TranscriptYT: YouTube Transcript API clients and examples
Official JavaScript and Python clients for the TranscriptYT YouTube Transcript API, plus examples.
Get the transcript of any public YouTube video as timestamped JSON, plain text, SRT, VTT, CSV, or Markdown, in 150+ languages. Videos without captions are transcribed with AI. Free tier: 100 transcripts, no card. Get an API key →
JavaScript / TypeScript
npm install transcriptyt
import { TranscriptYT } from "transcriptyt";
const client = new TranscriptYT({ apiKey: process.env.TRANSCRIPTYT_API_KEY });
const transcript = await client.getTranscript("https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ");
console.log(transcript.title, transcript.segments.length);
const srt = await client.getTranscript("dQw4w9WgXcQ", { format: "srt" });
See js/README.md.
Python
pip install transcriptyt
from transcriptyt import TranscriptYT
client = TranscriptYT() # reads TRANSCRIPTYT_API_KEY
transcript = client.get_transcript("https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ")
print(transcript["title"], len(transcript["segments"]))
srt = client.get_transcript("dQw4w9WgXcQ", format="srt")
See python/README.md.
cURL
curl "https://transcript-yt.com/v1/transcript?url=dQw4w9WgXcQ&format=text" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPTYT_API_KEY"
Use it from an AI agent (MCP)
claude mcp add --transport http transcriptyt https://transcript-yt.com/mcp \
--header "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPTYT_API_KEY"
Then paste a YouTube link into the chat. Setup for Cline, Cursor, and other clients: llms-install.md and the docs. Also on the official MCP Registry as io.github.rajdeep-automation/transcriptyt.
Examples
Errors
Errors raise TranscriptYTError with status and code. Retry BLOCKED, RATE_LIMITED, and UPSTREAM_ERROR with backoff; VIDEO_UNAVAILABLE, NO_CAPTIONS, and LANGUAGE_NOT_AVAILABLE are final; QUOTA_EXCEEDED (HTTP 402) means you're out of credits. Failed requests are never billed. Full list.
License
MIT
