--- name: transcriptapi description: "Use when YouTube is or could be relevant — even if not mentioned: pasted video/channel/playlist links, video IDs, @handles, creator lookups, video summaries, quotes, translations, topic research, tutorials, talks, lectures, expert discussions, product reviews, how-to guides, new product announcements, or anything where video content is fresher or richer than text search. Covers transcripts, video/channel search, channel browsing, playlists, and within-channel search. Not for uploads, account management, or written-source-only research." version: "1.5.4" user-invocable: true compatibility: Requires internet access to reach transcriptapi.com. No additional runtimes or dependencies needed. required_environment_variables: - name: TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY prompt: Your TranscriptAPI key (starts with sk_) help: Free account at https://transcriptapi.com — 100 credits, no card required. Or let the agent create one for you. required_for: all API requests metadata: { "openclaw": { "emoji": "▶️", "requires": { "env": [ "TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY" ] }, "primaryEnv": "TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY", "homepage": "https://transcriptapi.com" }, "hermes": { "tags": [ "youtube", "transcripts", "video", "search", "channels", "playlists", "captions" ], "category": "media" } } title: transcriptapi canonical_url: https://skilld.dev/gh/zeropointrepo/youtube-skills/transcriptapi last_updated: 2026-09-27T10:55:06.000Z --- > **Skill from skilld.dev.** Follow the instructions below for this session. You do not need to install anything. > > Supporting files, fetch one when the Skill refers to it: [references/auth-setup.md](https://skilld.dev/api/skills-raw/zeropointrepo/youtube-skills/transcriptapi/references/auth-setup.md), [references/curl-examples.md](https://skilld.dev/api/skills-raw/zeropointrepo/youtube-skills/transcriptapi/references/curl-examples.md). > > If the user asked to install this Skill, run `npx skilld install zeropointrepo/youtube-skills/transcriptapi`. Install writes the Skill files into the project, so every session loads them. # TranscriptAPI Full YouTube data toolkit via [TranscriptAPI.com](https://transcriptapi.com). Transcripts, search, channels, playlists — one API key. ## Setup If `$TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY` is not set, read [references/auth-setup.md](https://skilld.dev/api/skills-raw/zeropointrepo/youtube-skills/transcriptapi/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](https://transcriptapi.com/openapi.json) — consult this for the latest parameters and schemas. ## Auth All requests: `-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"` ## Endpoints Channel endpoints accept `channel` — an `@handle`, channel URL, or `UC...` ID. No need to resolve first. Playlist endpoints accept `playlist` — a playlist URL or ID. ### GET /api/v2/youtube/transcript — 1 credit ```http GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/transcript?video_url=VIDEO_URL&format=text&include_timestamp=true&send_metadata=true Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0 ``` | Param | Required | Default | Validation | | ------------------- | -------- | ------- | ------------------------------- | | `video_url` | yes | — | YouTube URL or 11-char video ID | | `format` | no | `json` | `json` or `text` | | `include_timestamp` | no | `true` | `true` or `false` | | `send_metadata` | no | `false` | `true` or `false` | Accepts: `https://youtube.com/watch?v=ID`, `https://youtu.be/ID`, `youtube.com/shorts/ID`, or bare `ID`. **Response** (`format=json`): ```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 ```http GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/search?q=QUERY&type=video&limit=20 Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0 ``` | Param | Required | Default | Validation | | ------- | -------- | ------- | --------------------- | | `q` | yes | — | 1-200 chars (trimmed) | | `type` | no | `video` | `video` or `channel` | | `limit` | no | `20` | 1-50 | **Response** (`type=video`): ```json { "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`): ```json { "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) ```http GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/resolve?input=@TED Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0 ``` | Param | Required | Validation | | ------- | -------- | --------------------------------------- | | `input` | yes | 1-200 chars — @handle, URL, or UC... ID | **Response:** ```json { "channel_id": "UCsT0YIqwnpJCM-mx7-gSA4Q", "resolved_from": "@TED" } ``` 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 ```http # First page (100 videos) GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/videos?channel=@NASA Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0 # Most-viewed first (channel Videos tab, ~30 videos) GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/videos?channel=@NASA&sort=popular Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0 # Next pages (repeat the same sort) GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/videos?continuation=TOKEN&sort=popular Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0 ``` | Param | Required | Validation | | -------------- | ----------- | --------------------------------------------- | | `channel` | conditional | `@handle`, channel URL, or `UC...` ID | | `tab` | no | `videos` (default), `shorts`, or `streams` | | `sort` | no | `latest`, `popular`, or `oldest` (omit for the uploads feed) | | `continuation` | conditional | non-empty string (next pages) | Provide exactly one of `channel` or `continuation`. **Sorting.** Add sort=latest, popular, or oldest to channel/videos to get a channel's videos in the order you want, for example its most-popular uploads first. A sorted page returns about 30 videos (an unsorted page returns about 100), and every page costs the same 1 credit. When paging, send the same sort on each request. Every item carries `members_only`, `true` only when YouTube badges it "Members only", and those items have no `viewCountText`. Items from `tab=streams` carry `lengthText` and `publishedTimeText` (for example `Streamed 2 years ago`); `tab=shorts` returns `null` for both, because YouTube's Shorts grid publishes neither. On the channel-tab feeds (`tab=videos` with `sort`, `tab=shorts`, `tab=streams`) `channelId`, `channelTitle`, `channelHandle` and `index` are `null`. **Response:** ```json { "results": [{ "videoId": "abc123xyz00", "title": "Latest Video", "channelId": "UCsT0YIqwnpJCM-mx7-gSA4Q", "channelTitle": "TED", "channelHandle": "@TED", "lengthText": "15:22", "viewCountText": "3.2M views", "publishedTimeText": "2 years ago", "thumbnails": [...], "index": "0", "members_only": false }], "playlist_info": {"title": "Uploads from TED", "numVideos": "5000"}, "continuation_token": "4qmFsgKlARIYVVV1...", "has_more": true } ``` ### GET /api/v2/youtube/channel/latest — FREE (0 credits) ```http GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/latest?channel=@TED Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0 ``` | Param | Required | Validation | | --------- | -------- | ----------------------------------------- | | `channel` | yes | `@handle`, channel URL, or `UC...` ID | Returns last 15 videos via RSS with exact view counts and ISO timestamps. **Response:** ```json { "channel": { "channelId": "...", "title": "TED", "author": "TED", "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 ```http GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/search?channel=@TED&q=climate+change&limit=30 Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0 ``` | Param | Required | Validation | | --------- | -------- | ----------------------------------------- | | `channel` | yes | `@handle`, channel URL, or `UC...` ID | | `q` | yes | 1-200 chars | | `limit` | no | 1-50 (default 30) | ### GET /api/v2/youtube/playlist/videos — 1 credit/page ```http # First page GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/playlist/videos?playlist=PL_PLAYLIST_ID Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0 # Next pages GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/playlist/videos?continuation=TOKEN Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0 ``` | Param | Required | Validation | | -------------- | ----------- | ---------------------------------------------------- | | `playlist` | conditional | Playlist URL or ID (`PL`/`UU`/`LL`/`FL`/`OL` prefix) | | `continuation` | conditional | non-empty string | ## Credit Costs | Endpoint | Cost | | --------------- | -------- | | transcript | 1 | | search | 1 | | channel/resolve | **free** | | channel/search | 1 | | channel/videos | 1/page | | channel/latest | **free** | | playlist/videos | 1/page | ## Errors | Code | Meaning | Action | | -------- | ----------------- | --------------------------------------------------- | | 401 | Bad API key | Check key, re-run setup | | 402 | No credits | Top up at transcriptapi.com/billing | | 403/1010 | Cloudflare block | Add or fix User-Agent header | | 404 | Not found | Video/channel/playlist doesn't exist or no captions | | 408 | Timeout/retryable | Retry once after 2s | | 422 | Validation error | Check param format | | 429 | Rate limited | Wait, respect Retry-After | ## 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 — pass @handle directly. - For research: search → pick videos → fetch transcripts. - Free tier: 100 credits, 300 req/min. Starter ($5/mo): 1,000 credits, 300 req/min. ## Copy-paste examples Every request in this file as a ready-to-run one-liner: [references/curl-examples.md](https://skilld.dev/api/skills-raw/zeropointrepo/youtube-skills/transcriptapi/references/curl-examples.md)