# YouTube Transcript Extractor (`skilled_glee/youtube-transcript-extractor`) Actor

YouTube video URLs in, timestamped transcript JSON out. Reads YouTube's published caption tracks directly: no AI, no browser. Per-video segments with start times and text. One failed video never kills the batch.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/skilled_glee/youtube-transcript-extractor.md
- **Developed by:** [EchoEmpire LLC](https://apify.com/skilled_glee) (community)
- **Categories:** Videos, Developer tools, Social media
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$8.40 / 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

YouTube video URLs in, timestamped transcript JSON out.

### What it does

Extracts published YouTube caption tracks without AI transcription or browser automation. Each requested video produces one terminal dataset record, so a private, malformed, or captionless video does not discard useful siblings in the same batch.

### Input

```json
{
  "videoUrls": ["https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"],
  "language": "en",
  "includeAutoGenerated": true
}
```

- `videoUrls` accepts watch, youtu.be, embed, and shorts URLs or bare 11-character video IDs.
- `language` is the preferred caption language code and defaults to `en`.
- `includeAutoGenerated` defaults to `true`.

### Output

The default dataset contains one record per requested video. Successful records include `videoId`, `url`, `languageCode`, `languageName`, `isAutoGenerated`, `segments` (an array of `{text, start, duration}`), `fullText`, `segmentCount`, `actorVersion`, and `contractId`. Failed items have `status: "error"` and a human-readable `error` value.

The key-value store record `run-summary` contains requested, succeeded, failed, and billed counts plus the input settings and version identity.

### Pricing

Pay per event: **$0.0084 per successful transcript** (`transcript-extracted`). The event is charged only after a useful transcript record is saved. Error records are not billed.

### Limits

- Only videos with a published caption track can return a transcript.
- Age-restricted, private, deleted, or region-blocked videos may return a structured error.
- Caption text is an external, mutable YouTube source and may change upstream.

# Actor input Schema

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

YouTube watch, youtu.be, embed, or shorts URLs, or bare 11-character video IDs.

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

Preferred caption language code, such as en, es, or de. Falls back to another available manual track.

## `includeAutoGenerated` (type: `boolean`):

Allow YouTube auto-generated captions when no qualifying manual captions exist.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "videoUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
  ],
  "language": "en",
  "includeAutoGenerated": true
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

Dataset containing one terminal success or error record for each requested video.

## `summary` (type: `string`):

JSON summary containing requested, succeeded, failed, and billed counts plus the actor and contract versions.

# 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("skilled_glee/youtube-transcript-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 = { "videoUrls": ["https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"] }

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

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,skilled_glee/youtube-transcript-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/aOQi59L2ZcIoLMQJv/builds/WpfZzOVU8pkx2ZKbN/openapi.json