# YouTube Transcript & Chapter Extractor (`gifted_wagon/youtube-transcript-extractor-pro`) Actor

Extract clean YouTube transcripts with timestamps, language preference, chapters, video metadata, plain text, and explicit failure records—no buyer API key required.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/gifted\_wagon/youtube-transcript-extractor-pro.md
- **Developed by:** [Michael Olmos](https://apify.com/gifted_wagon) (community)
- **Categories:** Videos, AI, Developer tools
- **Stats:** 3 total users, 2 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $3.00 / 1,000 transcript extracteds

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

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 Transcript & Chapter Extractor

Extract structured YouTube transcripts with timestamps, language selection, joined plain text, chapters parsed from descriptions, and video metadata. No buyer API key is required.

### Why use it

- Language preferences use exact matches first, then related base languages.
- Returns both clean plain text and timestamped segments.
- Includes available caption languages, chapters, metadata, counts, and canonical URLs.
- Invalid, unavailable, disabled-caption, and rate-limited videos become explicit failure rows.

### Input

Provide `videoUrls`, optional `languageCodes`, and a bounded `maxVideos`. Run the default input for a public YouTube Developers sample.

```json
{
  "videoUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7lc1UVf-VE"
  ],
  "languageCodes": ["en"],
  "maxVideos": 10,
  "includeSegments": true,
  "includePlainText": true,
  "includeMetadata": true
}
```

### Output and workflows

Each requested video produces a success or explicit failure row. Successful rows include the canonical video URL, selected and available languages, timestamped transcript segments, joined text, chapters, metadata, and counts according to the selected output switches.

Common uses include RAG ingestion, searchable video archives, research, summaries, show notes, accessibility workflows, quote discovery, and joining transcripts with channel metadata. Verify source context and rights before publishing derived material.

### API and automation

```bash
curl -X POST \
  "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/gifted_wagon~youtube-transcript-extractor-pro/run-sync-get-dataset-items" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"videoUrls":["https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7lc1UVf-VE"],"languageCodes":["en"]}'
```

In n8n or Make, map new video URLs into `videoUrls`, send joined text to the next AI or storage step, and route failure rows for review. For recurring channel workflows, combine this Actor with YouTube Channel Video Explorer.

### Pricing

The primary `transcript-extracted` event starts at **$0.004 per successful transcript**. Only successful transcript rows are charged; failed videos and the `OUTPUT` summary are uncharged. A small Actor-start event covers startup.

### Responsible use

Use public captions only where your purpose and applicable terms, copyright, privacy, and data-protection rules permit. This Actor does not bypass private, paid, age-restricted, or disabled captions. YouTube is a trademark of Google LLC; this independent Actor is not affiliated with or endorsed by YouTube.

The default dataset contains one result per requested video. `OUTPUT` contains counts, budget status, and the value-event name.

### FAQ and limitations

- **Is a buyer API key required?** No.
- **Can it generate captions when a video has none?** No. It extracts available public caption tracks; it does not transcribe audio.
- **Does it bypass private, paid, age-restricted, or disabled captions?** No.
- **How is language selected?** Requested language codes are tried in order, with related base-language fallback when available.

# Actor input Schema

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

Watch, Shorts, Live, Embed, youtu.be URLs, or 11-character video IDs.

## `languageCodes` (type: `array`):

BCP 47 language codes in preference order. The first available exact or base-language match is used.

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

Hard cap applied before extraction and charging.

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

Return each cleaned caption segment with offset, duration, and language.

## `includePlainText` (type: `boolean`):

Join cleaned segments into one analysis-ready text field.

## `includeMetadata` (type: `boolean`):

Return public title, author, channel, duration, view count, description, keywords, thumbnails, and live status.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "videoUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7lc1UVf-VE"
  ],
  "languageCodes": [
    "en"
  ],
  "maxVideos": 10,
  "includeSegments": true,
  "includePlainText": true,
  "includeMetadata": true
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `dataset` (type: `string`):

No description

## `summary` (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 = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("gifted_wagon/youtube-transcript-extractor-pro").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 = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("gifted_wagon/youtube-transcript-extractor-pro").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 '{}' |
apify call gifted_wagon/youtube-transcript-extractor-pro --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

```

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/13Dze5Ll0q3BaQeWa/builds/DXa2esb52LjgFCRrN/openapi.json