Hints parameter

To improve post-processing accuracy and better align with user intent, the Smart Formatter now supports a new hints parameter. The hints parameter helps guide formatting by indicating the expected attribute type. This parameter allows the formatter to interpret and structure data more effectively, especially when user input is ambiguous or loosely structured.

Supported values

The hints parameter supports the following values:

date - Format input as a date.
alphanum – Treat input as an alphanumeric string.
number – Format input as a numeric value.
email – Interpret input as an email address.

By specifying a hint, developers can enhance the formatter’s ability to deliver results that more closely match user expectations. For more information on smart formatter, see Smart Formatter.

Enable hints in API calls

To enable hints in API calls, add hints=date or hints=alphanum or hints=number or hints=email parameter to the recognition request.

Example request:

curl -X POST -u "apikey:<apikey>" \
  -H "Content-Type: audio/wav" \
  --data-binary @{path}New_Recording.wav \
  "{url}/v1/recognize?model=en-US&hints=date"

Example response:

text msg received %s {
   "result_index": 0,
   "results": [
      {
         "final": true,
         "alternatives": [
            {
               "transcript": "9/9/88 ",
               "confidence": 0.93
            }
         ]
      }
   ]
}

You can also add the strict attribute along with any hint to remove unwanted context from the output.

Example request:

curl -X POST -u "apikey:<apikey>" \
  -H "Content-Type: audio/wav" \
  --data-binary @{path}New_Recording.wav \
  "{url}/v1/recognize?model=en-US&hints=date,strict"

For example, if the input is My Birthday is on June twenty seven two thousand fourteen, the output with date attribute is My Birthday is on 06/27/2014. The output with both date and strict attributes is 06/27/2014.

Limitations

The hints parameter currently supports only a single language, English (US).