transcriptapi — Claude Code skill for YouTube transcripts and search

---
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"}}
---

# 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](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

```bash
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 | 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

```bash
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"
```

| 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)

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

```bash
# 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"

# Most-viewed first (channel Videos tab, ~30 videos)
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/videos?channel=@NASA&sort=popular" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY" \
  -H "User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0"

# Next pages (repeat the same sort)
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/videos?continuation=TOKEN&sort=popular" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY" \
  -H "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)

```bash
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/latest?channel=@TED" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY" \
  -H "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

```bash
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/search\
?channel=@TED&q=climate+change&limit=30" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY" \
  -H "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

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

| 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.