yt
Quick YouTube lookup via TranscriptAPI.com.
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
Search — 1 credit
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/search?q=QUERY&type=video&limit=10
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0
| Param | Default | Values |
|---|---|---|
q | — | 1-200 chars (required) |
type | video | video, channel |
limit | 20 | 1-50 |
Channel latest — FREE
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/latest?channel=@TED
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0
Returns last 15 videos with exact view counts and publish dates. Accepts @handle, channel URL, or UC... ID.
Resolve handle — FREE
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/resolve?input=@TED
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0
Use to convert @handle to UC... channel ID.
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 | No captions or resource doesn't exist |
| 408 | Timeout | Retry once |
Free tier: 100 credits. Search and transcript cost 1 credit. Channel latest and resolve are free.
Copy-paste examples
Every request in this file as a ready-to-run one-liner: references/curl-examples.md