youtube-api

Files (3)

• SKILL.md
• auth-setup.md · references/
• curl-examples.md · references/

SKILL.md (first lines)

# 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     |
| -------------------------------------- | ------ | -------- |
| `/info?video_url=ID`                   | GET    | **free** |
| `/video/metadata?video_url=ID`         | GET    | 1        |
| `/transcript?video_url=ID`             | GET    | 1        |
| `/search?q=QUERY&type=video`           | GET    | 1        |
| `/channel/resolve?input=@handle`       | GET    | **free** |
| `/channel/info?channel=@handle`        | GET    | 1        |
| `/channel/latest?channel=@handle`      | GET    | **free** |
| `/channel/videos?channel=@handle`      | GET    | 1/page   |
| `/channel/search?channel=@handle&q=Q`  | GET    | 1        |
| `/channel/playlists?channel=@handle`   | GET    | 1/page   |
| `/channel/posts?channel=@handle`       | GET    | 1/page   |
| `/channel/sections?channel=@handle`    | GET    | 1        |
| `/playlist/videos?playlist=PL_ID`      | GET    | 1/page   |

`search` also takes `type=playlist` or `type=movie`, plus first-page-only filters `sort` (`relevance`/`views`), `upload_date`, `duration`, and `features`. `channel/videos` takes `tab=videos` (default), `shorts`, or `streams`, plus an optional `sort` (`latest`/`popular`/`oldest`).

> **Naming:** `/video/metadata` was previously `/video/info`. The old path still works but is deprecated — use `/video/metadata`.

## Quick Examples

**Search videos:**

```http
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/search?q=python+tutorial&type=video&limit=10
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0
```

**Get transcript:**

```http
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/transcript?video_url=dQw4w9WgXcQ&format=text&include_timestamp=true&send_metadata=true
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0
```

**Check video info & transcript languages (free, before spending a credit):**

```http
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/info?video_url=dQw4w9WgXcQ
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0
```

**Get rich video metadata (views, likes, description, tags):**

```http
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/video/metadata?video_url=dQw4w9WgXcQ&include=details
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0
```

**Get a channel's profile (subscriber count, tags, tabs):**

```http
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/info?channel=@TED
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0
```

Also available with the same `channel` parameter: `/channel/playlists` (a channel's playlists), `/channel/posts` (community tab), and `/channel/sections` (its curated Home-page shelves).

**Resolve channel handle (free):**

```http
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/resolve?input=@TED
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0
```

**Latest videos (free):**

```http
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/latest?channel=@TED
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0
```

**Browse channel uploads (paginated):**

```http
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/videos?channel=@NASA
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0

# Most-viewed first (channel Videos tab, ~30 per page)
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/videos?channel=@NASA&sort=popular
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0

# Use continuation token from response for next pages, repeating the same tab and sort
```

From ZeroPointRepo/youtube-skills, MIT.

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