transcriptapi

name: transcriptapi description: Full TranscriptAPI toolkit — fetch YouTube transcripts, search videos and channels, browse channel uploads, get latest videos, and explore playlists. Use when the user wants to work with YouTube content programmatically, get transcripts for summarization or analysis, find videos, or monitor channels. Triggers on YouTube URLs, "transcript", "transcriptapi", "video summary", "what did they say", "find videos about", "search youtube". homepage: https://transcriptapi.com metadata: { "moltbot": { "emoji": "📺", "requires": { "env": ["TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"] }, "primaryEnv": "TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY", },

}

TranscriptAPI

Full YouTube data toolkit via TranscriptAPI.com. Transcripts, search, channels, playlists — one API key.

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, generate a secure password.

node ./scripts/tapi-auth.js register --email USER_EMAIL --password SECURE_PASS --json

→ OTP sent to email. Ask user: "Check your email for a 6-digit verification code." ⚠️ SAVE THE PASSWORD — you need it again in Step 2!

Step 2 — Verify: Once user provides the OTP (use SAME password from Step 1):

node ./scripts/tapi-auth.js verify --email USER_EMAIL --password SECURE_PASS --otp CODE --json

→ Returns api_key (starts with sk_).

Step 3 — Save: Store the key (auto-configures agent + shell):

node ./scripts/tapi-auth.js save-key --key API_KEY --json

→ Ready to use. Agent runtime picks up the key automatically.

Manual option: transcriptapi.com/signup → Dashboard → API Keys.

Auth

All requests: -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"

Endpoints

GET /api/v2/youtube/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"

Accepts: https://youtube.com/watch?v=ID, https://youtu.be/ID, youtube.com/shorts/ID, or bare ID.

Response (format=json):

{
  "video_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "language": "en",
  "transcript": [
    { "text": "We're no strangers...", "start": 18.0, "duration": 3.5 }
  ],
  "metadata": { "title": "...", "author_name": "...", "author_url": "..." }
}

GET /api/v2/youtube/search — 1 credit

curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/search?q=QUERY&type=video&limit=20" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"

Response (type=video):

{
  "results": [
    {
      "type": "video",
      "videoId": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
      "title": "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up",
      "channelId": "UCuAXFkgsw1L7xaCfnd5JJOw",
      "channelTitle": "Rick Astley",
      "channelHandle": "@RickAstley",
      "channelVerified": true,
      "lengthText": "3:33",
      "viewCountText": "1.5B views",
      "publishedTimeText": "14 years ago",
      "hasCaptions": true,
      "thumbnails": [{ "url": "...", "width": 120, "height": 90 }]
    }
  ],
  "result_count": 20
}

Response (type=channel):

{
  "results": [
    {
      "type": "channel",
      "channelId": "UCuAXFkgsw1L7xaCfnd5JJOw",
      "title": "Rick Astley",
      "handle": "@RickAstley",
      "subscriberCount": "4.2M subscribers",
      "verified": true,
      "rssUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UC..."
    }
  ],
  "result_count": 5
}

GET /api/v2/youtube/channel/resolve — FREE (0 credits)

curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/resolve?input=@mkbhd" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"

Response:

{ "channel_id": "UCBcRF18a7Qf58cCRy5xuWwQ", "resolved_from": "@mkbhd" }

If input is already a valid UC[a-zA-Z0-9_-]{22} ID, returns immediately without lookup.

GET /api/v2/youtube/channel/videos — 1 credit/page

# First page (100 videos)
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/videos?channel_id=UC_CHANNEL_ID" \
  -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_id or continuation.

Response:

{
  "results": [{
    "videoId": "abc123xyz00",
    "title": "Latest Video",
    "channelId": "UCBcRF18a7Qf58cCRy5xuWwQ",
    "channelTitle": "MKBHD",
    "channelHandle": "@mkbhd",
    "lengthText": "15:22",
    "viewCountText": "3.2M views",
    "thumbnails": [...],
    "index": "0"
  }],
  "playlist_info": {"title": "Uploads from MKBHD", "numVideos": "1893"},
  "continuation_token": "4qmFsgKlARIYVVV1...",
  "has_more": true
}

GET /api/v2/youtube/channel/latest — FREE (0 credits)

curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/latest?channel_id=UC_CHANNEL_ID" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"

Returns last 15 videos via RSS with exact view counts and ISO timestamps.

Response:

{
  "channel": {
    "channelId": "...",
    "title": "MKBHD",
    "author": "MKBHD",
    "url": "..."
  },
  "results": [
    {
      "videoId": "abc123xyz00",
      "title": "Latest Video",
      "published": "2026-01-30T16:00:00Z",
      "viewCount": "2287630",
      "description": "Full description...",
      "thumbnail": { "url": "...", "width": "480", "height": "360" }
    }
  ],
  "result_count": 15
}

GET /api/v2/youtube/channel/search — 1 credit

curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/search\
?channel_id=UC_CHANNEL_ID&q=review&limit=30" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"

GET /api/v2/youtube/playlist/videos — 1 credit/page

# First page
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/playlist/videos?playlist_id=PL_PLAYLIST_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"

Credit Costs

Errors

Tips

• When user shares YouTube URL with no instruction, fetch transcript and summarize key points.
• Use channel/latest (free) to check for new uploads before fetching transcripts.
• Combine channel/resolve → channel/videos for browsing channel uploads.
• For research: search → pick videos → fetch transcripts.
• Free tier: 100 credits, 300 req/min. Starter ($5/mo): 1,000 credits, 300 req/min.