# YouTube Transcript Scraper – Captions & Metadata (`signal_lab/youtube-transcript-scraper`) Actor

Extract full public YouTube transcripts with timestamps, language selection, caption type, and video metadata. No YouTube API key required.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/signal\_lab/youtube-transcript-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Signal Lab](https://apify.com/signal_lab) (community)
- **Categories:** Videos, Developer tools, AI
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.01 / 1,000 results

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?

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 Scraper – Captions & Metadata

Extract the full public transcript of YouTube videos without a YouTube Data API key. Turn public YouTube captions into clean text, timestamped JSON, and video metadata for RAG, research, summaries, and automation. Each successful video produces one dataset row.

### Get your first transcript in under a minute

1. Open the **Input** tab.
2. Keep the verified example below or replace it with any public YouTube URL that has captions.
3. Click **Start**.
4. Open the dataset to copy the full transcript or export it as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, or RSS.

```json
{
  "urls": ["dQw4w9WgXcQ"],
  "preferredLanguages": ["en"],
  "preferManual": true,
  "includeSegments": true,
  "maxVideos": 1
}
```

The verified example returns a dataset row with `videoId`, `title`, `channelName`, `languageCode`, `transcript`, and timestamped `segments`. A video with no public captions is reported in `OUTPUT` and is not charged as a transcript result.

### Use cases

- Build RAG and semantic-search datasets from videos.
- Turn videos into research notes, summaries, blog drafts, or training material.
- Monitor how brands and topics are discussed on YouTube.
- Feed transcripts into Make, n8n, Zapier, an LLM, or a vector database.
- Export YouTube captions to text, JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, or RSS.

### Input and language selection

Add YouTube watch, Shorts, live, embed, or `youtu.be` URLs, or raw 11-character video IDs. Set `preferredLanguages` in priority order and choose whether manual captions should rank above auto-generated tracks. The Actor uses another available track when an exact language is missing.

### Output

One paid dataset row is created per successful video. Videos without public captions, private/deleted videos, and region or age restrictions are reported in `OUTPUT` and do not create result rows.

### Pricing and limitations

Exact pay-per-event prices are shown in the Pricing tab. This Actor reads captions that YouTube exposes publicly; it does not transcribe audio, bypass access controls, or download media. Availability can vary by video and region.

# Actor input Schema

## `urls` (type: `array`):

Public watch, Shorts, live, embed, youtu.be URLs, or 11-character video IDs.

## `preferredLanguages` (type: `array`):

Priority order, for example en, uk, de.

## `preferManual` (type: `boolean`):

Rank creator-provided caption tracks above auto-generated tracks for the same language.

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

Include start time, duration, and text for every caption segment in addition to the full transcript.

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

Hard cap on videos attempted and billable successful transcript rows.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "urls": [
    "dQw4w9WgXcQ"
  ],
  "preferredLanguages": [
    "en"
  ],
  "preferManual": true,
  "includeSegments": true,
  "maxVideos": 5
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `transcripts` (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 = {
    "urls": [
        "dQw4w9WgXcQ"
    ],
    "preferredLanguages": [
        "en"
    ],
    "preferManual": true,
    "includeSegments": true,
    "maxVideos": 5
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("signal_lab/youtube-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 = {
    "urls": ["dQw4w9WgXcQ"],
    "preferredLanguages": ["en"],
    "preferManual": True,
    "includeSegments": True,
    "maxVideos": 5,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("signal_lab/youtube-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 '{
  "urls": [
    "dQw4w9WgXcQ"
  ],
  "preferredLanguages": [
    "en"
  ],
  "preferManual": true,
  "includeSegments": true,
  "maxVideos": 5
}' |
apify call signal_lab/youtube-transcript-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,signal_lab/youtube-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/hXFXSfxSZnzeTkl7X/builds/gbdKXUqxw09aAr0mq/openapi.json