# YouTube Transcript Scraper - Captions and Subtitles (`gio21/youtube-transcript-scraper`) Actor

Get YouTube video transcripts (captions/subtitles) by video URL or ID. Auto-detect language or pick a specific track. No API key.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/gio21/youtube-transcript-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Gio](https://apify.com/gio21) (community)
- **Categories:** E-commerce, Developer tools, AI
- **Features:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 9 total users, 4 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $7.00 / 1,000 transcript fetcheds

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## YouTube Transcript Scraper

Get YouTube video transcripts (captions/subtitles) by URL or video ID. Auto-detect language or pick a specific track. No API key, no Google credentials.

For content research, video summarization pipelines, SEO content scraping, accessibility tooling.

### Input

| Field | Type | Description |
|-------|------|-------------|
| `videos` | Array (required) | YouTube URLs or 11-char video IDs. |
| `language` | String | Preferred language code (`en`, `pt`, `es`, etc). Default `en`. |
| `preferAutoGenerated` | Boolean | Accept auto-captions when manual missing. Default true. |

### Output

```json
{
  "videoId": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "title": "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up",
  "language": "en",
  "isAutoGenerated": false,
  "durationSec": 213,
  "lineCount": 42,
  "transcript": "We are no strangers to love...",
  "segments": [{ "start": 0, "duration": 3.4, "text": "We are no strangers to love" }]
}
```

### Pricing

$0.007/transcript.

### Limitations

- Videos with disabled captions return `error: 'no_captions'` and are not billed.
- Music videos, age-restricted videos, and Premium-only content may fail.

If this actor helped you, please leave a review on the Apify Store.

# Actor input Schema

## `videos` (type: `array`):

YouTube video URLs (any format) or bare 11-char IDs (e.g. 'dQw4w9WgXcQ').

## `language` (type: `string`):

Language code (e.g. 'en', 'pt', 'es'). If absent or not available, falls back to the first track YouTube exposes.

## `preferAutoGenerated` (type: `boolean`):

If ON, accepts auto-generated tracks when manual captions in the requested language don't exist.

## `debug` (type: `boolean`):

Verbose logging.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "videos": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
  ],
  "language": "en",
  "preferAutoGenerated": true,
  "debug": false
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

videoId, title, language, isAutoGenerated, durationSec, lineCount, transcript (full text), segments (with start/duration).

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "videos": [
        "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
    ],
    "language": "en"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("gio21/youtube-transcript-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "videos": ["https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"],
    "language": "en",
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("gio21/youtube-transcript-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "videos": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
  ],
  "language": "en"
}' |
apify call gio21/youtube-transcript-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,gio21/youtube-transcript-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/Mnqqb0tBSrr78kdvz/builds/bzUi3MVDURt1xgAr4/openapi.json