# YouTube Search to Transcripts ⚡ Bulk, No API Key (`cleanfeed/youtube-search-transcript-downloader`) Actor

Search YouTube by keyword and get the transcripts back in the same run. Pass search queries; get plain text, timestamped segments, video title, channel and duration as JSON or CSV. Build a research corpus from a keyword with no glue code. No YouTube API key.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/cleanfeed/youtube-search-transcript-downloader.md
- **Developed by:** [Yaniv van der Stigchel](https://apify.com/cleanfeed) (community)
- **Categories:** AI, Agents, Videos
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 1 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $5.00 / 1,000 transcript returneds

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?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## 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.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## YouTube Search to Transcripts — keyword in, full text out

Search YouTube and get the transcripts back in the same run. One call instead of
two actors and glue code.

### What it does

- Get transcripts for the top videos on any topic
- Build a RAG dataset from a YouTube search
- Research what creators say about a keyword
- Bulk YouTube transcripts by search term
- Turn a topic into a text corpus

Pass several queries at once. Every row is tagged with the query that found it.

### Why this exists

Every other tool splits this in half. Search actors give you a list of video
ids and stop. Transcript actors need ids you already have. So the normal
workflow is: run a search actor, extract the ids, feed them into a transcript
actor, join the results.

This does it in one run. **"Transcripts of the top 200 videos about X"** is a
single call.

### You only pay for transcripts

| `reason` | Meaning | Charged |
|---|---|---|
| — (`ok: true`) | Transcript returned | Yes |
| `no-captions` | Video has no captions | No |
| `unavailable` | Deleted, private, or region-locked | No |
| `no-results` | Query matched nothing | No |
| `search-blocked` | Search request failed | No |

Search results always contain some videos without captions. Those cost nothing.

### Input

| Field | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `queries` | yes | Search terms as you would type them into YouTube |
| `maxResultsPerQuery` | no | Most relevant first. Default 50. Your cost ceiling. |
| `language` | no | Two-letter code. Default `en`. |
| `includeSegments` | no | Add timestamps. Default `false`. |
| `maxConcurrency` | no | 1–25, default 10 |

### Example input

```json
{
  "queries": ["rag pipeline tutorial", "vector database comparison"],
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 100,
  "language": "en"
}
```

### Output

Every row has the same fields whether it succeeded or failed, so you can
select columns without branching. Failed rows are never charged.

| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `sourceQuery` | string | The search query this row came from. |
| `success` | boolean | True when a transcript was returned. Failed rows are never charged. |
| `videoId` | string | YouTube's 11-character video identifier. |
| `videoUrl` | string | Canonical watch URL for the video. |
| `title` | string | The video's title as published. |
| `channel` | string | Display name of the channel that published the video. |
| `channelId` | string | YouTube channel identifier, stable across renames. |
| `durationSeconds` | number | Length of the video in seconds. |
| `viewCount` | integer | Views at the time of the run. |
| `language` | string | BCP-47 code of the caption track returned. |
| `isAutoGenerated` | boolean | True when the captions were machine-generated rather than human-authored. |
| `segmentCount` | integer | Number of timed segments in the transcript. |
| `fullText` | string | The complete transcript as one plain-text string. Null on failure. |
| `segments` | array | Timestamped transcript segments. Only present when includeSegments is enabled. |
| `errorCode` | string | Machine-readable failure reason. Null on success. |
| `errorMessage` | string | Human-readable explanation of the failure. Null on success. |

#### Example — success

```json
{
  "sourceQuery": "retrieval augmented generation",
  "success": true,
  "videoId": "jNQXAC9IVRw",
  "videoUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw",
  "title": "Me at the zoo",
  "channel": "jawed",
  "channelId": "UC4QobU6STFB0P71PMvOGN5A",
  "viewCount": 358194821,
  "durationSeconds": 19,
  "language": "en",
  "isAutoGenerated": false,
  "segmentCount": 3,
  "fullText": "All right, so here we are, in front of the elephants. The cool thing about these guys is that they have really, really, really long trunks.",
  "errorCode": null,
  "errorMessage": null,
  "segments": [
    {
      "start": 0.84,
      "duration": 3.2,
      "text": "All right, so here we are, in front of the elephants."
    },
    {
      "start": 4.04,
      "duration": 3.6,
      "text": "The cool thing about these guys is that they have"
    },
    {
      "start": 7.64,
      "duration": 2.9,
      "text": "really, really, really long trunks."
    }
  ]
}
```

#### Example — failure

A failure carries the same fields, so nothing downstream has to branch.

```json
{
  "sourceQuery": "retrieval augmented generation",
  "success": false,
  "videoId": "s1CFmzZzO4c",
  "videoUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1CFmzZzO4c",
  "title": "Board meeting recording",
  "channel": "Example Corp",
  "channelId": "UCzzz999",
  "viewCount": 412,
  "durationSeconds": 3120,
  "language": null,
  "isAutoGenerated": null,
  "segmentCount": null,
  "fullText": null,
  "errorCode": "no-captions",
  "errorMessage": "This video has no captions published, so there is no transcript to return."
}
```

#### Error codes

- `no-captions`
- `unavailable`
- `blocked`
- `empty-transcript`
- `unparseable-input`
- `error`
- `invalid-query`
- `search-blocked`
- `no-results`

### Use it for

- **Transcripts from a YouTube search** — keyword in, full text out
- **Topic research over video** — build a corpus without picking videos first
- **Interview and earnings call research** — find the videos by keyword first
- RAG and embedding pipelines seeded from a query
- Literature reviews over video, competitive content analysis
- Training datasets on a subject

### Related actors

| If you need | Use |
|---|---|
| Specific videos you already have URLs for | [YouTube Transcript Scraper](https://apify.com/cleanfeed/youtube-transcript-downloader) |
| Every video on a channel | [YouTube Channel Transcript Scraper](https://apify.com/cleanfeed/youtube-channel-transcript-downloader) |
| Every video in a playlist | [YouTube Playlist Transcript Scraper](https://apify.com/cleanfeed/youtube-playlist-transcript-downloader) |
| A channel's Shorts | [YouTube Shorts Transcript Scraper](https://apify.com/cleanfeed/youtube-shorts-transcript-downloader) |
| Comments instead of the spoken text | [YouTube Comments Scraper](https://apify.com/cleanfeed/youtube-comments-downloader) |

### Use it from an AI agent (MCP)

This Actor is callable as a tool through the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp), so Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and VS Code can run it directly.

Add the server to your MCP client:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer <YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

Then ask for what you want in plain language — for example *“search YouTube for this topic and transcribe the results”* — and the agent calls `cleanfeed/youtube-search-transcript-downloader` with the right input. Every output field is described in the dataset schema, so the agent knows what it is getting back before it runs anything.

### Call it from code

#### Python

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>")

run = client.actor("cleanfeed/youtube-search-transcript-downloader").call(run_input={
    "queries": ["retrieval augmented generation"],
})

for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    if item["success"]:
        print(item)
```

#### JavaScript

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

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '<YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>' });

const run = await client.actor('cleanfeed/youtube-search-transcript-downloader').call({
    queries: ["retrieval augmented generation"],
});

const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items.filter((i) => i.success));
```

#### cURL

```bash
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/cleanfeed~youtube-search-transcript-downloader/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"queries": ["retrieval augmented generation"]}'
```

### Limitations

- **A residential proxy is required.** YouTube serves `playabilityStatus: ERROR` to datacenter IP ranges while the identical request succeeds from a home connection — measured 12/12 success on residential against 0/12 on a cloud host with no proxy, and 7/12 through a datacenter proxy. The input defaults to residential; changing it will break most runs. Full method and per-environment figures are published in the [reliability benchmark](https://publicapidata.com/benchmarks/youtube-transcript-reliability/).
- **Not every video has captions.** Videos with captions disabled return `errorCode: no-captions` and are never charged. This is a property of the video, not a failure of the run.
- **Search results are not stable.** YouTube personalises and reorders results, so the same query run twice can return a different set.
- Results are capped by `maxResultsPerQuery`; this is not an exhaustive crawl of everything matching the query.

### FAQ

#### How is this different from the transcript Actor?

You do not need to know the videos in advance. Pass a query, and the search and the transcription happen in one run — no glue code between two steps.

#### Are the results the same every time?

Not exactly. YouTube personalises and reorders search results, so repeated runs can return a different set. Cap with `maxResultsPerQuery`.

#### Do I need a YouTube API key?

No key, no OAuth and no quota.

#### What if a matched video has no captions?

It returns `errorCode: no-captions` and is not charged; the other results still come back.

#### Can I search in another language?

Yes — set `language` to prefer that caption track, and phrase the query in the target language.

### Notes

Only publicly available caption data is collected. No login, no personal data,
no video downloads.

# Actor input Schema

## `queries` (type: `array`):

YouTube search queries. Each query is searched and the top results are transcribed in the same run. Use this when the videos are not known in advance; if you already have URLs or IDs, use cleanfeed/youtube-transcript-downloader.

## `maxResultsPerQuery` (type: `integer`):

Most relevant first. You are charged per transcript returned, so this is your cost ceiling.

## `language` (type: `string`):

Two-letter code (en, nl, de, es...). Falls back to auto-generated captions, then to any available track.

## `includeSegments` (type: `boolean`):

Adds timed segments alongside plain text. Off by default — search runs return a lot of data.

## `maxConcurrency` (type: `integer`):

Parallel transcript fetches.

## `proxy` (type: `object`):

YouTube blocks datacenter IPs. Residential proxy is required for reliable results.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "queries": [
    "rag pipeline tutorial"
  ],
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 50,
  "language": "en",
  "includeSegments": false,
  "maxConcurrency": 10,
  "proxy": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ]
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `transcripts` (type: `string`):

One row per video, tagged with the query that found it. Successful rows include plain text, language and auto-generated flag.

## `summary` (type: `string`):

Queries run, videos found, transcripts delivered, and counts per failure type.

# 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 = {
    "queries": [
        "rag pipeline tutorial"
    ],
    "proxy": {
        "useApifyProxy": true,
        "apifyProxyGroups": [
            "RESIDENTIAL"
        ]
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("cleanfeed/youtube-search-transcript-downloader").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 = {
    "queries": ["rag pipeline tutorial"],
    "proxy": {
        "useApifyProxy": True,
        "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"],
    },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("cleanfeed/youtube-search-transcript-downloader").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 '{
  "queries": [
    "rag pipeline tutorial"
  ],
  "proxy": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ]
  }
}' |
apify call cleanfeed/youtube-search-transcript-downloader --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

```

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/qjp1bq9iATe9lt1tM/builds/oR6t8TbTSohUGQZyu/openapi.json