Python SDK

The official Python SDK provides a convenient way to interact with the Sully.ai API from your Python applications. It includes type hints, Pydantic models for response validation, and supports both synchronous and asynchronous usage.

Installation

Install the SDK using pip:

pip install sullyai

Quick Setup

Environment Variables

Set your API credentials as environment variables:

export SULLY_API_KEY="your-api-key"
export SULLY_ACCOUNT_ID="your-account-id"

Initialize the Client

from sullyai import SullyAI

# Client automatically reads from environment variables
client = SullyAI()

# Or pass credentials explicitly
client = SullyAI(
    api_key="your-api-key",
    account_id="your-account-id"
)

Sync vs Async

The SDK provides both synchronous and asynchronous clients to fit your application’s needs.

Synchronous Client

Use SullyAI for standard synchronous operations:

from sullyai import SullyAI

client = SullyAI()

# Make synchronous API calls
transcription = client.audio.transcriptions.create(
    audio=open("recording.mp3", "rb")
)

Asynchronous Client

Use AsyncSullyAI for async applications with asyncio:

import asyncio
from sullyai import AsyncSullyAI

async def main():
    client = AsyncSullyAI()

    # Make async API calls
    transcription = await client.audio.transcriptions.create(
        audio=open("recording.mp3", "rb")
    )

    print(transcription.transcription_id)

asyncio.run(main())

Audio Transcriptions

Upload a File

Submit an audio file for transcription:

from sullyai import SullyAI

client = SullyAI()

# Upload an audio file
with open("patient-visit.mp3", "rb") as audio_file:
    transcription = client.audio.transcriptions.create(
        audio=audio_file
    )

print(f"Transcription ID: {transcription.transcription_id}")

Poll for Completion

Audio transcription is an asynchronous process. Poll until it completes: Synchronous polling:

import time
from sullyai import SullyAI

client = SullyAI()

# Upload the file
with open("patient-visit.mp3", "rb") as audio_file:
    transcription = client.audio.transcriptions.create(audio=audio_file)

# Poll until complete
while True:
    result = client.audio.transcriptions.retrieve(transcription.transcription_id)

    if result.status == "STATUS_SUCCEEDED":
        print(f"Transcription: {result.payload.transcription}")
        break
    elif result.status == "STATUS_ERROR":
        raise Exception("Transcription failed")

    time.sleep(2)

Asynchronous polling:

import asyncio
from sullyai import AsyncSullyAI

async def transcribe_audio(file_path: str) -> str:
    client = AsyncSullyAI()

    # Upload the file
    with open(file_path, "rb") as audio_file:
        transcription = await client.audio.transcriptions.create(audio=audio_file)

    # Poll until complete
    while True:
        result = await client.audio.transcriptions.retrieve(transcription.transcription_id)

        if result.status == "STATUS_SUCCEEDED":
            return result.payload.transcription
        elif result.status == "STATUS_ERROR":
            raise Exception("Transcription failed")

        await asyncio.sleep(2)

# Run the async function
transcript = asyncio.run(transcribe_audio("patient-visit.mp3"))

Delete a Transcription

Remove a transcription when no longer needed:

client.audio.transcriptions.delete(transcription_id="tr_abc123")

Notes

Create a SOAP Note

Generate a SOAP note from a transcript:

from sullyai import SullyAI

client = SullyAI()

note = client.notes.create(
    transcript="Patient reports headache for 3 days. Pain is moderate, located in frontal region. No nausea or visual disturbances. Recommending OTC pain relief and follow-up if symptoms persist.",
    note_type={"type": "soap"}
)

print(f"Note ID: {note.note_id}")

Create with Context

Provide additional context to improve note quality:

from sullyai import SullyAI

client = SullyAI()

note = client.notes.create(
    transcript="Patient reports headache for 3 days...",
    note_type={"type": "soap"},
    date="2024-01-15",
    patient_info={
        "name": "Jane Doe",
        "date_of_birth": "1985-03-22",
        "gender": "female"
    },
    medication_list=[
        {"name": "Lisinopril", "dosage": "10mg", "frequency": "daily"},
        {"name": "Metformin", "dosage": "500mg", "frequency": "twice daily"}
    ],
    instructions=[
        "Include vital signs in assessment",
        "Note any medication interactions"
    ]
)

Retrieve a Note

Poll for the completed note:

import time
from sullyai import SullyAI

client = SullyAI()

# Create the note
note = client.notes.create(
    transcript="Patient visit transcript...",
    note_type={"type": "soap"}
)

# Poll until complete
while True:
    result = client.notes.retrieve(note.note_id)

    if result.status == "STATUS_SUCCEEDED":
        print(f"Markdown: {result.payload.markdown}")
        print(f"JSON: {result.payload.json}")
        break
    elif result.status == "STATUS_ERROR":
        raise Exception("Note generation failed")

    time.sleep(2)

Response Handling

Pydantic Models

All API responses are returned as Pydantic models with full type hints:

from sullyai import SullyAI

client = SullyAI()

transcription = client.audio.transcriptions.create(
    audio=open("recording.mp3", "rb")
)

# Access typed attributes
print(transcription.transcription_id)  # str
print(transcription.status)            # str

Serialization Methods

Convert responses to different formats:

# Convert to JSON string
json_str = transcription.to_json()

# Convert to dictionary
data_dict = transcription.to_dict()

Distinguishing Null vs Missing Fields

Use model_fields_set to check which fields were explicitly returned:

result = client.notes.retrieve(note_id)

# Check if a field was in the response
if "payload" in result.model_fields_set:
    # Field was present (even if None)
    print(result.payload)
else:
    # Field was not in the response
    print("Payload not yet available")

Error Handling

The SDK raises specific exceptions for different error conditions:

from sullyai import SullyAI
from sullyai.errors import (
    APIError,
    AuthenticationError,
    RateLimitError,
    BadRequestError,
    NotFoundError,
    APIConnectionError
)

client = SullyAI()

try:
    note = client.notes.retrieve("invalid-id")
except AuthenticationError:
    print("Invalid API key or account ID")
except RateLimitError as e:
    print(f"Rate limited. Retry after: {e.retry_after}")
except BadRequestError as e:
    print(f"Invalid request: {e.message}")
except NotFoundError:
    print("Resource not found")
except APIConnectionError:
    print("Failed to connect to Sully API")
except APIError as e:
    print(f"API error: {e.status_code} - {e.message}")

Exception Classes

Exception	Description
`APIError`	Base class for all API errors
`AuthenticationError`	Invalid or missing API credentials
`RateLimitError`	Too many requests; includes `retry_after`
`BadRequestError`	Invalid request parameters
`NotFoundError`	Requested resource does not exist
`APIConnectionError`	Network connectivity issues

Automatic Retries

The SDK automatically retries failed requests with exponential backoff. By default, it attempts 2 retries for transient errors (network issues, 5xx errors).

from sullyai import SullyAI

# Use default retry behavior (2 attempts)
client = SullyAI()

# Customize max retries
client = SullyAI(max_retries=5)

# Disable retries
client = SullyAI(max_retries=0)

Timeouts

Configure timeouts to control how long the client waits for responses.

Global Timeout

Set a default timeout for all requests:

from sullyai import SullyAI

# Timeout in seconds
client = SullyAI(timeout=30.0)

Per-Request Timeout

Override the timeout for individual requests:

# This request has a longer timeout for large files
transcription = client.audio.transcriptions.create(
    audio=large_audio_file,
    timeout=120.0
)

Introduction

SDKs

Installation

Quick Setup

Environment Variables

Initialize the Client

Sync vs Async

Synchronous Client

Asynchronous Client

Audio Transcriptions

Upload a File

Poll for Completion

Delete a Transcription

Notes

Create a SOAP Note

Create with Context

Retrieve a Note

Response Handling

Pydantic Models

Serialization Methods

Distinguishing Null vs Missing Fields

Error Handling

Exception Classes

Automatic Retries

Timeouts

Global Timeout

Per-Request Timeout

Next Steps

Audio Transcription Guide

Error Handling Guide

Introduction

SDKs

Documentation Index

​Installation

​Quick Setup

​Environment Variables

​Initialize the Client

​Sync vs Async

​Synchronous Client

​Asynchronous Client

​Audio Transcriptions

​Upload a File

​Poll for Completion

​Delete a Transcription

​Notes

​Create a SOAP Note

​Create with Context

​Retrieve a Note

​Response Handling

​Pydantic Models

​Serialization Methods

​Distinguishing Null vs Missing Fields

​Error Handling

​Exception Classes

​Automatic Retries

​Timeouts

​Global Timeout

​Per-Request Timeout

​Next Steps

Audio Transcription Guide

Error Handling Guide

Installation

Quick Setup

Environment Variables

Initialize the Client

Sync vs Async

Synchronous Client

Asynchronous Client

Audio Transcriptions

Upload a File

Poll for Completion

Delete a Transcription

Notes

Create a SOAP Note

Create with Context

Retrieve a Note

Response Handling

Pydantic Models

Serialization Methods

Distinguishing Null vs Missing Fields

Error Handling

Exception Classes

Automatic Retries

Timeouts

Global Timeout

Per-Request Timeout

Next Steps