Get transcripts from any YouTube video — for summarization, research, translation, quoting, or content analysis. Use when the user shares a video link or asks "what did they say", "get the transcript", "transcribe this video", "summarize this video", or wants to analyze spoken content.
Fetch video transcripts via TranscriptAPI.com.
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, generate a secure password.
node ./scripts/tapi-auth.js register --email USER_EMAIL --password SECURE_PASS --json
→ OTP sent to email. Ask user: "Check your email for a 6-digit verification code." ⚠️ SAVE THE PASSWORD — you need it again in Step 2!
Step 2 — Verify: Once user provides the OTP (use SAME password from Step 1):
node ./scripts/tapi-auth.js verify --email USER_EMAIL --password SECURE_PASS --otp CODE --json
→ Returns api_key (starts with sk_).
Step 3 — Save: Store the key (auto-configures agent + shell):
node ./scripts/tapi-auth.js save-key --key API_KEY --json
→ Ready to use. Agent runtime picks up the key automatically.
Manual option: transcriptapi.com/signup → Dashboard → API Keys.
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 |
Accepts: full URLs (youtube.com/watch?v=ID), short URLs (youtu.be/ID), shorts (youtube.com/shorts/ID), or bare video IDs.
Default: Always use format=text&include_timestamp=true&send_metadata=true unless user specifies otherwise.
Response (format=json):
{
"video_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
"language": "en",
"transcript": [
{ "text": "We're no strangers to love", "start": 18.0, "duration": 3.5 },
{ "text": "You know the rules and so do I", "start": 21.5, "duration": 2.8 }
],
"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"
}
}
Response (format=text):
{
"video_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
"language": "en",
"transcript": "[00:00:18] We're no strangers to love\n[00:00:21] You know the rules...",
"metadata": {...}
}
| Code | Meaning | Action |
|---|---|---|
| 401 | Bad API key | Check key or re-setup |
| 402 | No credits | Top up at transcriptapi.com/billing |
| 404 | No transcript | Video may not have captions enabled |
| 408 | Timeout | Retry once after 2s |
| 429 | Rate limited | Wait and retry |
format=json when you need precise timestamps for quoting specific moments.include_timestamp=false for clean text suitable for translation or analysis.