- name
- youtube-lite
- description
- Complete YouTube toolkit — transcripts, search, channels, playlists, and metadata all in one skill. Use when you need comprehensive YouTube access, want to search and then get transcripts, browse channel content, work with playlists, or need the full suite of YouTube data endpoints. The all-in-one YouTube skill for agents.
- user-invocable
- true
- metadata
- {"openclaw":{"emoji":"🎦","requires":{"env":["TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"]},"primaryEnv":"TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"}}
YouTube Lite
Complete YouTube toolkit via TranscriptAPI.com. Everything in one skill.
Setup
You MUST have a $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY environment variable set.
If you don't have tell the user to create a free account at transcriptapi.com: transcriptapi.com/signup → Dashboard → API Keys.
If you have the key, See File Writes below for details. Existing file is backed up before modification.
File Writes
The verify and save-key commands save the API key to ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json (sets skills.entries.transcriptapi.apiKey and enabled: true). Existing file is backed up to ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json.bak before modification.
To use the API key in terminal/CLI outside the agent, add to your shell profile manually: export TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY=<your-key>
API Reference
Full OpenAPI spec: transcriptapi.com/openapi.json — consult this for the latest parameters and schemas.
Transcript — COST 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 | Values |
|---|---|---|---|
video_url | yes | — | YouTube URL or 11-char video ID |
format | no | json | json, text |
include_timestamp | no | true | true, false |
send_metadata | no | false | true, false |
Response (format=json):
{
"video_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
"language": "en",
"transcript": [{ "text": "...", "start": 18.0, "duration": 3.5 }],
"metadata": { "title": "...", "author_name": "...", "author_url": "..." }
}Search — COST 1 credit
# Videos
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/search?q=QUERY&type=video&limit=20" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
# Channels
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/search?q=QUERY&type=channel&limit=10" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"| Param | Required | Default | Validation |
|---|---|---|---|
q | yes | — | 1-200 chars |
type | no | video | video, channel |
limit | no | 20 | 1-50 |
Channels
All channel endpoints accept channel — an @handle, channel URL, or UC... channel ID. No need to resolve first.
Resolve handle — FREE
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/resolve?input=@TED" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"Response: {"channel_id": "UC...", "resolved_from": "@TED"}
Latest 15 videos — FREE
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/latest?channel=@TED" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"Returns exact viewCount and ISO published timestamps.
All channel videos — COST 1 credit/page
# First page (100 videos)
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/videos?channel=@NASA" \
-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"Provide exactly one of channel or continuation. Response includes continuation_token and has_more.
Search within channel — COST 1 credit
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/search\
?channel=@TED&q=QUERY&limit=30" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"Playlists — COST 1 credit/page
Accepts playlist — a YouTube playlist URL or playlist ID.
# First page
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/playlist/videos?playlist=PL_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"Valid ID prefixes: PL, UU, LL, FL, OL. Response includes playlist_info, results, continuation_token, has_more.
Credit Costs
If you will use NOT FREE endpoints, make sure to tell the user and let them to choose if they want to proceed or not.
| Endpoint | Cost |
|---|---|
| transcript | 1 |
| search | 1 |
| channel/resolve | free |
| channel/latest | free |
| channel/videos | 1/page |
| channel/search | 1 |
| playlist/videos | 1/page |
Validation Rules
| Field | Rule |
|---|---|
channel | @handle, channel URL, or UC... ID |
playlist | Playlist URL or ID (PL/UU/LL/FL/OL prefix) |
q | 1-200 chars |
limit | 1-50 |
Errors
| Code | Meaning | Action |
|---|---|---|
| 401 | Bad API key | Check key |
| 402 | No credits | transcriptapi.com/billing |
| 404 | Not found | Resource doesn't exist or no captions |
| 408 | Timeout | Retry once after 2s |
| 422 | Validation error | Check param format |
| 429 | Rate limited | Wait, respect Retry-After |
Typical Workflows
Research workflow: search → pick videos → fetch transcripts
# 1. Search
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/search\
?q=machine+learning+explained&limit=5" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
# 2. Transcript
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/transcript\
?video_url=VIDEO_ID&format=text&include_timestamp=true&send_metadata=true" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"Channel monitoring: latest (free) → transcript
# 1. Latest uploads (free — pass @handle directly)
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/latest?channel=@TED" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
# 2. Transcript of latest
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/transcript\
?video_url=VIDEO_ID&format=text&include_timestamp=true&send_metadata=true" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"Free tier: 100 credits, 300 req/min. Starter ($5/mo): 1,000 credits.