# Universal Video Transcript & Hook Extractor (`phoebe-labs/universal-video-transcript-scraper`) Actor

Extract transcripts, timestamps, and 3-second opening hooks across YouTube, Instagram Reels, and TikTok without expensive transcription API costs.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/phoebe-labs/universal-video-transcript-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Phoebe Labs](https://apify.com/phoebe-labs) (community)
- **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 extracteds

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

## Universal Video Transcript & Viral Hook Extractor 🎙️

Fast, multi-platform video transcript extractor for **YouTube**, **Instagram Reels**, and **TikTok**. Extracts full spoken audio transcripts, sentence-level timestamps, and isolated **3-second opening hooks** with zero speech-to-text API costs.

***

### 🚀 Why Use This Scraper?

- **Multi-Platform Support:** Works seamlessly with standard URLs across YouTube (Videos & Shorts), Instagram Reels, and TikTok.
- **Viral Hook Isolation:** Automatically isolates the opening 3-second spoken sentence—essential for content repurposing, ad creative analysis, and social media agencies.
- **Zero Audio Processing Delays:** Directly extracts closed captions and timed-text tracks in sub-second execution times.
- **Timestamps Included:** Returns granular start times and duration per spoken segment.

***

### 🛠️ Input Parameters

```json
{
  "videoUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "https://www.instagram.com/reel/C8..."
  ],
  "extractHooks": true,
  "includeTimestamps": true
}
```

***

### 📦 Output Format

```json
[
  {
    "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "platform": "YOUTUBE",
    "title": "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up (Official Music Video)",
    "hasCaptions": true,
    "hook": "We're no strangers to love",
    "fullTranscript": "We're no strangers to love You know the rules and so do I...",
    "segments": [
      { "start": 18.5, "duration": 3.2, "text": "We're no strangers to love" },
      { "start": 22.0, "duration": 2.8, "text": "You know the rules and so do I" }
    ],
    "scrapedAt": "2026-11-03T17:00:00.000Z"
  }
]
```

***

### 💡 Top Use Cases

- **AI Video Repurposers:** Feed transcripts into LLMs to automatically generate Twitter threads, LinkedIn carousels, and blog summaries.
- **Viral Hook Research:** Benchmark opening lines of top-performing Reels and Shorts in your niche.
- **SEO & Accessibility:** Generate automated captions and search-indexed summaries.

Built by **phoebe-labs**.

# Actor input Schema

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

List of video URLs (YouTube, YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, or TikTok).

## `extractHooks` (type: `boolean`):

Isolates the opening 3-second spoken sentence for hook analysis.

## `includeTimestamps` (type: `boolean`):

Returns start and duration offsets for every sentence/phrase.

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

Apify proxy settings. Recommended for Instagram and TikTok URLs.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "videoUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
  ],
  "extractHooks": true,
  "includeTimestamps": true,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

Dataset containing video transcripts, timestamps, and hook analysis.

# 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.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("phoebe-labs/universal-video-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.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("phoebe-labs/universal-video-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.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
  ]
}' |
apify call phoebe-labs/universal-video-transcript-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,phoebe-labs/universal-video-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/HFOp4a5VwhFM9P4zJ/builds/aeDULOvUmWaLYIPuN/openapi.json