YouTube Shorts Transcript Extractor

Extract transcripts from YouTube Shorts — the short-form vertical videos (up to 3 minutes) that dominate short-form discovery. Purpose-built for the Shorts format: paste a Shorts URL and get back timestamped text optimized for hook analysis, script extraction, and automated captioning.

Works with any public YouTube Short. No login required.

What it does

1. You provide a YouTube Shorts URL (/shorts/<id>).
2. The actor extracts the spoken transcript with precise timestamps.
3. You get back structured text in JSON, plain text, SRT, or WebVTT — ready for creator research, caption generation, or trend analysis.

Unlike generic YouTube transcript tools, this actor is purpose-built for Shorts. It accepts only Shorts URLs, making it the right choice when your pipeline specifically targets short-form vertical content.

Key features

• Shorts-specific — accepts only /shorts/ URLs. No ambiguity about which YouTube format you are targeting.
• Hook & script extraction — Shorts live or die by their opening line. Get timestamped text to identify and study high-performing hooks at scale.
• Captioning-ready output — export SRT or WebVTT files directly usable in video editors for burned-in or soft captions.
• Timestamped segments — every word group has a start and end time, enabling word-for-word alignment to the video timeline.
• 4 output formats — JSON with timestamps, plain text, SRT, or WebVTT.
• Multi-language — uses YouTube's caption tracks when available; speech-to-text fallback covers 14 languages.
• No login required.

Supported languages

When YouTube provides caption tracks (auto-generated or manual), the actor uses them in the language you specify. When captions are absent, speech-to-text fallback supports:

Code	Language
en	English
es	Spanish
fr	French
de	German
pt	Portuguese
it	Italian
nl	Dutch
ja	Japanese
ko	Korean
zh	Chinese
ar	Arabic
ru	Russian
tr	Turkish
hi	Hindi

Input

Field	Type	Default	Description
url	string	(required)	YouTube Shorts URL
language	string	"en"	Preferred language (ISO 639-1)
format	string	"json"	"json", "text", "srt", or "vtt"

Supported URLs

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/dQw4w9WgXcQ
https://youtube.com/shorts/dQw4w9WgXcQ

Only /shorts/ URL formats are accepted. Standard watch?v= or youtu.be URLs are not supported by this actor — use a YouTube transcript actor for those.

Output example

When format is json, each dataset row looks like this:

{
    "url": "https://www.youtube.com/shorts/dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "platform": "youtube",
    "language": "en",
    "duration_sec": 58,
    "segments": [
        { "start": 0.0, "end": 2.8, "text": "Three things nobody tells you about cold email." },
        { "start": 2.8, "end": 6.1, "text": "First: your subject line is the only thing that matters in the first pass." }
    ],
    "full_text": "Three things nobody tells you about cold email. First: your subject line is the only thing that matters in the first pass."
}

The platform value is "youtube" because Shorts are part of the YouTube platform.

When format is text, srt, or vtt, the formatted transcript is written to the actor's key-value store under the OUTPUT key.

When extraction fails, the dataset row contains a clear error:

{
    "error": "NOT_FOUND",
    "message": "The video is private, removed, or has no extractable transcript."
}

Error codes

Code	Meaning
INVALID_FORMAT	format was not one of json/text/srt/vtt
BAD_REQUEST	The URL was malformed or rejected by the transcript operation
UNSUPPORTED_PLATFORM	No transcript operation serves this URL's platform
UNAUTHORIZED	The actor's ScriptBase key is missing, invalid, or revoked
INSUFFICIENT_CREDITS	The ScriptBase account behind this actor is out of credits
NOT_FOUND	The video is private, removed, or has no extractable transcript
UPSTREAM_FAILED	Every transcript source failed -- retry shortly
RATE_LIMITED	Too many requests -- retry after a short delay
TIMEOUT	Extraction took longer than the actor's poll budget
INTERNAL_ERROR	Unexpected error during extraction

Use cases

• Hook analysis — scrape the first 3–5 seconds of transcript from dozens of viral Shorts to identify which opening patterns drive views and watch time.
• Script research & competitor analysis — reverse-engineer scripts from top-performing creators in your niche without watching each Short manually.
• Automated captioning — generate SRT files for your own Shorts to boost accessibility and engagement. Research consistently shows captions increase watch time on short-form video.
• Trend detection — batch-extract transcripts from Shorts surfaced by a keyword search and analyze recurring phrases, topics, or calls to action.
• Content repurposing — turn a Short's spoken content into a tweet thread, LinkedIn post, or email hook without transcribing by hand.
• Training data — collect a labeled dataset of short-form spoken content across niches for NLP model fine-tuning.

Integrations

Use this actor through the Apify API or plug it into your automation tools:

• Python — apify_client.actor("your-actor-id").call(run_input={"url": "https://www.youtube.com/shorts/dQw4w9WgXcQ"})
• JavaScript — await client.actor("your-actor-id").call({url: "https://www.youtube.com/shorts/dQw4w9WgXcQ"})
• Zapier / Make / n8n — feed a list of Shorts URLs from a YouTube Shorts scraper and auto-generate transcripts for each one.
• Webhooks — receive the completed transcript payload instantly, triggering downstream analysis or publishing workflows.

FAQ

Does this work with regular YouTube videos or only Shorts? Only Shorts (/shorts/<id> URLs). For standard YouTube videos, use a YouTube transcript actor.

Does it need a YouTube account? No. Any publicly accessible Short can be transcribed without credentials.

What does platform: "youtube" mean in the output? YouTube Shorts are part of the YouTube platform, so the detected platform value is "youtube".

My Short has no captions — will it still work? Yes. Speech-to-text extraction runs when captions are unavailable. See the supported languages table.

Can I process hundreds of Shorts at once? Yes. Loop over a list of URLs via the Apify API or build a Make/n8n flow. Calls are independent and can run in parallel.

What about age-restricted Shorts? Age-restricted content requires a login, which this actor does not support. Only public, unrestricted Shorts work.

What does it cost? Pricing is per transcribed minute (1 minute = 1 charge unit, minimum 1), so you pay only for the audio actually processed — and failed extractions cost nothing. The exact per-minute price is shown on this actor's Apify Store page.