YouTube Transcripts API
Scrape YouTube Transcripts data with one API call. Batch transcript lookup for LLM corpora. POST a JSON body with an `ids` array of 1–100 BARE 11-character YouTube video ids (full watch URLs are not accepted here — use GET /v1/youtube/video/transcript for a single URL); returns one row per id — the transcript (`format: "text"` joins it into one string; `format: "segments"` returns `[{start_ms, duration_ms, text}]`), the resolved `language`, and a `status` of ok / not_found / error / deferred — in input order. Optional `language` picks a preferred caption track. Per-id isolation: one caption-less or deleted video never fails the batch — a caption-less video is `not_found` with `ext.reason: "no_captions"`, a deleted/unavailable one is `not_found` with `ext.reason: "video_gone"`. Billing is per successful row at 3 credits (the single-transcript registry tier); not_found / errored / deferred rows are refunded, so you pay exactly for the transcripts you got. Never cached. Optionally streams Server-Sent Events when the client sends `Accept: text/event-stream`.
Last updated July 2026
Try the YouTube Transcripts API
See real data before writing a single line
Searching 43 platforms in parallel
What can you do with the Transcripts API?
The Transcripts endpoint gives you structured YouTube data with computed fields in a single request. No scraping infrastructure to build or maintain.
Example Request
curl -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
"https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/youtube/transcripts?ids=dQw4w9WgXcQ%2C9bZkp7q19f0"import requests
response = requests.get(
"https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/youtube/transcripts",
params={
'ids': 'dQw4w9WgXcQ,9bZkp7q19f0',
},
headers={"x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY"},
)
data = response.json()const response = await fetch(
"https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/youtube/transcripts?ids=dQw4w9WgXcQ%2C9bZkp7q19f0",
{
headers: { "x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY" },
},
);
const data = await response.json();Parameters
| Parameter | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| ids | Yes | JSON array of 1–100 BARE YouTube video ids (11 characters each, e.g. 'dQw4w9WgXcQ'). Full watch URLs are not accepted here. |
| language | No | Preferred caption-track language (2-letter code, e.g. 'en', 'ko'). Falls back to the default track when absent or unavailable. |
| format | No | `text` (default) returns the whole transcript as one joined string; `segments` returns timestamped `[{start_ms, duration_ms, text}]`. |
What does the YouTube Transcripts API return?
Every response follows one unified schema. Here is a real, unmodified response body, so you can see the exact fields you get back before spending a credit.
Example response
{
"success": true,
"platform": "tiktok",
"endpoint": "/v1/tiktok/post/transcript",
"data": {
"id": "7499229683859426602",
"url": "https://www.tiktok.com/@stoolpresidente/video/7499229683859426602",
"transcript": "WEBVTT\n\n\n00:00:00.180 --> 00:00:01.740\nAlright, pizza review time.\n\n00:00:01.741 --> 00:00:03.701\nSal's Pizza Factory. Oh,\n\n00:00:03.702 --> 00:00:05.701\nit's fucking pouring. We're in Charlotte.\n\n00:00:05.702 --> 00:00:07.781\nAlright man, any chance I get a real quick picture?\n\n00:00:07.782 --> 00:00:09.901\nJack or Dwight Howard? I gotta pick one.\n\n00:00:09.902 --> 00:00:10.861\nYeah, Jack.\n\n00:00:10.862 --> 00:00:12.301\nYeah, easy, right?\n\n00:00:12.302 --> 00:00:13.981\nWe're still Jason Williams still with us?\n\n00:00:13.982 --> 00:00:16.381\nYeah, he on the plane right over,\n\n00:00:16.382 --> 00:00:18.261\nout of the blue. Said the following.\n\n00:00:18.262 --> 00:00:21.141\nHe would take Dwight Howard over Shaq at center.\n\n00:00:21.142 --> 00:00:23.461\nAnd says he lie about it for the rest of his life\n\n00:00:23.462 --> 00:00:25.341\nand would never admit to saying that.\n\n00:00:25.342 --> 00 …"
},
"credits_used": 10,
"credits_remaining": 9999,
"request_id": "req_example000000",
"cached": false
}Live sample illustrating the unified response shape. Field values reflect the record you query.
How does the YouTube Transcripts API work?
Send a GET request with your API key and get back clean, structured JSON. Every response follows our unified schema with computed fields.
Method
GET
Response
JSON
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Every response includes engagement_rate, estimated_reach, content_category, and language — ready to use.
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import requests
response = requests.get(
'https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/tiktok/profile',
params={'handle': 'charlidamelio'},
headers={'x-api-key': 'sc_YOUR_API_KEY'}
)
data = response.json(){
"success": true,
"platform": "tiktok",
"data": {
"author": {
"username": "charlidamelio",
"followers": 152400000
},
"engagement": {
"likes": 12400000000,
"engagement_rate": 0.087
},
"metadata": {
"language": "en",
"content_category": "lifestyle"
}
}
}Ready to scrape YouTube Transcripts data?
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