsiveness and API usage.

Troubleshooting

"Webhook relay unreachable"

1. Verify Cloudflare Worker is deployed: wrangler deployments list

2. Test manually: curl https://your-worker.workers.dev/health

3. Check webhook URL in configuration is correct

"Transcript not found"

1. Job may still be processing - wait 30s and try again

2. Check request_id is correct

3. Transcripts expire after 7 days in webhook relay

"403 Forbidden"

1. API key lacks permissions - must be Member role or higher

2. See API_PERMISSIONS.md for detailed guide

"Failed to submit transcription job"

1. Verify audio URL is publicly accessible

2. Check Deepgram account has credits

3. Ensure file format is supported (MP3, WAV, MP4, etc.)

Complete Documentation

• SETUP_GUIDE.md - Step-by-step deployment guide

• API_PERMISSIONS.md - API key permissions and troubleshooting

• DEPLOYMENT.md - Smithery deployment details

• deepgram-webhook-relay/README.md - Webhook relay documentation

Project Structure

deepgram-mcp-server/          # MCP server (this directory)
├── src/
│   ├── index.ts              # Main MCP server
│   └── deepgram-client.ts    # Deepgram API client
├── package.json
├── smithery.yaml
└── README.md

deepgram-webhook-relay/       # Cloudflare Worker
├── worker.js                 # Webhook relay logic
├── wrangler.toml            # Cloudflare config
└── README.md

Costs

Deepgram (Pay-as-you-go)

• Nova-3: $0.0043/minute

• 1-hour video = ~$0.26

• Pricing details

Cloudflare (Free Tier)

• 100,000 requests/day

• 1 GB KV storage

• More than enough for most use cases

Smithery (Free Tier)

• Generous free tier for MCP servers

• Pricing details

Support

• Setup Issues: See SETUP_GUIDE.md

• API Permissions: See API_PERMISSIONS.md

• Deepgram: https://developers.deepgram.com

• Smithery: https://smithery.ai/docs

Related Projects

This MCP server works with other async tools:

• Klap (video editing)

• Rendi (video rendering)

• Any service with async processing + callbacks

License

MIT

Contributing

Pull requests welcome! Please ensure:

1. TypeScript compiles without errors

2. Smithery build succeeds

3. Documentation is updated

Changelog

v2.0.0 (Current)

• ✅ True async processing with webhook relay

• ✅ Cloudflare Worker for transcript storage

• ✅ Polling support for long videos

• ✅ Handles 1-hour+ content without timeout

v1.0.0

• Initial release with basic async support