youtube-transcript-api

Original：🇺🇸 English

Translated

Extract, transcribe, and translate YouTube video transcripts using the YouTubeTranscript.dev V2 API. Supports captions, ASR audio transcription, batch processing (up to 100 videos), translation to 100+ languages, and multiple output formats. Use when working with YouTube videos, subtitles, captions, or video-to-text conversion.

1installs

Sourceyoutube-transcript-dev/youtube-transcript-api

Added on2026-03-10

NPX Install

npx skill4agent add youtube-transcript-dev/youtube-transcript-api youtube-transcript-api

SKILL.md Content

View Translation Comparison →

YouTube Transcript API Skill

Use this skill when the user wants to extract transcripts from YouTube videos, transcribe videos without captions, translate video content, or process multiple videos in batch.

When to Use

User asks to get a transcript/subtitles/captions from a YouTube video
User wants to transcribe a YouTube video that has no captions (ASR)
User wants to translate a YouTube video transcript to another language
User needs to process multiple YouTube videos at once
User wants to build an AI/LLM pipeline that uses YouTube video content
User wants to repurpose video content into text (blog posts, summaries, etc.)

API Overview

Base URL:

https://youtubetranscript.dev/api/v2

Authentication: Bearer token via

Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY

Users can get a free API key at youtubetranscript.dev.

Endpoints

Method	Endpoint	Description
`POST`	`/api/v2/transcribe`	Extract transcript from a single video
`POST`	`/api/v2/batch`	Extract transcripts from up to 100 videos
`GET`	`/api/v2/jobs/{job_id}`	Check status of an ASR job
`GET`	`/api/v2/batch/{batch_id}`	Check status of a batch request

Request Fields

Field	Required	Description
`video`	Yes (single)	YouTube URL or 11-character video ID
`video_ids`	Yes (batch)	Array of IDs or URLs (up to 100)
`language`	No	ISO 639-1 code (e.g., `"es"` , `"fr"` ). Omit for best available
`source`	No	`auto` (default), `manual` , or `asr`
`format`	No	`timestamp` , `paragraphs` , or `words`
`webhook_url`	No	URL for async delivery (required for `source="asr"` )

Credit Costs

Method	Cost	Speed
Native Captions	1 credit	5–10 seconds
Translation	1 credit per 2,500 chars	5–10 seconds
ASR (Audio)	1 credit per 90 seconds	2–20 minutes (async)

Examples

Basic Transcript Extraction (Python)

python

import requests

API_KEY = "your_api_key"

response = requests.post(
    "https://youtubetranscript.dev/api/v2/transcribe",
    headers={
        "Authorization": f"Bearer {API_KEY}",
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
    },
    json={"video": "dQw4w9WgXcQ"}
)

data = response.json()
for segment in data["data"]["transcript"]:
    print(f"[{segment['start']:.1f}s] {segment['text']}")

Basic Transcript Extraction (JavaScript/Node.js)

javascript

const response = await fetch("https://youtubetranscript.dev/api/v2/transcribe", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    Authorization: `Bearer ${API_KEY}`,
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({ video: "dQw4w9WgXcQ" }),
});

const { data } = await response.json();
console.log(data.transcript);

Using the Node.js SDK

bash

npm install youtube-audio-transcript-api

javascript

import { YouTubeTranscript } from "youtube-audio-transcript-api";

const yt = new YouTubeTranscript({ apiKey: "your_api_key" });

// Simple extraction
const result = await yt.getTranscript("dQw4w9WgXcQ");

// With translation
const translated = await yt.transcribe({
  video: "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  language: "es",
});

// Batch (up to 100 videos)
const batch = await yt.batch({
  video_ids: ["dQw4w9WgXcQ", "jNQXAC9IVRw", "9bZkp7q19f0"],
});

Basic Transcript Extraction (cURL)

bash

curl -X POST https://youtubetranscript.dev/api/v2/transcribe \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"video": "dQw4w9WgXcQ"}'

Batch Processing (up to 100 videos)

bash

curl -X POST https://youtubetranscript.dev/api/v2/batch \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"video_ids": ["dQw4w9WgXcQ", "jNQXAC9IVRw", "9bZkp7q19f0"]}'

Translation

Add

"language": "es"

(or any ISO 639-1 code) to get the transcript translated:

bash

curl -X POST https://youtubetranscript.dev/api/v2/transcribe \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"video": "dQw4w9WgXcQ", "language": "es"}'

ASR Transcription (videos without captions)

For videos that don't have captions, use ASR with a webhook:

bash

curl -X POST https://youtubetranscript.dev/api/v2/transcribe \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"video": "VIDEO_ID", "source": "asr", "webhook_url": "https://yoursite.com/webhook"}'

This returns immediately with

status: "processing"

. Results are delivered to the webhook URL when ready. Poll with

GET /api/v2/jobs/{job_id}

if not using webhooks.

Error Handling

HTTP Status	Error Code	Description
400	`invalid_request`	Invalid JSON or missing required fields
401	`invalid_api_key`	Missing or invalid API key
402	`payment_required`	Insufficient credits
404	`no_captions`	No captions available and ASR not used
429	`rate_limit_exceeded`	Too many requests — check `Retry-After` header

Important Notes

Always ask the user for their API key if they haven't provided one. Free keys are available at youtubetranscript.dev.
Omitting the
```
language
```
parameter returns the best available transcript without translation (saves credits).
ASR is async — always use a webhook URL or poll the jobs endpoint.
Batch endpoint accepts both YouTube URLs and 11-character video IDs.
Re-fetching an already-owned transcript costs 0 credits.

youtube-transcript-api

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

YouTube Transcript API Skill

When to Use

API Overview

Endpoints

Request Fields

Credit Costs

Examples

Basic Transcript Extraction (Python)

Basic Transcript Extraction (JavaScript/Node.js)

Using the Node.js SDK

Basic Transcript Extraction (cURL)

Batch Processing (up to 100 videos)

Translation

ASR Transcription (videos without captions)

Error Handling

Important Notes

Resources