# 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
- **Stats:** 69 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$19.00/month + usage

To use this Actor, you pay a monthly rental fee to the developer. The rent is subtracted from your prepaid usage every month after the free trial period. You also pay for the Apify platform usage, which gets cheaper the higher Apify subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#rental-actors

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## 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.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# 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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# 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 <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` 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