/youtube-api

name: youtube-api
description: "Use when YouTube data is needed without Google API quotas or OAuth setup: transcripts, video metadata, channel info, search results, playlists. Triggers on pasted YouTube links, creator names, @handles, topic research, video summaries, channel browsing, or any request where YouTube content would help — even if not mentioned explicitly. Not for uploads, account management, or written-source-only research."
version: "1.5.0"
user-invocable: true
compatibility: Requires internet access to reach transcriptapi.com. No additional runtimes or dependencies needed.
required_environment_variables:
  - name: TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
    prompt: Your TranscriptAPI key (starts with sk_)
    help: Free account at https://transcriptapi.com — 100 credits, no card required. Or let the agent create one for you.
    required_for: all API requests
metadata: {"openclaw":{"emoji":"▶️","requires":{"env":["TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"]},"primaryEnv":"TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY","homepage":"https://transcriptapi.com"},"hermes":{"tags":["youtube","transcripts","video","search","channels","playlists","api","no-quota"],"category":"media"}}

YouTube API

YouTube data access via [TranscriptAPI.com](https://transcriptapi.com) — no Google API quota needed.

Setup

If `$TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY` is not set, read [references/auth-setup.md](references/auth-setup.md) and follow the instructions there to get and store the key.

Required Headers

Every request needs two headers:

• **Authorization:** `Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY`
• **User-Agent:** your agent's name and version if known (e.g. `HermesAgent/0.11.0`, `ClaudeCode/1.0`). Version is optional — agent name alone is fine. Do not omit this header or send a bare default — Cloudflare will return a 403 (error code 1010) and block the request.

API Reference

Full OpenAPI spec: [transcriptapi.com/openapi.json](https://transcriptapi.com/openapi.json) — consult this for the latest parameters and schemas.

Endpoint Reference

All endpoints: `https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/...`

Channel endpoints accept `channel` — an `@handle`, channel URL, or `UC...` ID. Playlist endpoints accept `playlist` — a playlist URL or ID.

| Endpoint | Method | Cost | | ----------------------------------- | ------ | -------- | | `/transcript?video_url=ID` | GET | 1 | | `/search?q=QUERY&type=video` | GET | 1 | | `/channel/resolve?input=@handle` | GET | **free** | | `/channel/latest?channel=@handle` | GET | **free** | | `/channel/videos?channel=@handle` | GET | 1/page | | `/channel/search?channel=@handle&q=Q` | GET | 1 | | `/playlist/videos?playlist=PL_ID` | GET | 1/page |

Quick Examples

**Search videos:**

curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/search\
?q=python+tutorial&type=video&limit=10" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY" \
  -H "User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0"

**Get transcript:**

curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/transcript\
?video_url=dQw4w9WgXcQ&format=text&include_timestamp=true&send_metadata=true" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY" \
  -H "User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0"

**Resolve channel handle (free):**

curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/resolve?input=@TED" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY" \
  -H "User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0"

**Latest videos (free):**

curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/latest?channel=@TED" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY" \
  -H "User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0"

**Browse channel uploads (paginated):**

curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/videos?channel=@NASA" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY" \
  -H "User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0"
# Use continuation token from response for next pages

**Browse playlist (paginated):**

curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/playlist/videos?playlist=PL_PLAYLIST_ID" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY" \
  -H "User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0"

Parameter Validation

| Field | Rule | | -------------- | ------------------------------------------------------- | | `channel` | `@handle`, channel URL, or `UC...` ID | | `playlist` | Playlist URL or ID (`PL`/`UU`/`LL`/`FL`/`OL` prefix) | | `q` (search) | 1-200 chars | | `limit` | 1-50 | | `continuation` | non-empty string |

Why Not Google's API?

| | Google YouTube Data API | TranscriptAPI | | ----------- | ------------------------------- | -------------------------- | | Quota | 10,000 units/day (100 searches) | Credit-based, no daily cap | | Setup | OAuth + API key + project | Single API key | | Transcripts | Not available | Core feature | | Pricing | $0.0015/unit overage | $5/1000 credits |

Errors

| Code | Meaning | Action | | -------- | ----------------- | ---------------------------------------------- | | 401 | Bad API key | Check key | | 402 | No credits | transcriptapi.com/billing | | 403/1010 | Cloudflare block | Add or fix User-Agent header | | 404 | Not found | Resource doesn't exist | | 408 | Timeout/retryable | Retry once after 2s | | 422 | Validation error | Check param format | | 429 | Rate limited | Wait, respect Retry-After |

Free tier: 100 credits, 300 req/m