Recording
For Customers building HIPAA-compliant workflows with Recordings, we require customers to enforce at least HTTP Authentication. To learn more about building for HIPAA compliance, please visit the latest requirements here.
A Recording resource represents the recording associated with a voice call, conference, or SIP Trunk. Using the Recordings REST API you can fetch, start, stop, pause, resume, and delete voice recordings.
You can initiate a recording for your call, conference, or trunk via one of the following methods.
- <Record> in TwiML
- <Dial record> in TwiML
- <Conference record> in TwiML
- Record=true in an outbound call via the REST API
- Enable recording on an elastic SIP Trunk in the Twilio Console
- Post to Recording resource of an in-progress Call SID
Once a recording is initiated, you can optionally pause, resume, or stop the recording
Recording properties
| Resource Properties in REST API format | |
|---|---|
account_sid
|
The SID of the Account that created the Recording resource. |
api_version
|
The API version used during the recording. |
call_sid
|
The SID of the Call the Recording resource is associated with. This will always refer to the parent leg of a two-leg call. |
conference_sid
|
The Conference SID that identifies the conference associated with the recording, if a conference recording. |
date_created
|
The date and time in GMT that the resource was created specified in RFC 2822 format. |
date_updated
|
The date and time in GMT that the resource was last updated specified in RFC 2822 format. |
start_time
|
The start time of the recording in GMT and in RFC 2822 format. |
duration
|
The length of the recording in seconds. |
sid
|
The unique string that that we created to identify the Recording resource. |
price
|
The one-time cost of creating the recording in the |
price_unit
|
The currency used in the |
status
|
The status of the recording. Can be: |
channels
|
The number of channels in the final recording file. Can be: |
source
|
How the recording was created. Can be: |
error_code
|
The error code that describes why the recording is |
uri
|
The URI of the resource, relative to |
encryption_details
|
How to decrypt the recording if it was encrypted using Call Recording Encryption feature. |
subresource_uris
|
A list of related resources identified by their relative URIs. |
media_url
|
The URL of the media file associated with this recording resource. When stored externally, this is the full URL location of the media file. |
Create a Recording resource
POST https://api.twilio.com/2010-04-01/Accounts/{AccountSid}/Calls/{CallsSid}/Recordings.json
To start a recording on a live call, make an HTTP Post request to the Recordings list resource of an in-progress Call.
Note that the maximum length of the recording can be up to the maximum length of the Call itself.
Legal implications of call recording
If you choose to record voice or video calls, you need to comply with certain laws and regulations, including those regarding obtaining consent to record (such as California’s Invasion of Privacy Act and similar laws in other jurisdictions). Additional information on the legal implications of call recording can be found in the "Legal Considerations with Recording Voice and Video Communications" Help Center article.
Notice: Twilio recommends that you consult with your legal counsel to make sure that you are complying with all applicable laws in connection with communications you record or store using Twilio.
Optional Parameters
The following optional parameters are available for you to POST when starting a recording on a live call:
| Parameters in REST API format | |
|---|---|
account_sid
Path
|
The SID of the Account that will create the resource. |
call_sid
Path
|
The SID of the Call to associate the resource with. |
recording_status_callback_event
Optional
|
The recording status events on which we should call the |
recording_status_callback
Optional
|
The URL we should call using the |
recording_status_callback_method
Optional
|
The HTTP method we should use to call |
trim
Optional
|
Whether to trim any leading and trailing silence in the recording. Can be: |
recording_channels
Optional
|
The number of channels used in the recording. Can be: |
recording_track
Optional
|
The audio track to record for the call. Can be: |
RecordingStatusCallback
Twilio will pass the following parameters with its request to your RecordingStatusCallback URL:
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| AccountSid | The unique identifier of the Account responsible for this recording. |
| CallSid | A unique identifier for the call associated with the recording. |
| RecordingSid | The unique identifier for the recording. |
| RecordingUrl | The URL of the recorded audio. |
| RecordingStatus | The status of the recording. Possible values are: in-progress, completed, absent. |
| RecordingDuration | The length of the recording, in seconds (only provided when RecordingStatus is completed). |
| RecordingChannels | The number of channels in the final recording file as an integer. Possible values are 1, 2. |
| RecordingStartTime | The timestamp of when the recording started. |
| RecordingSource | The initiation method used to create this recording. For recordings initiated with this API, the value will be StartCallRecordingAPI. |
| RecordingTrack | The audio track recorded. Possible values are inbound, outbound or both. |
Fetch a Recording Resource
You can fetch a Recording Resource's metadata or you can fetch a WAV or MP3 media file of the Recording.
Fetch Recording Resource's metadata
GET https://api.twilio.com/2010-04-01/Accounts/{AccountSid}/Recordings/{Sid}.json
A Recording Resource's metadata can be returned in JSON or XML format.
- For JSON format, append
.jsonto the Recording Resource's URI. - For XML format, append
.xmlto the Recording Resource's URI.
The table below lists the parameters for fetching a Recording Resource's metadata.
| Parameters in REST API format | |
|---|---|
account_sid
Path
|
The SID of the Account that created the Recording resource to fetch. |
sid
Path
|
The Twilio-provided string that uniquely identifies the Recording resource to fetch. |
include_soft_deleted
Optional
|
A boolean parameter indicating whether to retrieve soft deleted recordings or not. Recordings metadata are kept after deletion for a retention period of 40 days. |
Fetch a Recording's media file
GET https://api.twilio.com/2010-04-01/Accounts/{AccountSid}/Recordings/{Sid}.mp3
You can fetch a Recording's media file by appending .wav or .mp3 to the Recording Resource's URI.
It’s only possible to fetch a Recording's media file when the Recording's status is completed and the media is stored at Twilio.
If the media associated with a Recording Resource is not available/was deleted/was uploaded to external storage, the request returns Not Found.
WAV
Without an extension, or with a ".wav", a binary WAV audio file is returned with mime-type "audio/x-wav". For example:
GET https://api.twilio.com/2010-04-01/Accounts/ACXXXXX.../Recordings/RE557ce644e5ab84fa21cc21112e22c485
WAV files have a bitrate of 128kbps
MP3
Appending ".mp3" to the URI returns a binary MP3 audio file with mime-type type "audio/mpeg". For example:
GET https://api.twilio.com/2010-04-01/Accounts/ACXXXXX.../Recordings/RE557ce644e5ab84fa21cc21112e22c485.mp3
MP3 files have a bitrate of 32kbps
Download dual-channel media file
Call recordings are stored at Twilio in dual-channel by default. The media file associated with the recording resource of a two-party call has two channels and contains the audio from each call leg in a separate channel. The RequestedChannels query parameter can be used to specify whether the file should be downmixed to a single channel or if the file should be downloaded in its original, dual-channel format.
For backward compatibility, if the RequestedChannels query parameter is not specified, the downloaded file's format will be the format that was specified when the recording was created.
For voice recordings in which dual-channel is not supported, like those created with <Conference> or <Record>, all audio from a recording will be saved in a single channel file. If a dual-channel recording is explicitly requested for download in these instances, the response will be Not Found.
Example: Download MP3 media in dual-channel format
Append .mp3?RequestedChannels=2 to your Recording's URL
GET https://api.twilio.com/2010-04-01/Accounts/ACXXXXX.../Recordings/RE557ce644e5ab84fa21cc21112e22c485.mp3?RequestedChannels=2Example: Download WAV media in dual-channel format
Append .wav?RequestedChannels=2 to your Recording's URL
GET https://api.twilio.com/2010-04-01/Accounts/ACXXXXX.../Recordings/RE557ce644e5ab84fa21cc21112e22c485.wav?RequestedChannels=2Fetch a Recording's Transcriptions
Each Recording instance resource has a Transcriptions subresource which represents the set of transcriptions generated from the recording (if any):
GET https://api.twilio.com/2010-04-01/Accounts/{AccountSid}/Recordings/{RecordingSid}/Transcriptions
This will return the set of transcriptions available for the recording identified by {RecordingSid}. See the Transcriptions resource documentation for properties and response formats.
Read multiple Recording Resources
GET https://api.twilio.com/2010-04-01/Accounts/{AccountSid}/Recordings.json
This API call returns a list of Recordings, each representing a recording generated during a call or conference for the given account. The list returned includes paging information.
The list of Recordings is protected by your account credentials like most parts of this API. You must use HTTP basic auth to access the Recordings list resource.
You can also get a list of Recordings from a specific call or conference by including the call or conference SID in your request like so:
GET https://api.twilio.com/2010-04-01/Accounts/{AccountSid}/Calls/{CallSid}/Recordings.json
GET https://api.twilio.com/2010-04-01/Accounts/{AccountSid}/Conferences/{ConferenceSid}/Recordings.json
Parameters
| Parameters in REST API format | |
|---|---|
account_sid
Path
|
The SID of the Account that created the Recording resources to read. |
date_created
Optional
|
Only include recordings that were created on this date. Specify a date as |
call_sid
Optional
|
The Call SID of the resources to read. |
conference_sid
Optional
|
The Conference SID that identifies the conference associated with the recording to read. |
include_soft_deleted
Optional
|
A boolean parameter indicating whether to retrieve soft deleted recordings or not. Recordings metadata are kept after deletion for a retention period of 40 days. |
Examples
Update a Recording resource
POST https://api.twilio.com/2010-04-01/Accounts/{AccountSid}/Calls/{CallSid}/Recordings/{Sid}.json
POST https://api.twilio.com/2010-04-01/Accounts/{AccountSid}/Conferences/{ConferenceSid}/Recordings/{Sid}.json
An active call or conference recording can be paused and resumed. Additionally, an active call recording can be stopped which will end the recording immediately. (stopped not supported for conference recordings)
Parameters
| Parameters in REST API format | |
|---|---|
account_sid
Path
|
The SID of the Account that created the Recording resource to update. |
call_sid
Path
|
The Call SID of the resource to update. |
sid
Path
|
The Twilio-provided string that uniquely identifies the Recording resource to update. |
status
Required
|
The new status of the recording. Can be: |
pause_behavior
Optional
|
Whether to record during a pause. Can be: |
Examples:
Note in examples below that the API responses for updates to the recording resource will provide a more detailed inflight 'status' including paused, in-progress, or stopped but a fetch on the recording resource will only show processing or completed.
In the following two examples, note the use of Twilio.CURRENT to reference the currently active recording without requiring an explicit Recording SID.
Twilio.CURRENT can be used for pause, resume, or stop actions on calls with only one active recording.
Note that if your use case has multiple or concurrent recordings for a call or conference, you will need to use the Recording SID to reference the correct one. Using Twilio.CURRENT to reference a recording on a resource that has multiple recordings will result in an error that the request failed because there is more than one recording for the given Call.
Delete a Recording resource
DELETE https://api.twilio.com/2010-04-01/Accounts/{AccountSid}/Recordings/{Sid}.json
Deletes a recording from your account. Once the recording is deleted:
- You will no longer be billed for storage of those minutes
- The recording is set to a status of
deleted - The metadata is preserved for a period of 40 days, during which time the metadata is still visible in the Console and API.
- The recording media cannot be recovered.
If successful, DELETE returns HTTP 204 (No Content) with no body.
Please note that only completed recordings can be deleted. Recordings with any other status are not available for deletion.
| Parameters in REST API format | |
|---|---|
account_sid
Path
|
The SID of the Account that created the Recording resources to delete. |
sid
Path
|
The Twilio-provided string that uniquely identifies the Recording resource to delete. |
To to delete a large set of Voice Recordings, you can use the bulk deletion capabilities available in the Twilio Console.
Example:
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