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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

GET/v1/youtube/transcripts

JSON array of 1–100 BARE YouTube video ids (11 characters each, e.g. 'dQw4w9WgXcQ'). Full watch URLs are not accepted here.

2 optional parameters

Preferred caption-track language (2-letter code, e.g. 'en', 'ko'). Falls back to the default track when absent or unavailable.

`text` (default) returns the whole transcript as one joined string; `segments` returns timestamped `[{start_ms, duration_ms, text}]`.

Searching 43 platforms in parallel

·TikTok logoTikTok·Instagram logoInstagram·YouTube logoYouTube·Facebook logoFacebook·X logoX·LinkedIn logoLinkedIn·Reddit logoReddit·Threads logoThreads·Pinterest logoPinterest·Twitch logoTwitch·Truth Social logoTruth Social·Snapchat logoSnapchat·Kick logoKick·Bluesky logoBluesky·Kwai logoKwai·Rumble logoRumble·Spotify logoSpotify·TikTok Shop logoTikTok Shop·Amazon Shop logoAmazon Shop·Google Shopping logoGoogle Shopping·Trustpilot logoTrustpilot·TripAdvisor logoTripAdvisor·Linktree logoLinktree·Komi logoKomi·Pillar logoPillar·lnk.bio logolnk.bio·Facebook Ads logoFacebook Ads·Google Ads logoGoogle Ads·LinkedIn Ads logoLinkedIn Ads·Google Search logoGoogle Search·Google News logoGoogle News·Google Finance logoGoogle Finance·Polymarket logoPolymarket·Tavily logoTavily·Hacker News logoHacker News·GitHub logoGitHub·Perplexity logoPerplexity·Naver logoNaver·UUtility·Universal Search logoUniversal Search
·TikTok logoTikTok·Instagram logoInstagram·YouTube logoYouTube·Facebook logoFacebook·X logoX·LinkedIn logoLinkedIn·Reddit logoReddit·Threads logoThreads·Pinterest logoPinterest·Twitch logoTwitch·Truth Social logoTruth Social·Snapchat logoSnapchat·Kick logoKick·Bluesky logoBluesky·Kwai logoKwai·Rumble logoRumble·Spotify logoSpotify·TikTok Shop logoTikTok Shop·Amazon Shop logoAmazon Shop·Google Shopping logoGoogle Shopping·Trustpilot logoTrustpilot·TripAdvisor logoTripAdvisor·Linktree logoLinktree·Komi logoKomi·Pillar logoPillar·lnk.bio logolnk.bio·Facebook Ads logoFacebook Ads·Google Ads logoGoogle Ads·LinkedIn Ads logoLinkedIn Ads·Google Search logoGoogle Search·Google News logoGoogle News·Google Finance logoGoogle Finance·Polymarket logoPolymarket·Tavily logoTavily·Hacker News logoHacker News·GitHub logoGitHub·Perplexity logoPerplexity·Naver logoNaver·UUtility·Universal Search logoUniversal Search
·TikTok logoTikTok·Instagram logoInstagram·YouTube logoYouTube·Facebook logoFacebook·X logoX·LinkedIn logoLinkedIn·Reddit logoReddit·Threads logoThreads·Pinterest logoPinterest·Twitch logoTwitch·Truth Social logoTruth Social·Snapchat logoSnapchat·Kick logoKick·Bluesky logoBluesky·Kwai logoKwai·Rumble logoRumble·Spotify logoSpotify·TikTok Shop logoTikTok Shop·Amazon Shop logoAmazon Shop·Google Shopping logoGoogle Shopping·Trustpilot logoTrustpilot·TripAdvisor logoTripAdvisor·Linktree logoLinktree·Komi logoKomi·Pillar logoPillar·lnk.bio logolnk.bio·Facebook Ads logoFacebook Ads·Google Ads logoGoogle Ads·LinkedIn Ads logoLinkedIn Ads·Google Search logoGoogle Search·Google News logoGoogle News·Google Finance logoGoogle Finance·Polymarket logoPolymarket·Tavily logoTavily·Hacker News logoHacker News·GitHub logoGitHub·Perplexity logoPerplexity·Naver logoNaver·UUtility·Universal Search logoUniversal Search
·TikTok logoTikTok·Instagram logoInstagram·YouTube logoYouTube·Facebook logoFacebook·X logoX·LinkedIn logoLinkedIn·Reddit logoReddit·Threads logoThreads·Pinterest logoPinterest·Twitch logoTwitch·Truth Social logoTruth Social·Snapchat logoSnapchat·Kick logoKick·Bluesky logoBluesky·Kwai logoKwai·Rumble logoRumble·Spotify logoSpotify·TikTok Shop logoTikTok Shop·Amazon Shop logoAmazon Shop·Google Shopping logoGoogle Shopping·Trustpilot logoTrustpilot·TripAdvisor logoTripAdvisor·Linktree logoLinktree·Komi logoKomi·Pillar logoPillar·lnk.bio logolnk.bio·Facebook Ads logoFacebook Ads·Google Ads logoGoogle Ads·LinkedIn Ads logoLinkedIn Ads·Google Search logoGoogle Search·Google News logoGoogle News·Google Finance logoGoogle Finance·Polymarket logoPolymarket·Tavily logoTavily·Hacker News logoHacker News·GitHub logoGitHub·Perplexity logoPerplexity·Naver logoNaver·UUtility·Universal Search logoUniversal Search
YouTube API

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

ParameterRequiredDescription
idsYesJSON array of 1–100 BARE YouTube video ids (11 characters each, e.g. 'dQw4w9WgXcQ'). Full watch URLs are not accepted here.
languageNoPreferred caption-track language (2-letter code, e.g. 'en', 'ko'). Falls back to the default track when absent or unavailable.
formatNo`text` (default) returns the whole transcript as one joined string; `segments` returns timestamped `[{start_ms, duration_ms, text}]`.
Example Response

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.

API Details

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

Why SocialCrawl

Why use SocialCrawl for YouTube Transcripts data?

We handle the complexity of YouTube data extraction so you can focus on building. Unified schema, AI enrichment, and zero platform logic in your code.

Developer First

How do you scrape social media data in seconds?

The fastest social media scraping API for developers. Scrape profiles, posts, comments, and analytics from 43 platforms covering 10B+ monthly active users.

One schema, every platform

Query 43 platforms with identical response structures. Write your integration once.

Computed fields, not just scraped

Every response includes engagement_rate, estimated_reach, content_category, and language — ready to use.

See your data before you code

Visual Data Explorer — paste any URL, get rich result cards, sortable tables, CSV export.

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()
[ .JSON ]
{
  "success": true,
  "platform": "tiktok",
  "data": {
    "author": {
      "username": "charlidamelio",
      "followers": 152400000
    },
    "engagement": {
      "likes": 12400000000,
      "engagement_rate": 0.087
    },
    "metadata": {
      "language": "en",
      "content_category": "lifestyle"
    }
  }
}
+ 43 platforms

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