# Douyin Transcript Scraper (`axlymxp/douyin-transcript-scraper`) Actor

Transcribe Douyin (抖音) videos to Chinese text without login. Paste video links, share links or creators and get timestamped speech-to-text with punctuation (SenseVoice), plus likes, author and music. Videos without speech are not charged.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/axlymxp/douyin-transcript-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [axly](https://apify.com/axlymxp) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, AI, Videos
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $7.00 / 1,000 audio minute transcribeds

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

## Douyin Transcript Scraper (抖音视频转文字)

Turn Douyin videos into text. Paste video links, share links or whole creators and get a **timestamped Chinese
transcript of what is said in each video**, with punctuation, plus likes, comments, shares, author and music. Speech
recognition runs on SenseVoice, a model built for Mandarin (and Cantonese, English, Japanese, Korean), so the text comes
out in simplified Chinese with punctuation instead of an unpunctuated character stream. No login, cookies or API keys.

**Who it is for**

- **Marketers, agencies and cross-border sellers**: study the scripts and hooks of top Douyin creators in your niche.
- **Researchers and analysts**: build spoken-content datasets for NLP, trend and narrative research.
- **AI and RAG pipelines**: feed Douyin speech into LLMs, translators and search indexes as clean text.
- **Content teams**: repurpose videos into articles, subtitles and translations.

### What you get

| Field | Example | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `url`, `videoId` | `https://www.douyin.com/video/7696934197226786058` | |
| `authorNickname`, `authorSecUid` | `心影说` | |
| `description`, `hashtags` | `法律迟迟不肯给出公道，八旬老兵该如何讨回尊严？` | the post text |
| `createdAt` | UTC | |
| `durationSeconds` | `664.7` | |
| `likeCount`, `commentCount`, `shareCount`, `collectCount` | `163`, `2`, `10`, `21` | |
| `transcript` | `[{"start": 0.0, "end": 9.8, "text": "老人架起狙击步枪，枪口牢牢锁定了对面的三个败类，…"}]` | timed segments, or one string |
| `hook` | the opening sentence (segments starting in the first 3 seconds) | |
| `language` | `zh` | detected per video (zh, yue, en, ja, ko) |
| `characterCount`, `hasSpeech`, `audioSeconds` | | |
| `musicTitle`, `musicAuthor`, `audioSource` | `@心影说创作的原声`, `original_sound_mp3` | |
| `error`, `errorReason` | `no_speech` | set when a video could not be transcribed |

Videos without speech (music-only clips), image posts (图文) and videos that fail are listed with an `error` code so you
can see what happened to every input, and you are not charged for them.

### How to use it

1. Paste **Douyin videos**: `douyin.com/video/…` links, share links (`v.douyin.com/…`) or numeric video IDs.
2. Or add **creators**: profile links (`douyin.com/user/MS4wLjAB…`). The actor transcribes their newest videos, up to
   **Max videos per creator** (Douyin shows logged-out visitors about the 40 newest videos of a creator).
3. Run, then export the dataset as JSON, CSV or Excel, or use the API.

#### Input options

| Option | Default | What it does |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `videoUrls` | – | video links, share links or IDs |
| `profileUrls` | – | creator profile links |
| `maxVideosPerProfile` | 20 | newest videos per creator |
| `maxVideos` | 50 | cap for the run |
| `maxAudioMinutes` | 30 | longer videos are skipped (`error: too_long`) |
| `outputFormat` | `segments` | `segments`, `text` or `both` |
| `proxyConfiguration` | Residential | used only for Douyin's small API requests; audio is downloaded directly |

#### Example input

```json
{
  "videoUrls": ["https://www.douyin.com/video/7696934197226786058"],
  "profileUrls": ["https://www.douyin.com/user/MS4wLjABAAAAOzRPcYBhm0xO0mXI5UGjHc2udHifSV-6xuI5mpo_UNKFN6qLVzfWb4QMT8BTOk2n"],
  "maxVideosPerProfile": 5,
  "outputFormat": "both"
}
```

### Scheduling and integrations

Schedule the actor with your creators' profile links to transcribe their new videos regularly, and send the dataset to
Google Sheets, Slack, Make, Zapier or a webhook. A run interrupted mid-way resumes where it stopped when started again
with the same input; videos that failed are retried on the next run.

### Use with AI assistants (MCP)

Apify's MCP server exposes this actor as a tool, so Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and other MCP clients can call it directly:
*"Transcribe the 10 newest videos of this Douyin creator and summarize them in English"*.

### FAQ

**Do I need a Douyin account?** No. Only public videos are read, logged out.

**How accurate is it?** SenseVoice handles clear Mandarin narration well and adds punctuation. Background music, dialects,
heavy slang or several people talking at once lower accuracy. Song lyrics are transcribed like speech.

**Does Douyin provide subtitles?** Not in its public web data, so every transcript is generated from the audio.

**Which languages?** Mandarin, Cantonese, English, Japanese and Korean are detected automatically.

**How many videos per creator?** Douyin shows logged-out visitors roughly the 40 newest videos of a creator; older videos
can be transcribed by pasting their links.

**Is this legal?** The actor reads publicly available videos without logging in. You are responsible for how you use the
data, in particular personal data and Douyin's terms.

**Something failed?** Rows carry an `error` code and reason, and failed videos are retried when you re-run the same input.
Open an issue on the actor page if it keeps happening.

# Actor input Schema

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

Video links (`douyin.com/video/…`), share links (`v.douyin.com/…`, the text copied from the app works too) or numeric video IDs.

## `profileUrls` (type: `array`):

Creator profile links (`douyin.com/user/MS4wLjAB…`) or profile share links. Douyin shows logged-out visitors about the 40 newest videos of a creator.

## `maxVideosPerProfile` (type: `integer`):

Newest videos to transcribe per creator (Douyin lists at most ~40 without login).

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

Upper bound for one run. You pay only for videos that return a transcript.

## `maxAudioMinutes` (type: `integer`):

Longer videos are listed free with `error: too_long` instead of being transcribed.

## `outputFormat` (type: `string`):

`segments`: `transcript` is an array of `{start, end, text}` (seconds). `text`: one string. `both`: segments in `transcript`, the string in `transcriptText`.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Used only for Douyin's API calls (small JSON). Residential works best; audio is always downloaded directly.

## `transport` (type: `string`):

How Douyin requests are signed. Keep `auto` unless support asks otherwise.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "videoUrls": [
    "https://www.douyin.com/video/7696934197226786058"
  ],
  "maxVideosPerProfile": 20,
  "maxVideos": 50,
  "maxAudioMinutes": 30,
  "outputFormat": "segments",
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ]
  },
  "transport": "auto"
}
```

# 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.douyin.com/video/7696934197226786058"
    ],
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": true,
        "apifyProxyGroups": [
            "RESIDENTIAL"
        ]
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("axlymxp/douyin-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.douyin.com/video/7696934197226786058"],
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": True,
        "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"],
    },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("axlymxp/douyin-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.douyin.com/video/7696934197226786058"
  ],
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ]
  }
}' |
apify call axlymxp/douyin-transcript-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,axlymxp/douyin-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/jheR17ZfoIsmgqYTS/builds/uzgRvoe2EZBhoTDUW/openapi.json