# YouTube Transcript API (`novi/youtube-transcript-api`) Actor Need to grab the words from YouTube videos? YouTube Transcript API is here to help! It's easy to use and gets the job done, plus it gives you some extra info too. Go ahead and try it! - **URL**: https://apify.com/novi/youtube-transcript-api.md - **Developed by:** [Novi](https://apify.com/novi) (community) - **Categories:** Videos, Social media, Automation - **Features:** Full permissions - **Stats:** 70 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing Pay per usage This Actor is paid per platform usage. The Actor is free to use, and you only pay for the Apify platform usage, which gets cheaper the higher subscription plan you have. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-usage ## 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 API This Actor extracts the transcript from a YouTube video. ### Usage #### How to Run the Actor 1. Go to the Apify platform (https://apify.com) and log in or sign up for an account. 2. Create a new task and select the "YouTube Transcript API". 3. Configure the input by providing the YouTube Video URL. You can also provide additional options, as described in the Input schema. 4. Start the task, and the actor will begin extracting the transcript. #### How to Interpret the Actor's Results The actor will provide you with the extracted transcript and other metadata in JSON format. The structure of the output is described in the Output schema. You can use this data for analysis, content optimization, or any other purpose that suits your needs. ### Input Schema The input should be a JSON object with the following properties: - `video_urls`: An array of URLs. Currently, only the first URL is used, and it should be a YouTube video URL. For example: `["https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"]` (Required) - `language`: (Optional) The desired language of the transcript. If not specified, the actor will attempt to detect the language automatically. Specify as a two-letter language code (e.g., "en", "es", "fr"). This is helpful for auto-generated captions, as they often don't have the language specified in the metadata. ### Output Schema The output is a JSON object with the following properties: - `videoId`: The name of the YouTube channel. - `transcripts`: List of transcript data of the video. #### Transcript Item ```json [ { "text": "ever since computers were invented", "start": 5.839, "duration": 3.121 }, { "text": "they've really just been glorified", "start": 7.52, "duration": 3.92 } ] ``` ### Examples of Usage #### Example 1: Extract Transcript from a YouTube Video **Input:** ```json { "language": "en", "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": [ "RESIDENTIAL" ] }, "video_urls": [ "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IK3DFHRFfw", "qYNweeDHiyU" ] } ``` # Actor input Schema ## `video_urls` (type: `array`): URLs/IDs of videos. You can just input Video ID: 2IK3DFHRFfw ## `language` (type: `string`): No description ## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`): Select proxies to be used by your crawler. ## Actor input object example ```json { "video_urls": [ "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IK3DFHRFfw", "qYNweeDHiyU" ], "language": "en", "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": [ "RESIDENTIAL" ] } } ``` # 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 '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "video_urls": [ "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IK3DFHRFfw", "qYNweeDHiyU" ], "language": "en", "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": [ "RESIDENTIAL" ] } }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("novi/youtube-transcript-api").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 '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "video_urls": [ "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IK3DFHRFfw", "qYNweeDHiyU", ], "language": "en", "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": True, "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"], }, } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("novi/youtube-transcript-api").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 '{ "video_urls": [ "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IK3DFHRFfw", "qYNweeDHiyU" ], "language": "en", "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": [ "RESIDENTIAL" ] } }' | apify call novi/youtube-transcript-api --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "type": "http", "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,novi/youtube-transcript-api" } } } ``` 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 ` 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/4FippPQzEBeYSue35/builds/39SyTVlYR5o9Jx8fj/openapi.json