# YouTube Video Transcript API (https://www.socialcrawl.dev/platforms/youtube/video-transcript)

> Returns the transcript of a YouTube video as timestamped segments — each with text, start `offset` and `duration` (seconds), language, word count, and speech rate. Supports multiple languages via `language`. When no transcript exists (the owner disabled captions, the video is login-gated or gone, or no caption track matches the requested language) the endpoint returns 404 RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND with `error.details.reason` set to `captions_disabled`, `login_required`, `no_captions`, or `video_gone` — no credits are charged, and retrying returns the same result.

TL;DR: `GET /v1/youtube/video/transcript` 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 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `url` | yes | Full URL of the YouTube video |
| `language` | no | 2 letter language code, ie 'en', 'es', 'fr' etc. If no caption track matches the language you specify, the request returns 404 RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND (reason `no_captions`) at 0 credits. |

## Code example

```bash
curl "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/youtube/video/transcript?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DdQw4w9WgXcQ" \
  -H "x-api-key: sc_YOUR_API_KEY"
```

## FAQ

### How do I get a YouTube video's transcript?

Send a GET request to /v1/youtube/video/transcript with url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=... The response is an array of timestamped caption segments: start time, end time, and text per line.

### Can I request a transcript in a specific language?

Yes. Pass language=en, language=es, language=ko, etc., any 2-letter code. If the video doesn't have that language track, the transcript field comes back null so your code can fall back gracefully.

### How much does a transcript request cost?

Transcripts cost 3 credits per request because the caption extraction is heavier than a plain metadata read. 100 signup credits covers ~33 transcripts so you can prototype for free.

### Is this good for LLM RAG pipelines?

Yes. Timestamped caption segments feed directly into retrieval-augmented generation. Chunk the text by timestamp windows, embed, and you get searchable YouTube video content for any LLM.

### Which videos have transcripts available?

Any video with auto-generated or uploaded captions in at least one language, the majority of channels over 1,000 subscribers. Music videos and very new uploads sometimes don't have captions yet.

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

## Explore with AI

Questions this API answers, phrased for an AI assistant:

- How to get a YouTube video transcript with timestamps via API
- Best YouTube transcript API for LLM RAG pipelines