# YouTube Transcript Extractor: Batch, Timestamps, RAG Chunks (`quiethand098/youtube-transcript-rag-extractor`) Actor

Batch YouTube transcripts from video or playlist URLs: clean text, timestamped segments and RAG-ready chunks with deep links. No API key.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/quiethand098/youtube-transcript-rag-extractor.md
- **Developed by:** [Quiet Hand](https://apify.com/quiethand098) (community)
- **Categories:** AI, Videos
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$4.00 / 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

## YouTube Transcript Extractor: batch, timestamps, RAG-ready chunks

Get the transcript of any YouTube video that has captions. Paste video URLs, IDs or a playlist link and receive clean text, optional timestamped segments, and optional chunks sized for vector databases (each chunk carries its start time and a deep link).

### Why use it

- **Batch**: hundreds of videos in one run, plus playlists (first 100 videos).
- **RAG-ready**: set `chunkChars` (for example 1000) and get sentence-aligned chunks with `startSeconds` and a `&t=` link for citations.
- **Language control**: asks for your language first, falls back to auto-generated or any available track.
- **No API key, no cookies, no login.**
- **You pay only for transcripts delivered**: videos without captions are reported in the `ERRORS` key-value record and are not charged.

### Input

| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `videos` | Video URLs, 11-character IDs, youtu.be/shorts links, or playlist URLs |
| `language` | Preferred language code, default `en` |
| `includeSegments` | Add `segments` with start and duration |
| `chunkChars` | 0 = off; otherwise approximate chunk size in characters |

### Output example

```json
{ "videoId": "dQw4w9WgXcQ", "title": "...", "channel": "...", "language": "en", "autoGenerated": false,
  "text": "We're no strangers to love ...", "wordCount": 340,
  "chunks": [{ "index": 0, "startSeconds": 18.6, "link": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ&t=18s", "text": "..." }] }
```

### Use cases

LLM and RAG pipelines, video summarization, content repurposing, research datasets, SEO and keyword analysis of video content.

Only public videos with available captions are supported. Respect YouTube's terms and creators' rights when using extracted text.

# Actor input Schema

## `videos` (type: `array`):

YouTube video URLs, 11-character video IDs, or playlist URLs (first 100 videos of a playlist). Short youtu.be and /shorts/ links work.

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

Language code such as en, de, es. Falls back to the first available track (auto-generated tracks included).

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

Add a segments array with start time and duration for each caption line.

## `chunkChars` (type: `integer`):

If above 0, output a chunks array with text split at sentence boundaries to about this size, each with its start time and a deep link. Ready for vector databases. 0 disables.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "videos": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
  ],
  "language": "en",
  "includeSegments": false,
  "chunkChars": 0
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (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 = {
    "videos": [
        "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("quiethand098/youtube-transcript-rag-extractor").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 = { "videos": ["https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("quiethand098/youtube-transcript-rag-extractor").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 '{
  "videos": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
  ]
}' |
apify call quiethand098/youtube-transcript-rag-extractor --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,quiethand098/youtube-transcript-rag-extractor"
        }
    }
}
```

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/kNOEby9ODApyOFbj2/builds/foCvxjMjfQnmScvGR/openapi.json