# YouTube Video Transcripts and Captions Scraper (`adaptive_nightmare/youtube-transcript-scraper`) Actor

Extract video transcripts, closed captions, timed segments, and metadata from any YouTube video or search query. Formatted for ChatGPT and Claude ingestion.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/adaptive_nightmare/youtube-transcript-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Darim Quraishi](https://apify.com/adaptive_nightmare) (community)
- **Categories:** Videos, AI, Developer tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$0.90 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## YouTube Video Transcripts and Captions Scraper

Extract full video transcripts, timed closed captions, view counts, and channel metadata from YouTube videos and search queries.

### Features

- Extracts complete video transcripts and closed captions without API keys.
- Provides both continuous paragraph text and timed segment arrays.
- Supports direct video URLs, video IDs, or keyword search queries.
- Extracts video title, channel name, view count, publish date, and duration.
- Handles automatic and creator-uploaded captions in multiple languages.
- Runs lightweight requests without headless browser rendering.

### Input parameters

| Parameter | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `videoUrls` | Array | `["https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJQP7kiw5Fk"]` | YouTube video URLs or video IDs. |
| `searchQuery` | String | `""` | Search query to discover top videos (e.g. `Sam Altman AI interview`). |
| `preferredLanguage` | String | `"en"` | Subtitle language code (`en`, `es`, `fr`, etc.). |
| `maxVideos` | Integer | `10` | Maximum number of videos to scrape. |
| `includeTimedSegments` | Boolean | `false` | Include timestamped segments array. |

### Output format

`json
{
  "videoId": "kJQP7kiw5Fk",
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJQP7kiw5Fk",
  "title": "Luis Fonsi - Despacito ft. Daddy Yankee",
  "channelName": "Luis Fonsi",
  "channelUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxoq-PAQeAdk_zyg8YS0JqA",
  "durationSeconds": 282,
  "thumbnailUrl": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/kJQP7kiw5Fk/hqdefault.jpg",
  "hasTranscript": true,
  "transcriptLanguage": "es",
  "transcriptText": "Ay Fonsi D.Y. Oh-oh... Sí, sabes que ya llevo un rato mirándote...",
  "wordCount": 420,
  "scrapedAt": "2026-10-22T13:45:00.000Z"
}
`

### Use cases

- LLM ingestion: Extract clean text transcripts for document summarization and QA.
- Study notes: Convert educational videos and lectures into readable markdown.
- Content repurposing: Turn video presentations into blog posts and documentation.
- Media monitoring: Search spoken video content for company or product mentions.

### Pricing and efficiency

- Typical runtime: 2 to 4 seconds per execution.
- Zero proxy costs: Runs over public REST and RSS endpoints without residential proxy pools.
- Suitable for scheduled runs and continuous monitoring under standard platform limits.

# Actor input Schema

## `videoUrls` (type: `array`):

List of YouTube video URLs or video IDs to scrape. Example: \['https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ'].

## `searchQuery` (type: `string`):

If provided, searches YouTube and scrapes transcripts for the top matching videos.

## `preferredLanguage` (type: `string`):

Language code for captions (e.g. 'en', 'es', 'fr', 'de'). Falls back to first available language if preferred is missing.

## `maxVideos` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of videos to scrape.

## `includeTimedSegments` (type: `boolean`):

If true, includes detailed array of timestamped transcript segments (start time, duration, text).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "videoUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
  ],
  "searchQuery": "",
  "preferredLanguage": "en",
  "maxVideos": 10,
  "includeTimedSegments": false
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "videoUrls": [
        "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
    ],
    "searchQuery": "",
    "preferredLanguage": "en",
    "maxVideos": 10
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("adaptive_nightmare/youtube-transcript-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "videoUrls": ["https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"],
    "searchQuery": "",
    "preferredLanguage": "en",
    "maxVideos": 10,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("adaptive_nightmare/youtube-transcript-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "videoUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
  ],
  "searchQuery": "",
  "preferredLanguage": "en",
  "maxVideos": 10
}' |
apify call adaptive_nightmare/youtube-transcript-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,adaptive_nightmare/youtube-transcript-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/CaWpADTSB3QAtFlAe/builds/DAowEfmKw9fy4ofCm/openapi.json