Transcriptapi

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, help the user create an account (100 free credits, no card):

Step 1 — Register: Ask user for their email.

node ./scripts/tapi-auth.js register --email USER_EMAIL

→ OTP sent to email. Ask user: _"Check your email for a 6-digit verification code."_

Step 2 — Verify: Once user provides the OTP:

node ./scripts/tapi-auth.js verify --token TOKEN_FROM_STEP_1 --otp CODE

> API key saved to ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json. See File Writes below for details. Existing file is backed up before modification.

Manual option: [transcriptapi.com/signup](https://transcriptapi.com/signup) → Dashboard → API Keys.

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](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

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 | 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):

{
  "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"

| Param | Required | Default | Validation |

| ------- | -------- | ------- | --------------------- |

| q | yes | — | 1-200 chars (trimmed) |

| type | no | video | video or channel |

| limit | no | 20 | 1-50 |

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=@TED" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"

| Param | Required | Validation |

| ------- | -------- | --------------------------------------- |

| input | yes | 1-200 chars — @handle, URL, or UC... ID |

Response:

{ "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

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"

| Param | Required | Validation |

| -------------- | ----------- | --------------------------------------------- |

| channel | conditional | @handle, channel URL, or UC... ID |

| continuation | conditional | non-empty string (next pages) |

Provide exactly one of channel or continuation.

Response:

{
  "results": [{
    "videoId": "abc123xyz00",
    "title": "Latest Video",
    "channelId": "UCsT0YIqwnpJCM-mx7-gSA4Q",
    "channelTitle": "TED",
    "channelHandle": "@TED",
    "lengthText": "15:22",
    "viewCountText": "3.2M views",
    "thumbnails": [...],
    "index": "0"
  }],
  "playlist_info": {"title": "Uploads from TED", "numVideos": "5000"},
  "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=@TED" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"

| 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:

{
  "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

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

| 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

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

| 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 |

| 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.