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Real-Time Keyword boosting lets you bias the Pulse speech-to-text model toward specific words or phrases — useful for proper nouns, brand names, technical terms, or domain-specific vocabulary that the model might otherwise misrecognize.

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Format

Keywords are passed as a comma-separated string in the keywords query parameter. Each keyword follows the format: 
KEYWORD:INTENSIFIER
PartRequiredDescription
KEYWORDYesThe word or phrase to boost
INTENSIFIERNoA number controlling boost strength. Defaults to 1.0 if omitted

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Intensifier Scale

ValueEffect
1Mild boost (default if omitted)
2-3Moderate boost — good for uncommon proper nouns
4-6Strong boost — for rare terms the model struggles with
7-10Very strong boost — use sparingly, can over-bias results
Higher values create a stronger bias toward that word in the output. Start low and increase if the word still isn’t recognized correctly.

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Enabling Keyword Boosting

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Real-Time WebSocket API

Add the keywords query parameter to your WebSocket connection URL with a comma-separated list of keywords and optional intensifiers.

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Single keyword

const url = new URL("wss://api.smallest.ai/waves/v1/pulse/get_text");
url.searchParams.append("language", "en");
url.searchParams.append("encoding", "linear16");
url.searchParams.append("sample_rate", "16000");
url.searchParams.append("keywords", "NVIDIA:5");

const ws = new WebSocket(url.toString(), {
  headers: {
    Authorization: `Bearer ${API_KEY}`,
  },
});

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Multiple keywords

wss://api.smallest.ai/waves/v1/pulse/get_text?language=en&encoding=linear16&sample_rate=16000&keywords=Hansi:6,Muller:6,CVV:9

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Mix of boosted and default-intensity keywords

wss://api.smallest.ai/waves/v1/pulse/get_text?language=en&encoding=linear16&sample_rate=16000&keywords=CEO:3,NVIDIA:5,Jensen
Jensen with no intensifier defaults to 1.0.

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Examples

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Boost names in a meeting transcript

wss://api.smallest.ai/waves/v1/pulse/get_text?language=en&encoding=linear16&sample_rate=16000&keywords=Jensen:4,NVIDIA:5,Blackwell:6,CUDA:3

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Boost brand names and product terms

wss://api.smallest.ai/waves/v1/pulse/get_text?language=en&encoding=linear16&sample_rate=16000&keywords=Anthropic:5,Claude:4,Sonnet:3

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Limits

  • Max 100 keywords per session
  • Intensifier must be a non-negative number
  • Each keyword must be a string
Start with lower intensifier values (1–3) and increase gradually. Very high values (7–10) can over-bias the model and should be used sparingly.