YouTube Full
Complete YouTube toolkit via TranscriptAPI.com. Everything in one skill.
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.
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 | Values |
|---|
video_url
| yes | — | YouTube URL or 11-char video ID |
format
| no | json
| json
, text
|
include_timestamp
| no | true
| true
, false
|
send_metadata
| no | false
| true
, false
|
Response (
format=json
):
{
"video_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
"language": "en",
"transcript": [{ "text": "...", "start": 18.0, "duration": 3.5 }],
"metadata": { "title": "...", "author_name": "...", "author_url": "..." }
}
Search — 1 credit
# Videos
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/search?q=QUERY&type=video&limit=20" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
Channels
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/search?q=QUERY&type=channel&limit=10"
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
| Param | Required | Default | Validation |
|---|
q
| yes | — | 1-200 chars |
type
| no | video
| video
, channel
|
limit
| no | 20
| 1-50 |
Channels
All channel endpoints accept
channel
— an
@handle
, channel URL, or
UC...
channel ID. No need to resolve first.
Resolve handle — FREE
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/resolve?input=@TED" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
Response:
{"channel_id": "UC...", "resolved_from": "@TED"}
Latest 15 videos — FREE
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/latest?channel=@TED" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
Returns exact
viewCount
and ISO
published
timestamps.
All 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"
Provide exactly one of
channel
or
continuation
. Response includes
continuation_token
and
has_more
.
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"
Playlists — 1 credit/page
Accepts
playlist
— a YouTube playlist URL or playlist ID.
# First page
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/playlist/videos?playlist=PL_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"
Valid ID prefixes:
PL
,
UU
,
LL
,
FL
,
OL
. Response includes
playlist_info
,
results
,
continuation_token
,
has_more
.
Credit Costs
| Endpoint | Cost |
|---|
| transcript | 1 |
| search | 1 |
| channel/resolve | free |
| channel/latest | free |
| channel/videos | 1/page |
| channel/search | 1 |
| playlist/videos | 1/page |
Validation Rules
| Field | Rule |
|---|
channel
| @handle
, channel URL, or UC...
ID |
playlist
| Playlist URL or ID (PL
/UU
/LL
/FL
/OL
prefix) |
q
| 1-200 chars |
limit
| 1-50 |
Errors
| Code | Meaning | Action |
|---|
| 401 | Bad API key | Check key |
| 402 | No credits | transcriptapi.com/billing |
| 404 | Not found | Resource doesn't exist or no captions |
| 408 | Timeout | Retry once after 2s |
| 422 | Validation error | Check param format |
| 429 | Rate limited | Wait, respect Retry-After |
Typical Workflows
Research workflow: search → pick videos → fetch transcripts
# 1. Search
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/search\
?q=machine+learning+explained&limit=5" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
# 2. Transcript
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/transcript\
?video_url=VIDEO_ID&format=text&include_timestamp=true&send_metadata=true" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
Channel monitoring: latest (free) → transcript
# 1. Latest uploads (free — pass @handle directly)
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/latest?channel=@TED" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
# 2. Transcript of latest
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/transcript\
?video_url=VIDEO_ID&format=text&include_timestamp=true&send_metadata=true" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
Free tier: 100 credits, 300 req/min. Starter ($5/mo): 1,000 credits.
