# YouTube Transcript API + Summary & RAG (`dr_amp/youtube-transcript-intelligence-api`) Actor Extract YouTube captions with timestamps, SRT/VTT, summaries, chapters, action items, citations, and RAG chunks. No API key or external LLM required. - **URL**: https://apify.com/dr\_amp/youtube-transcript-intelligence-api.md - **Developed by:** [Diego Jurado Garcia](https://apify.com/dr_amp) (community) - **Categories:** AI, Social media, Videos - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing Pay per usage This Actor is paid per platform usage. The Actor is free to use, and you only pay for the Apify platform usage, which gets cheaper the higher subscription plan you have. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-usage ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. 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. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use 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 Transcript API + Summary & RAG Extract captions from public YouTube videos and return timestamped JSON, plain text, SRT, WebVTT, and deterministic intelligence artifacts. No YouTube API key, browser, Whisper, or external LLM is required. ### What it returns One dataset item per input URL: - normalized YouTube URL and video ID - caption language and whether captions were auto-generated - timestamped JSON segments - optional plain text, SRT, and WebVTT - stable diagnostics for unavailable videos, disabled/missing captions, translation failures, and blocked requests - optional intelligence pack: - multi-sentence extractive summary - timeline-wide chapters with evidence - explicit action items with owner, due hint, priority, and timestamp - selective notable claims with citations - keywords - segment-aligned RAG chunks The intelligence pack is deterministic. It does not invent facts or send transcript data to an AI provider. ### Input example ```json { "urls": [ "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aircAruvnKk" ], "languages": ["en", "es"], "analysis_mode": "intelligence", "formats": ["json", "text", "srt", "vtt"], "proxy_mode": "auto", "chunk_chars": 1200 } ```` Supported URL forms include `youtube.com/watch?v=`, `youtu.be/`, `/shorts/`, and `/embed/`. ### Proxy strategy - `none`: direct access only. - `auto`: direct first; retry through Apify Residential Proxy only when YouTube reports IP blocking. - `residential`: use Apify Residential Proxy from the first request. Blocked residential exits are retried up to three times with a fresh HTTP client. Missing captions, private/unavailable videos, and other terminal errors are never retried. A proxy is not retried for videos that are private, unavailable, age-restricted, or genuinely have no captions. ### Pay-per-event - `transcript-extracted`: one event per successfully extracted video. - `intelligence-pack`: one additional event per successful video in `intelligence` mode. - Invalid URLs and failed extractions are not charged. ### Limits - 1–100 URLs per run. - Caption-first V1: no audio download or speech-to-text fallback. - Uses YouTube's undocumented caption endpoint through `youtube-transcript-api`; upstream changes can require maintenance. ### Local verification ```bash uv run --with-requirements requirements.txt --with pytest python -m pytest tests -q uv run --with-requirements requirements.txt python -m src.main \ --input samples/input.json \ --output /tmp/youtube-transcript-output.json apify validate-schema ``` # Actor input Schema ## `urls` (type: `array`): One to 100 public YouTube watch, youtu.be, Shorts, or embed URLs. ## `languages` (type: `array`): ISO language codes in priority order. ## `translate_to` (type: `string`): Optional ISO language code supported by YouTube captions. ## `analysis_mode` (type: `string`): Raw returns transcript formats. Intelligence also adds summary, chapters, action items, claims, keywords, and RAG chunks. ## `formats` (type: `array`): Formats embedded in each successful dataset item. ## `proxy_mode` (type: `string`): Auto tries direct access first and uses Apify residential proxy only when YouTube blocks the cloud IP. ## `chunk_chars` (type: `integer`): Approximate maximum characters per segment-aligned RAG chunk. ## Actor input object example ```json { "urls": [ "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aircAruvnKk" ], "languages": [ "en", "es" ], "analysis_mode": "intelligence", "formats": [ "json" ], "proxy_mode": "auto", "chunk_chars": 1200 } ``` # 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 '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "urls": [ "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aircAruvnKk" ] }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("dr_amp/youtube-transcript-intelligence-api").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 '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "urls": ["https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aircAruvnKk"] } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("dr_amp/youtube-transcript-intelligence-api").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "urls": [ "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aircAruvnKk" ] }' | apify call dr_amp/youtube-transcript-intelligence-api --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=dr_amp/youtube-transcript-intelligence-api", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "YouTube Transcript API + Summary & RAG", "description": "Extract YouTube captions with timestamps, SRT/VTT, summaries, chapters, action items, citations, and RAG chunks. No API key or external LLM required.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "Ac2mVz025bng5QD4m" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/dr_amp~youtube-transcript-intelligence-api/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-dr_amp-youtube-transcript-intelligence-api", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/dr_amp~youtube-transcript-intelligence-api/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-dr_amp-youtube-transcript-intelligence-api", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/dr_amp~youtube-transcript-intelligence-api/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-dr_amp-youtube-transcript-intelligence-api", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "required": [ "urls" ], "properties": { "urls": { "title": "Public YouTube URLs", "minItems": 1, "maxItems": 100, "type": "array", "description": "One to 100 public YouTube watch, youtu.be, Shorts, or embed URLs.", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "languages": { "title": "Preferred caption languages", "type": "array", "description": "ISO language codes in priority order.", "items": { "type": "string" }, "default": [ "en", "es" ] }, "translate_to": { "title": "Translate captions to", "type": "string", "description": "Optional ISO language code supported by YouTube captions." }, "analysis_mode": { "title": "Analysis mode", "enum": [ "raw", "intelligence" ], "type": "string", "description": "Raw returns transcript formats. Intelligence also adds summary, chapters, action items, claims, keywords, and RAG chunks.", "default": "intelligence" }, "formats": { "title": "Output formats", "type": "array", "description": "Formats embedded in each successful dataset item.", "items": { "type": "string", "enum": [ "json", "text", "srt", "vtt" ], "enumTitles": [ "JSON segments", "Plain text", "SRT subtitles", "WebVTT subtitles" ] }, "default": [ "json" ] }, "proxy_mode": { "title": "Proxy strategy", "enum": [ "none", "auto", "residential" ], "type": "string", "description": "Auto tries direct access first and uses Apify residential proxy only when YouTube blocks the cloud IP.", "default": "auto" }, "chunk_chars": { "title": "RAG chunk size", "minimum": 200, "maximum": 5000, "type": "integer", "description": "Approximate maximum characters per segment-aligned RAG chunk.", "default": 1200 } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```