# Jitsi transcription or subtitles not working

> service-unavailable means Jigasi is running as a SIP gateway: set JIGASI_MODE=transcriber. 'SASLError SCRAM-SHA-1 not-authorized' in the Jigasi log means JIGASI_TRANSCRIBER_PASSWORD is missing: set it and restart Prosody. Transcripts with no speech mean Jigasi is not reaching Vosk: the property is org.jitsi.jigasi.transcription.vosk.websocket_url, with an underscore.

Source: https://jitsi.help/troubleshooting/jitsi-transcription-not-working/
Updated: September 26, 2026
Publisher: Jitsi Help (https://jitsi.help/)

These are the three failures we hit ourselves when building free Vosk transcription into our platform. Each has a distinct symptom, so you can go straight to the right fix.

Check the logs first:

```bash
docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f jigasi.yml -f jigasi-override.yml -f vosk.yml logs --tail 200 jigasi vosk
```

## Symptom 1: service-unavailable when enabling subtitles

**Cause:** the stock `jigasi.yml` hardcodes `JIGASI_MODE=sip`. As a SIP gateway, Jigasi never answers Jicofo's transcription requests.

**Fix:** override the mode.

```yaml
# jigasi-override.yml
services:
  jigasi:
    environment:
      - JIGASI_MODE=transcriber
      - JIGASI_TRANSCRIBER_PASSWORD
```

```bash
docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f jigasi.yml -f jigasi-override.yml -f vosk.yml up -d jigasi
```

## Symptom 2: "SASLError using SCRAM-SHA-1: not-authorized"

**Cause:** Jigasi joins as `transcriber@hidden.meet.jitsi`, and `JIGASI_TRANSCRIBER_PASSWORD` was never set, so it logs in with an empty password. The base `jigasi.yml` does not even pass the variable to the container.

**Fix:** set it and restart **Prosody**, which creates the account on start:

```ini
JIGASI_TRANSCRIBER_PASSWORD=a-long-random-password
```

```bash
docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f jigasi.yml -f jigasi-override.yml -f vosk.yml restart prosody jigasi
```

## Symptom 3: transcripts with join events but no words

**Cause:** Jigasi is not talking to Vosk. The Docker init scripts do not write the `JIGASI_SIP_COMMUNICATOR_PROP_*` variables into the properties file in transcriber mode, and the Vosk property is easy to misspell. Jigasi reads `vosk.websocket_url` with an underscore; `vosk.websocket.url` is silently ignored and Jigasi tries `localhost`, where nothing is listening.

**Fix:** mount a properties file with the correct name:

```properties
# config/jigasi/custom-sip-communicator.properties
org.jitsi.jigasi.transcription.customService=org.jitsi.jigasi.transcription.VoskTranscriptionService
org.jitsi.jigasi.transcription.vosk.websocket_url=ws://vosk:2700
org.jitsi.jigasi.transcription.DIRECTORY=/config/transcripts
org.jitsi.jigasi.transcription.SAVE_TXT=true
```

## Symptom 4: Vosk keeps restarting

**Cause:** not enough memory. The English model needs several GB on its own.

**Fix:** use a server with at least 16 GB of RAM. On AWS a t3.xlarge works; a c5.xlarge with 8 GB does not.

## Symptom 5: captions work, but no transcript file

Check that `/config/transcripts` exists inside the Jigasi container and is mapped to a host folder, and that `SAVE_TXT=true` is set. Transcripts are written when the meeting ends.

## Full setup

The complete, working configuration is in [free self-hosted transcription with Jigasi and Vosk](/guides/jitsi-transcription-vosk/). If you would rather not debug it, our [transcription service](/services/jitsi-transcription/) sets it up on your server, and on our platform it is a one-time $29 feature.

## Frequently asked questions

### What does service-unavailable mean when starting Jitsi subtitles?

Jicofo asked for a transcriber and none answered. The stock Docker jigasi.yml runs Jigasi in SIP mode, where it ignores transcription requests. Set JIGASI_MODE=transcriber in an override file and restart Jigasi.

### Why does Jigasi log SASLError not-authorized?

It is logging in as the transcriber user with an empty or wrong password. Set JIGASI_TRANSCRIBER_PASSWORD in .env, pass it to the Jigasi container, and restart Prosody so the account is created with that password.


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