YouTube Full
Complete YouTube toolkit via TranscriptAPI.com. Everything in one skill.
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.
API Reference
Full OpenAPI spec: transcriptapi.com/openapi.json — consult this for the latest parameters and schemas.
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" \
-H "User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0"| 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 — 1 credit
# Videos
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/search?q=QUERY&type=video&limit=20" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY" \
-H "User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0"
# Channels
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/search?q=QUERY&type=channel&limit=10" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY" \
-H "User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0"| 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" \
-H "User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0"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" \
-H "User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0"Returns exact viewCount and ISO published timestamps.
All channel videos — 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" \
-H "User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0"
# Next pages
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/videos?continuation=TOKEN" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY" \
-H "User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0"Provide exactly one of channel or continuation. Response includes continuation_token and has_more.
Search within channel — 1 credit
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/search\
?channel=@TED&q=QUERY&limit=30" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY" \
-H "User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0"Playlists — 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" \
-H "User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0"
# Next pages
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/playlist/videos?continuation=TOKEN" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY" \
-H "User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0"Valid ID prefixes: PL, UU, LL, FL, OL. Response includes playlist_info, results, continuation_token, has_more.
Credit Costs
| 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 |
| 403/1010 | Cloudflare block | Add or fix User-Agent header |
| 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" \
-H "User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0"
# 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" \
-H "User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0"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" \
-H "User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0"
# 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" \
-H "User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0"Free tier: 100 credits, 300 req/min. Starter ($5/mo): 1,000 credits.