---
title: "Troubleshooting"
section: "Resources"
order: 0
---

## Real-time translation

### `GET /v1/session` returns `401` or `403`

- `401` — missing or invalid API key. Check the `Authorization: Bearer …`
  header and confirm the key in the
  [Developer Portal](https://portal.startpinch.com/dashboard/developers).
- `403` — the key is valid but isn't entitled to real-time translation.
  Reach out to [support@startpinch.com](mailto:support@startpinch.com).

### `GET /v1/session` returns `503`

Capacity is temporarily exhausted. Retry with a short backoff (e.g. 1 s,
then 2 s). If you see this persistently, let us know at
[support@startpinch.com](mailto:support@startpinch.com) so we can
provision more capacity.

### WebSocket closes with code `4401`

The pre-signed `ws_url` token has expired. Tokens are valid for 60
seconds after `GET /v1/session`; open the socket promptly. On `4401`,
reallocate a new session.

### WebSocket closes with code `4503`

The session ended on the server side. Reallocate a new session via
`GET /v1/session`.

### I sent audio but never got `ready`

`ready` is the first frame from the server. Don't send audio before it
arrives. If `ready` never arrives, the `ws_url` may have expired —
reallocate.

### No transcripts coming back

- Check you're sending **PCM16 little-endian, mono, 16 kHz** on the
  binary channel.
- Check frames aren't empty or silence-only — VAD needs some voiced
  audio to kick off ASR.
- Check the `sourceLanguage` is actually the language being spoken.

### Last sentence doesn't finalise (push-to-talk)

If you stop sending audio the instant the user releases a key, the
server never sees enough trailing silence to finalise the segment. Send
~300 ms of silence (PCM16 zeros) after the user releases push-to-talk.

### Translated audio sounds garbled or slowed

Usually the same root cause as "last sentence doesn't finalise" —
segments stuck in a continuation state get rendered at a slower rate.
Send the 300 ms of trailing silence described above.

### `error` frame — `targetLanguage='xx' is not supported`

The target language you requested isn't in the speech output set. Either
pick a supported output language (see
[Supported languages](/docs/supported-languages)) or pass
`audioOutputEnabled=false` to get transcripts only.

### `error` frame — `voiceType='clone' is not supported yet`

`clone` is not available on the real-time API. Use `male` or `female`.

---

## Dubbing

### Job stuck in `processing`

Dubbing jobs scale with audio duration. A 1-hour file typically finishes
in under 15 minutes; longer waits usually mean the upstream media
couldn't be fetched. Check the job's `error` field and confirm the
`source_url` is publicly reachable.

### `400` from `POST /api/dubbing/jobs`

Most commonly: `source_url` can't be fetched, unsupported media
container, or the source language isn't supported. The response body
names the specific field.

---

## Still stuck?

Email [support@startpinch.com](mailto:support@startpinch.com) with your
`session_id` (for real-time) or job ID (for dubbing) and a short
description of what you're seeing.