How to use
- Copy the installation command and review the source package before installing it in your own agent environment.
- Check the source document for required tools, credentials and supported hosts.
- Describe your input and desired deliverable; review the output against the source material.
npx skills add https://github.com/zeropointrepo/youtube-skills --skill youtube-fullBefore you start
- Installation does not include a model subscription, API allowance or permission to access your files.
- Repository stars and installation counts describe activity, not an independent quality or security test.
Rendered from the source repository. Headings, examples, code, tables, links, and referenced images are preserved.
YouTube Full
Complete YouTube toolkit via TranscriptAPI.com. Everything in one skill.
Setup
If $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY is not set, read 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 — consult this for the latest parameters and schemas.
Transcript — 1 credit
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/transcript?video_url=VIDEO_URL&format=text&include_timestamp=true&send_metadata=true
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0| 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 |
Response (format=json):
{
"video_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
"language": "en",
"transcript": [{ "text": "...", "start": 18.0, "duration": 3.5 }],
"metadata": { "title": "...", "author_name": "...", "author_url": "..." }
}Video Info & Metadata
# Free — languages available for the transcript endpoint
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/info?video_url=VIDEO_URL
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0
# 1 credit — rich metadata (views, likes, description, duration, tags)
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/video/metadata?video_url=VIDEO_URL&include=details,related
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0include on video/metadata accepts details and/or related. Naming: /video/metadata was previously /video/info — the old path still works but is deprecated.
Search — 1 credit/page
# Videos
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/search?q=QUERY&type=video&limit=20
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0
# Channels, playlists, or movies
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/search?q=QUERY&type=channel&limit=10
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0| Param | Required | Default | Validation |
|---|---|---|---|
q | yes | — | 1-200 chars |
type | no | video | video, channel, playlist, movie |
sort | no | relevance | relevance, views (first page only) |
upload_date | no | — | hour, today, week, month, year (videos, first page) |
duration | no | — | short, medium, long (videos, first page) |
features | no | — | e.g. hd,subtitles,cc (first page) |
limit | no | 20 | 1-50 |
Channels
All channel endpoints accept channel — an @handle, channel URL, or UC... channel ID. No need to resolve first.
Resolve handle — FREE
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/resolve?input=@TED
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0Response: {"channel_id": "UC...", "resolved_from": "@TED"}
Latest 15 videos — FREE
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/latest?channel=@TED
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0Returns exact viewCount and ISO published timestamps.
Channel feed (videos/shorts/streams) — 1 credit/page
# First page (100 items, tab defaults to "videos")
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/videos?channel=@NASA&tab=videos
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0
# Most-viewed first (channel Videos tab, ~30 items)
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/videos?channel=@NASA&sort=popular
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0
# Next pages (repeat the same tab AND sort)
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/videos?continuation=TOKEN&sort=popular
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0Provide exactly one of channel or continuation. tab is videos (default), shorts, or streams. Response includes continuation_token and has_more.
Sorting. Add sort=latest, popular, or oldest to channel/videos to get a channel's videos in the order you want, for example its most-popular uploads first. A sorted page returns about 30 videos (an unsorted page returns about 100), and every page costs the same 1 credit.
When paging, send the same sort on each request.
Item fields. Every item carries members_only, true only when YouTube badges it "Members only", and those items have no viewCountText. tab=streams items carry lengthText and publishedTimeText (for example Streamed 2 years ago); tab=shorts returns null for both, because YouTube's Shorts grid publishes neither. On the channel-tab feeds (tab=videos with sort, tab=shorts, tab=streams) channelId, channelTitle, channelHandle and index are null.
Search within channel — 1 credit
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/search?channel=@TED&q=QUERY&limit=30
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0Channel profile — 1 credit
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/info?channel=@TED
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0Returns title, handle, verified flag, subscriber/video counts, description, tags, thumbnails, banners, and availableTabs.
Channel playlists — 1 credit/page
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/playlists?channel=@TED
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0Returns each playlist's playlistId, title, url, videoCountText — feed a playlistId into the Playlists endpoint below.
Channel community posts — 1 credit/page
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/posts?channel=@TED
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0Channel curated sections — 1 credit
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/sections?channel=@TED
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0tab is featured (default, Home page), podcasts, or releases.
Playlists — 1 credit/page
Accepts playlist — a YouTube playlist URL or playlist ID.
# First page
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/playlist/videos?playlist=PL_ID
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0
# Next pages
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/playlist/videos?continuation=TOKEN
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0Valid ID prefixes: PL, UU, LL, FL, OL. Response includes playlist_info, results, continuation_token, has_more.
Credit Costs
| Endpoint | Cost |
|---|---|
| transcript | 1 |
| info | free |
| video/metadata | 1 |
| search | 1/page |
| channel/resolve | free |
| channel/info | 1 |
| channel/latest | free |
| channel/videos | 1/page |
| channel/search | 1 |
| channel/playlists | 1/page |
| channel/posts | 1/page |
| channel/sections | 1 |
| playlist/videos | 1/page |
Validation Rules
| Field | Rule |
|---|---|
channel | @handle, channel URL, or UC... ID |
playlist | Playlist URL or ID (PL/UU/LL/FL/OL prefix) |
q | 1-200 chars |
type (search) | video (default), channel, playlist, movie |
tab (channel/videos) | videos (default), shorts, streams |
sort (channel/videos) | latest, popular, oldest (omit for the uploads feed) |
tab (channel/sections) | featured (default), podcasts, releases |
include (video/metadata) | details, related (comma-separated) |
limit | 1-50 |
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 or no captions |
| 408 | Timeout | Retry once after 2s |
| 422 | Validation error | Check param format |
| 429 | Rate limited | Wait, respect Retry-After |
Typical Workflows
Research workflow: search → pick videos → fetch transcripts
# 1. Search
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/search?q=machine+learning+explained&limit=5
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0
# 2. Transcript
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/transcript?video_url=VIDEO_ID&format=text&include_timestamp=true&send_metadata=true
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0Channel monitoring: latest (free) → transcript
# 1. Latest uploads (free — pass @handle directly)
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/latest?channel=@TED
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0
# 2. Transcript of latest
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/transcript?video_url=VIDEO_ID&format=text&include_timestamp=true&send_metadata=true
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0Free tier: 100 credits, 300 req/min. Starter ($5/mo): 1,000 credits.
Copy-paste examples
Every request in this file as a ready-to-run one-liner: references/curl-examples.md
