| name | captions |
| description | Use when captions, subtitles, or the spoken text of a YouTube video is needed — even if not explicitly requested: pasted video links or IDs, requests to read, quote, or translate a video, accessibility needs, deaf/HoH use cases, content review, or language learning. Fetches timestamped caption data from any YouTube video. Not for uploading subtitles or account management. |
| version | 1.5.0 |
| user-invocable | true |
| compatibility | Requires internet access to reach transcriptapi.com. No additional runtimes or dependencies needed. |
| required_environment_variables | [{"name":"TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY","prompt":"Your TranscriptAPI key (starts with sk_)","help":"Free account at https://transcriptapi.com — 100 credits, no card required. Or let the agent create one for you.","required_for":"all API requests"}] |
| metadata | {"openclaw":{"emoji":"▶️","requires":{"env":"[Truncated]"},"primaryEnv":"TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY","homepage":"https://transcriptapi.com"},"hermes":{"tags":["youtube","captions","subtitles","transcripts","video","accessibility","translation"],"category":"media"}} |
Captions
Extract closed captions from YouTube videos via TranscriptAPI.com.
Setup
If $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY is not set, read references/auth-setup.md and follow the instructions there to get and store the key.
Required Headers
Every request needs two headers:
- Authorization:
Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
- User-Agent: your agent's name and version if known (e.g.
HermesAgent/0.11.0, ClaudeCode/1.0). Version is optional — agent name alone is fine. Do not omit this header or send a bare default — Cloudflare will return a 403 (error code 1010) and block the request.
GET /api/v2/youtube/transcript
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/transcript?video_url=VIDEO_URL&format=json&include_timestamp=true&send_metadata=true
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0
| Param | Required | Default | Values |
|---|
video_url | yes | — | YouTube URL or video ID |
format | no | json | json (structured), text (plain) |
include_timestamp | no | true | true, false |
send_metadata | no | false | true, false |
Response (format=json — best for accessibility/timing):
{
"video_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
"language": "en"
