youtube-data

Original：🇺🇸 English
Translated
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Access YouTube video data — transcripts, metadata, channel info, search, and playlists. A lightweight alternative to Google's YouTube Data API with no quota limits. Use when the user needs structured data from YouTube videos, channels, or playlists without dealing with Google API setup, OAuth, or daily quotas.

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Sourcezeropointrepo/youtube-skills
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NPX Install

npx skill4agent add zeropointrepo/youtube-skills youtube-data

Tags

Translated version includes tags in frontmatter
youtube-data-retrievaltranscriptapiyoutube-api-alternativevideo-transcriptsplaylist-data

SKILL.md Content

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YouTube Data

YouTube data access via TranscriptAPI.com — lightweight alternative to Google's YouTube Data API.

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.
bash
node ./scripts/tapi-auth.js register --email USER_EMAIL
→ OTP sent to email. Ask user: "Check your email for a 6-digit verification code."
Step 2 — Verify: Once user provides the OTP:
bash
node ./scripts/tapi-auth.js verify --token TOKEN_FROM_STEP_1 --otp CODE
API key saved to your shell profile and agent config. Ready to use.
Manual option: transcriptapi.com/signup → Dashboard → API Keys.

API Reference

Full OpenAPI spec: transcriptapi.com/openapi.json — consult this for the latest parameters and schemas.

Video Data (transcript + metadata) — 1 credit

bash
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/transcript\
?video_url=VIDEO_URL&format=json&include_timestamp=true&send_metadata=true" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
Response:
json
{
  "video_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "language": "en",
  "transcript": [
    { "text": "We're no strangers to love", "start": 18.0, "duration": 3.5 }
  ],
  "metadata": {
    "title": "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up",
    "author_name": "Rick Astley",
    "author_url": "https://www.youtube.com/@RickAstley",
    "thumbnail_url": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dQw4w9WgXcQ/maxresdefault.jpg"
  }
}

Search Data — 1 credit

bash
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/search?q=QUERY&type=video&limit=20" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
Video result fields: 
videoId
, 
title
, 
channelId
, 
channelTitle
, 
channelHandle
, 
channelVerified
, 
lengthText
, 
viewCountText
, 
publishedTimeText
, 
hasCaptions
, 
thumbnails
Channel result fields (
type=channel
): 
channelId
, 
title
, 
handle
, 
url
, 
description
, 
subscriberCount
, 
verified
, 
rssUrl
, 
thumbnails

Channel Data

Channel endpoints accept 
channel
— an 
@handle
, channel URL, or 
UC...
ID. No need to resolve first.
Resolve handle to ID (free):
bash
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/resolve?input=@TED" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
Returns: 
{"channel_id": "UCsT0YIqwnpJCM-mx7-gSA4Q", "resolved_from": "@TED"}
Latest 15 videos with exact stats (free):
bash
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/latest?channel=@TED" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
Returns: 
channel
info, 
results
array with 
videoId
, 
title
, 
published
(ISO), 
viewCount
(exact number), 
description
, 
thumbnail
All channel videos (paginated, 1 credit/page):
bash
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/videos?channel=@NASA" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
Returns 100 videos per page + 
continuation_token
for pagination.
Search within channel (1 credit):
bash
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/search\
?channel=@TED&q=QUERY&limit=30" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"

Playlist Data — 1 credit/page

Accepts 
playlist
— a YouTube playlist URL or playlist ID.
bash
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/playlist/videos?playlist=PL_ID" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
Returns: 
results
(videos), 
playlist_info
(
title
, 
numVideos
, 
ownerName
, 
viewCount
), 
continuation_token
, 
has_more

Credit Costs

EndpointCostData returned
transcript1Full transcript + metadata
search1Video/channel details
channel/resolvefreeChannel ID mapping
channel/latestfree15 videos + exact stats
channel/videos1/page100 videos per page
channel/search1Videos matching query
playlist/videos1/page100 videos per page

Errors

CodeAction
402No credits — transcriptapi.com/billing
404Not found
408Timeout — retry once
422Invalid param format
Free tier: 100 credits, 300 req/min.