transcriptapi

name	transcriptapi
description	Full TranscriptAPI toolkit — fetch YouTube transcripts, search videos and channels, browse channel uploads, get latest videos, and explore playlists. Use when the user wants to work with YouTube content programmatically, get transcripts for summarization or analysis, find videos, or monitor channels. Triggers on YouTube URLs, "transcript", "transcriptapi", "video summary", "what did they say", "find videos about", "search youtube".
homepage	https://transcriptapi.com
metadata	{"moltbot":{"emoji":"📺","requires":{"env":["TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"]},"primaryEnv":"TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"}}

TranscriptAPI

Full YouTube data toolkit via TranscriptAPI.com. Transcripts, search, channels, playlists — one API key.

Setup

If $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY is not set, help the user create an account (100 free credits, no card):

Step 1 — Register: Ask user for their email, generate a secure password.

node ./scripts/tapi-auth.js register --email USER_EMAIL --password SECURE_PASS --json

→ OTP sent to email. Ask user: "Check your email for a 6-digit verification code." ⚠️ SAVE THE PASSWORD — you need it again in Step 2!

Step 2 — Verify: Once user provides the OTP (use SAME password from Step 1):

node ./scripts/tapi-auth.js verify --email USER_EMAIL --password SECURE_PASS --otp CODE --json

→ Returns api_key (starts with sk_).

Step 3 — Save: Store the key (auto-configures agent + shell):

node ./scripts/tapi-auth.js save-key --key API_KEY --json

→ Ready to use. Agent runtime picks up the key automatically.

Manual option: transcriptapi.com/signup → Dashboard → API Keys.

Auth

All requests: -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"

Endpoints

GET /api/v2/youtube/transcript — 1 credit

curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/transcript\
?video_url=VIDEO_URL&format=text&include_timestamp=true&send_metadata=true" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"

Param	Required	Default	Validation
video_url	yes	—	YouTube URL or 11-char video ID
format	no	json	json or text
include_timestamp	no	true	true or false
send_metadata	no	false	true or false

Accepts: https://youtube.com/watch?v=ID, https://youtu.be/ID, youtube.com/shorts/ID, or bare ID.

Response (format=json):

{
  "video_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "language": "en",
  "transcript": [
    { "text": "We're no strangers...", "start": 18.0, "duration": 3.5 }
  ],
  "metadata": { "title": "...", "author_name": "...", "author_url": "..." }
}

GET /api/v2/youtube/search — 1 credit

curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/search?q=QUERY&type=video&limit=20" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"

Param	Required	Default	Validation
q	yes	—	1-200 chars (trimmed)
type	no	video	video or channel
limit	no	20	1-50

Response (type=video):

{
  "results": [
    {
      "type": "video",
      "videoId": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
      "title": "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up",
      "channelId": "UCuAXFkgsw1L7xaCfnd5JJOw",
      "channelTitle": "Rick Astley",
      "channelHandle": "@RickAstley",
      "channelVerified": true,
      "lengthText": "3:33",
      "viewCountText": "1.5B views",
      "publishedTimeText": "14 years ago",
      "hasCaptions": true,
      "thumbnails": [{ "url": "...", "width": 120, "height": 90 }]
    }
  ],
  "result_count": 20
}

Response (type=channel):

{
  "results": [
    {
      "type": "channel",
      "channelId": "UCuAXFkgsw1L7xaCfnd5JJOw",
      "title": "Rick Astley",
      "handle": "@RickAstley",
      "subscriberCount": "4.2M subscribers",
      "verified": true,
      "rssUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UC..."
    }
  ],
  "result_count": 5
}

GET /api/v2/youtube/channel/resolve — FREE (0 credits)

curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/resolve?input=@mkbhd" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"

Param	Required	Validation
input	yes	1-200 chars — @handle, URL, or UC... ID

Response:

{ "channel_id": "UCBcRF18a7Qf58cCRy5xuWwQ", "resolved_from": "@mkbhd" }

If input is already a valid UC[a-zA-Z0-9_-]{22} ID, returns immediately without lookup.

GET /api/v2/youtube/channel/videos — 1 credit/page

# First page (100 videos)
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/videos?channel_id=UC_CHANNEL_ID" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"

# Next pages
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/videos?continuation=TOKEN" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"

Param	Required	Validation
channel_id	conditional	^UC[a-zA-Z0-9_-]{22}$ (first page)
continuation	conditional	non-empty string (next pages)

Provide exactly one of channel_id or continuation.

Response:

{
  "results": [{
    "videoId": "abc123xyz00",
    "title": "Latest Video",
    "channelId": "UCBcRF18a7Qf58cCRy5xuWwQ",
    "channelTitle": "MKBHD",
    "channelHandle": "@mkbhd",
    "lengthText": "15:22",
    "viewCountText": "3.2M views",
    "thumbnails": [...],
    "index": "0"
  }],
  "playlist_info": {"title": "Uploads from MKBHD", "numVideos": "1893"},
  "continuation_token": "4qmFsgKlARIYVVV1...",
  "has_more": true
}

GET /api/v2/youtube/channel/latest — FREE (0 credits)

curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/latest?channel_id=UC_CHANNEL_ID" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"

Param	Required	Validation
channel_id	yes	^UC[a-zA-Z0-9_-]{22}$

Returns last 15 videos via RSS with exact view counts and ISO timestamps.

Response:

{
  "channel": {
    "channelId": "...",
    "title": "MKBHD",
    "author": "MKBHD",
    "url": "..."
  },
  "results": [
    {
      "videoId": "abc123xyz00",
      "title": "Latest Video",
      "published": "2026-01-30T16:00:00Z",
      "viewCount": "2287630",
      "description": "Full description...",
      "thumbnail": { "url": "...", "width": "480", "height": "360" }
    }
  ],
  "result_count": 15
}

GET /api/v2/youtube/channel/search — 1 credit

curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/search\
?channel_id=UC_CHANNEL_ID&q=review&limit=30" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"

Param	Required	Validation
channel_id	yes	^UC[a-zA-Z0-9_-]{22}$
q	yes	1-200 chars
limit	no	1-50 (default 30)

GET /api/v2/youtube/playlist/videos — 1 credit/page

# First page
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/playlist/videos?playlist_id=PL_PLAYLIST_ID" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"

# Next pages
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/playlist/videos?continuation=TOKEN" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"

Param	Required	Validation
playlist_id	conditional	starts with PL/UU/LL/FL/OL
continuation	conditional	non-empty string

Credit Costs

Endpoint	Cost
transcript	1
search	1
channel/resolve	free
channel/search	1
channel/videos	1/page
channel/latest	free
playlist/videos	1/page

Errors

Code	Meaning	Action
401	Bad API key	Check key, re-run setup
402	No credits	Top up at transcriptapi.com/billing
404	Not found	Video/channel/playlist doesn't exist or no captions
408	Timeout/retryable	Retry once after 2s
422	Validation error	Check param format
429	Rate limited	Wait, respect Retry-After

Tips

• When user shares YouTube URL with no instruction, fetch transcript and summarize key points.
• Use channel/latest (free) to check for new uploads before fetching transcripts.
• Combine channel/resolve → channel/videos for browsing channel uploads.
• For research: search → pick videos → fetch transcripts.
• Free tier: 100 credits, 300 req/min. Starter ($5/mo): 1,000 credits, 300 req/min.