YouTube Transcript Scraper

Export public YouTube captions as transcript text and optional timestamped segments. Supply video URLs or IDs, request a caption language, and download JSON or CSV for research, summaries, search indexes, and RAG.

This Actor retrieves existing public captions and may request a YouTube-provided translation when supported. It does not transcribe audio with AI when captions are missing or run its own translation model.

Ready-to-run examples

Open a saved example to inspect its inputs, then adjust the limits and filters for your own run. Examples are starting points; source availability can change.

• Extract YouTube Transcripts for AI Summaries
• Batch extract public captions from YouTube videos
• Extract Timestamped YouTube Transcript Segments
• Extract Podcast Video Transcripts for RAG
• Extract Spanish YouTube Captions
• Extract Webinar Transcripts for Knowledge Base

View all ready-to-run examples

Quick start

Paste one public video URL, keep maxVideos small, and inspect captionsAvailable, error, and transcriptText before using the output.

{
  "videoUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
    }
  ],
  "language": "en",
  "includeTimestamps": true,
  "includeMetadata": true,
  "maxVideos": 1
}

Example output

Illustrative shortened success record; the caption text below is not taken from the linked video. Optional metadata is omitted in this example.

{
  "videoId": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "videoUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "language": "en",
  "isAutoGenerated": false,
  "transcriptText": "Illustrative caption text.",
  "segments": [
    {
      "start": 0,
      "duration": 2.1,
      "text": "Illustrative caption text."
    }
  ],
  "captionsAvailable": true
}

What does it return?

One result row identifies each processed video. Successful results can include combined caption text, segment text, timing in seconds, the selected language, and available title/channel metadata. Unavailable captions or failed videos produce diagnostic rows; other videos in the batch can still complete.

Who is it for?

• Research teams: search and compare public talks, lectures, and interviews.
• Content teams: review webinar or demo captions and prepare source-linked summaries.
• RAG builders: chunk transcript text and retain video URLs and timestamps.
• Media reviewers: check language availability and caption quality before downstream use.

Input settings

Setting	JSON key	Type / default	What it does
YouTube video URLs	videoUrls	array / not set	Public YouTube watch, shorts, live, embed, or youtu.be URLs to extract transcripts from.
Video IDs	videoIds	array / []	Optional raw 11-character YouTube video IDs. Use this instead of URLs if you already have IDs.
Preferred caption language	language	string / "en"	Preferred caption language, such as en, es, de, or fr. The Actor may request a YouTube-provided translation when supported, then fall back to another available track. Check the returned language.
Include timestamps	includeTimestamps	boolean / true	Include start and duration values for every transcript segment.
Include video metadata	includeMetadata	boolean / true	Include title, channel name, duration, and thumbnail URL when YouTube exposes them publicly.
Maximum videos	maxVideos	integer / 5	Maximum number of videos to process in this run. Keep this low for the first test run. Minimum 1; maximum 500.
Proxy configuration	proxyConfiguration	object / {"useApifyProxy":true,"apifyProxyGroups":["RESIDENTIAL"]}	Optional proxy configuration for blocked requests. The input default selects Apify Residential Proxy; the current Actor tries direct access first and uses the configured proxy as fallback. Check your run cost before scaling.

URL and language behavior

Accepted inputs include watch, Shorts, live, embed, and youtu.be URLs. Put raw 11-character IDs in videoIds. Neither input mode discovers all videos on a channel.

The Actor first looks for the requested language or a related language variant. When supported, it may request a YouTube-provided caption translation. If that request fails or is unavailable, another public track can be selected; always check the returned language. With includeTimestamps: false, segments still contain text but timing fields are omitted. Metadata fields may be omitted when disabled or unavailable.

Output fields

JSON key	Type	Meaning
videoId	string	YouTube video identifier.
videoUrl	string	Canonical public watch URL.
title	string	Public title when metadata is enabled and available; otherwise omitted.
channelName	string	Public channel name when enabled and available; otherwise omitted.
language	string	Language of the selected caption track; may differ from the requested language.
isAutoGenerated	boolean	Whether the selected track is marked as auto-generated; omitted when unavailable.
transcriptText	string	Combined caption text when extraction succeeds.
segments	array	Caption text segments. Timing properties are included only when requested.
duration	number	Video length in seconds when metadata is enabled and available.
thumbnailUrl	string	Public thumbnail URL when metadata is enabled and available.
captionsAvailable	boolean	Whether public captions were available for this result; check error and transcriptText before consuming it.
error	string	Explanation for unavailable captions or an extraction failure; normally omitted on success.

Pricing

The start event is charged once for a valid run. The transcript event applies to successfully extracted transcript results. Unavailable-caption and error rows are saved for diagnosis without a transcript-result charge; the start charge and any applicable platform usage can still apply.

See the live Pricing tab for current rates and discounts. Check the cost shown for your account before scaling a run; any applicable platform usage is shown by Apify separately.

Tips and limits

• Check availability: private, deleted, members-only, region-restricted, or captionless videos may not yield transcript text.
• Check accuracy: automated captions can contain recognition errors; verify quotes against the original video.
• Control batch size: use maxVideos to cap work, especially when proxy fallback is needed.
• Handle partial results: inspect error even when the run completes; do not index an error row as a transcript.
• Respect content rights: public accessibility does not grant redistribution or model-training rights. Use captions only where your processing is permitted.

API usage

Use your Apify API token through the APIFY_TOKEN environment variable. Node.js and Python examples wait for the run and read its first dataset page; paginate the dataset for larger exports.

Node.js

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';
const client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN });
const run = await client.actor('fetch_cat/youtube-transcript-scraper').call({
  "videoUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
    }
  ],
  "language": "en",
  "includeTimestamps": true,
  "includeMetadata": true,
  "maxVideos": 1
});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items);

Python

import json
import os
from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient(os.environ["APIFY_TOKEN"])
run_input = json.loads('''{
  "videoUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
    }
  ],
  "language": "en",
  "includeTimestamps": true,
  "includeMetadata": true,
  "maxVideos": 1
}''')
run = client.actor("fetch_cat/youtube-transcript-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)
print(client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).list_items().items)

cURL

Save the quickstart JSON as input.json. This request starts a run asynchronously; use its returned run ID to check completion and its defaultDatasetId to retrieve results.

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/fetch_cat~youtube-transcript-scraper/runs" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --data-binary @input.json

MCP and AI agents

Use the official Apify MCP server, not a separate custom server. The focused URL below selects this Actor. Authenticate with Apify when your client prompts you; configuration syntax and OAuth support depend on the client.

Claude Code

$claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=fetch_cat/youtube-transcript-scraper"

HTTP-capable MCP client configuration

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=fetch_cat/youtube-transcript-scraper"
    }
  }
}

Example prompt: "Extract captions from these two public YouTube URLs. Summarize successful transcripts with timestamped source references and list unavailable videos separately."

Use the same input keys as the input table. Review the returned source URLs and any error or availability fields before using results in an automated summary.

Common workflows

• Knowledge-base updates: submit newly published video URLs, then send successful transcripts to your document or vector store.
• Scheduled reviews: schedule a fixed input list with Apify and compare exports downstream; channel discovery is a separate step.
• Timestamped summaries: ask your downstream model to cite the video URL and segment start time for each claim.

FAQ

Does it work without YouTube cookies?

It is designed for public videos and caption tracks without a YouTube login. Apify API and MCP access still require Apify authentication.

Why is transcript text missing?

Read error and captionsAvailable. Captions may be unavailable, inaccessible, or blocked for that request. A successful batch run does not mean every video yielded text.

Can I request Spanish or French captions?

Yes, set language to es or fr. Check the returned language because the Actor can fall back to another available track.

Does it export SRT or VTT files?

This Actor returns a dataset with text and optional segments. Use the segment timing to create subtitle files downstream; it does not promise native SRT/VTT output.

Related Actors

More YouTube scrapers

• YouTube Channel Email Scraper
• YouTube Comments Scraper
• YouTube Search Results Scraper
• YouTube Channel Details Scraper
• YouTube Video Details Scraper

Support

If a run fails or output looks wrong, open an issue from the Actor page. Include the Apify run ID or run URL, non-sensitive input JSON, expected output, actual output, and one reproducible public URL (or the exact search input). Do not share tokens, cookies, passwords, or private data.