YouTube Data
YouTube data access via TranscriptAPI.com — lightweight alternative to Google's YouTube Data API.
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 → 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 — consult this for the latest parameters and schemas.
Video Data (transcript + metadata) — 1 credit
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"
}
}
Search Data — 1 credit
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/search?q=QUERY&type=video&limit=20" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
Video result fields:
videoId
,
title
,
channelId
,
channelTitle
,
channelHandle
,
channelVerified
,
lengthText
,
viewCountText
,
publishedTimeText
,
hasCaptions
,
thumbnails
Channel result fields (
type=channel
):
channelId
,
title
,
handle
,
url
,
description
,
subscriberCount
,
verified
,
rssUrl
,
thumbnails
Channel Data
Channel endpoints accept
channel
— an
@handle
, channel URL, or
UC...
ID. No need to resolve first.
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:
channel
info,
results
array with
videoId
,
title
,
published
(ISO),
viewCount
(exact number),
description
,
thumbnail
All 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_token
for pagination.
Search 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"
Playlist Data — 1 credit/page
Accepts
playlist
— a YouTube playlist URL or playlist ID.
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/playlist/videos?playlist=PL_ID" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
Returns:
results
(videos),
playlist_info
(
title
,
numVideos
,
ownerName
,
viewCount
),
continuation_token
,
has_more
Credit Costs
| 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 |
Errors
| 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.
