# YouTube Transcripts API (https://www.socialcrawl.dev/platforms/youtube/transcripts)

> 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`.

TL;DR: `POST /v1/youtube/transcripts` costs 3 credits per call and returns SocialCrawl's unified JSON schema. Single x-api-key auth, 100 free credits on signup.

## 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}]`. |

## Code example

```bash
curl "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/youtube/transcripts?ids=dQw4w9WgXcQ%2C9bZkp7q19f0" \
  -H "x-api-key: sc_YOUR_API_KEY"
```

See the full YouTube API: https://www.socialcrawl.dev/platforms/youtube

## Pricing

- Standard endpoints: 1 credit per call
- Advanced endpoints: 5 credits per call
- Premium endpoints: 10 credits per call
- 100 free credits on signup, no credit card required. Cached responses cost 0 credits. Credit packs never expire.
- Full pricing: https://www.socialcrawl.dev/pricing