Access YouTube video data — transcripts, metadata, channel info, search, and playlists. A lightweight alternative to Google's YouTube Data API with no quota limits. Use when the user needs structured
Real data. Real impact.
Emerging
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YouTube data access via TranscriptAPI.com — lightweight alternative to Google's YouTube Data API.
If
$TRANSCRIPT_API_KEYStep 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
. See File Writes below for details. Existing file is backed up before modification.~/.openclaw/openclaw.json
Manual option: transcriptapi.com/signup → Dashboard → API Keys.
The verify and save-key commands save the API key to
~/.openclaw/openclaw.jsonskills.entries.transcriptapi.apiKeyenabled: true~/.openclaw/openclaw.json.bakTo use the API key in terminal/CLI outside the agent, add to your shell profile manually:
export TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY=<your-key>Full OpenAPI spec: transcriptapi.com/openapi.json — consult this for the latest parameters and schemas.
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/transcript\ ?video_url=VIDEO_URL&format=json&include_timestamp=true&send_metadata=true" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
Response:
{ "video_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ", "language": "en", "transcript": [ { "text": "We're no strangers to love", "start": 18.0, "duration": 3.5 } ], "metadata": { "title": "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up", "author_name": "Rick Astley", "author_url": "https://www.youtube.com/@RickAstley", "thumbnail_url": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dQw4w9WgXcQ/maxresdefault.jpg" } }
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/search?q=QUERY&type=video&limit=20" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
Video result fields:
videoIdtitlechannelIdchannelTitlechannelHandlechannelVerifiedlengthTextviewCountTextpublishedTimeTexthasCaptionsthumbnailsChannel result fields (
type=channelchannelIdtitlehandleurldescriptionsubscriberCountverifiedrssUrlthumbnailsChannel endpoints accept
channel@handleUC...Resolve handle to ID (free):
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/resolve?input=@TED" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
Returns:
{"channel_id": "UCsT0YIqwnpJCM-mx7-gSA4Q", "resolved_from": "@TED"}Latest 15 videos with exact stats (free):
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/latest?channel=@TED" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
Returns:
channelresultsvideoIdtitlepublishedviewCountdescriptionthumbnailAll channel videos (paginated, 1 credit/page):
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/videos?channel=@NASA" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
Returns 100 videos per page +
continuation_tokenSearch 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"
Accepts
playlistcurl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/playlist/videos?playlist=PL_ID" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
Returns:
resultsplaylist_infotitlenumVideosownerNameviewCountcontinuation_tokenhas_more| Endpoint | Cost | Data returned |
|---|---|---|
| transcript | 1 | Full transcript + metadata |
| search | 1 | Video/channel details |
| channel/resolve | free | Channel ID mapping |
| channel/latest | free | 15 videos + exact stats |
| channel/videos | 1/page | 100 videos per page |
| channel/search | 1 | Videos matching query |
| playlist/videos | 1/page | 100 videos per page |
| Code | Action |
|---|---|
| 402 | No credits — transcriptapi.com/billing |
| 404 | Not found |
| 408 | Timeout — retry once |
| 422 | Invalid param format |
Free tier: 100 credits, 300 req/min.
No automatic installation available. Please visit the source repository for installation instructions.
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