fireflies-performance-tuning

What this skill does

# Fireflies.ai Performance Tuning

## Overview

Optimize Fireflies.ai GraphQL API performance. The biggest wins: request only needed fields (transcripts with sentences can be very large), cache immutable transcripts, and batch operations within rate limits.

## Prerequisites

- `FIREFLIES_API_KEY` configured
- Understanding of your access pattern (list vs detail, frequency)
- Optional: Redis or LRU cache library

## Instructions

### Step 1: Field Selection -- The Biggest Win

Transcript responses with `sentences` can be enormous. Always request the minimum fields needed.

```typescript
// BAD: Fetching everything when you only need titles
const HEAVY = `{ transcripts(limit: 50) {
  id title date duration sentences { text speaker_name start_time end_time }
  summary { overview action_items keywords outline bullet_gist }
  analytics { speakers { name duration word_count } }
} }`;

// GOOD: Light query for listing
const LIGHT = `{ transcripts(limit: 50) {
  id title date duration organizer_email
} }`;

// GOOD: Full query only when drilling into a specific transcript
const DETAIL = `query($id: String!) { transcript(id: $id) {
  id title
  sentences { speaker_name text start_time end_time }
  summary { overview action_items keywords }
} }`;
```

### Step 2: Cache Transcripts (They Are Immutable)

Once a transcript is processed, its content never changes. Cache aggressively.

```typescript
import { LRUCache } from "lru-cache";

const transcriptCache = new LRUCache<string, any>({
  max: 500,
  ttl: 1000 * 60 * 60, // 1 hour -- transcripts are immutable
});

async function getCachedTranscript(id: string) {
  const cached = transcriptCache.get(id);
  if (cached) return cached;

  const data = await firefliesQuery(`
    query($id: String!) {
      transcript(id: $id) {
        id title date duration
        speakers { name }
        sentences { speaker_name text start_time end_time }
        summary { overview action_items keywords }
      }
    }
  `, { id });

  transcriptCache.set(id, data.transcript);
  return data.transcript;
}
```

### Step 3: Redis Cache for Multi-Instance Deployments

```typescript
import Redis from "ioredis";

const redis = new Redis(process.env.REDIS_URL!);
const CACHE_TTL = 3600; // 1 hour in seconds

async function getTranscriptCached(id: string) {
  const cacheKey = `fireflies:transcript:${id}`;

  // Check cache
  const cached = await redis.get(cacheKey);
  if (cached) return JSON.parse(cached);

  // Fetch from API
  const data = await firefliesQuery(`
    query($id: String!) {
      transcript(id: $id) {
        id title date duration
        sentences { speaker_name text start_time end_time }
        summary { overview action_items keywords }
      }
    }
  `, { id });

  // Cache the result
  await redis.set(cacheKey, JSON.stringify(data.transcript), "EX", CACHE_TTL);
  return data.transcript;
}
```

### Step 4: Batch Processing with Rate Limit Awareness

```typescript
import PQueue from "p-queue";

// Business plan: 60 req/min. Safe rate: 1 req/sec with headroom.
const queue = new PQueue({
  concurrency: 1,
  interval: 1100,
  intervalCap: 1,
});

async function batchFetchTranscripts(ids: string[]) {
  console.log(`Fetching ${ids.length} transcripts (rate-limited)...`);

  const results = await Promise.all(
    ids.map(id => queue.add(() => getCachedTranscript(id)))
  );

  const cacheHits = ids.filter(id => transcriptCache.has(id)).length;
  console.log(`Done. Cache hits: ${cacheHits}/${ids.length}`);
  return results;
}
```

### Step 5: Warm Cache on Webhook Events

```typescript
// When a transcript completes, pre-cache it immediately
async function onWebhookEvent(event: { meetingId: string; eventType: string }) {
  if (event.eventType === "Transcription completed") {
    // Pre-warm the cache so future reads are instant
    await getCachedTranscript(event.meetingId);
    console.log(`Pre-cached transcript: ${event.meetingId}`);
  }
}
```

### Step 6: Pagination for Large Result Sets

```typescript
async function getAllTranscripts(batchSize = 50) {
  const allTranscripts: any[] = [];
  let hasMore = true;
  let offset = 0;

  while (hasMore) {
    const data = await firefliesQuery(`
      query($limit: Int, $skip: Int) {
        transcripts(limit: $limit, skip: $skip) {
          id title date duration
        }
      }
    `, { limit: batchSize, skip: offset });

    allTranscripts.push(...data.transcripts);

    if (data.transcripts.length < batchSize) {
      hasMore = false;
    } else {
      offset += batchSize;
      // Rate limit: wait between pages
      await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, 1100));
    }
  }

  return allTranscripts;
}
```

## Performance Benchmarks

| Optimization | Before | After | Improvement |
|-------------|--------|-------|-------------|
| Field selection (list) | ~2s (with sentences) | ~200ms (metadata only) | 10x |
| LRU cache (detail view) | ~500ms (API call) | <1ms (cache hit) | 500x |
| Batch with queue | Rate limited/errors | Smooth throughput | Reliable |
| Webhook pre-cache | Cold fetch on user visit | Instant from cache | UX improvement |

## Error Handling

| Issue | Cause | Solution |
|-------|-------|----------|
| Slow list queries | Requesting sentences in list | Use light query without `sentences` |
| Rate limit 429 | Burst requests | Use PQueue with 1.1s interval |
| Large response OOM | Transcript with 2+ hour meeting | Stream/paginate sentences |
| Stale cache | (Not a real issue -- transcripts are immutable) | N/A |

## Output

- Field-optimized GraphQL queries (light list, full detail)
- LRU and Redis caching for immutable transcripts
- Rate-limited batch processor
- Webhook-driven cache warming

## Resources

- [Fireflies API Docs](https://docs.fireflies.ai/)
- [lru-cache](https://github.com/isaacs/node-lru-cache)
- [p-queue](https://github.com/sindresorhus/p-queue)

## Next Steps

For cost optimization, see `fireflies-cost-tuning`.