# YouTube Transcript Scraper (`superslowsloth/youtube-transcript-scraper`) Actor

Extract timed transcripts and captions from YouTube videos in bulk. Paste video IDs, watch URLs, youtu.be links or Shorts links and get one row per caption line with start time, duration, text and language. Works on auto-generated and human captions in any language.

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

## Pricing

from $0.70 / 1,000 transcript lines

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

Extract timed transcripts and captions from YouTube videos in bulk, with no API key, no OAuth and no quota. Give it a list of videos and it returns one row per caption line, with the start time, the duration, the text and the language code.

### What you can do with it

- Feed video transcripts to an LLM for summarising, tagging or question answering
- Build a searchable archive of a channel's spoken content
- Pull subtitles for translation or repurposing into articles and social posts
- Analyse how competitors talk about a topic across hundreds of videos
- Time-align quotes back to the exact second they were said

### Input

| Field | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `videoIds` | array | Bare video IDs, watch URLs, `youtu.be` links or `/shorts/` links. Mixed input is fine. |
| `language` | string | Optional two-letter code such as `en` or `ja`. Falls back to the video's first available track. |
| `proxyConfiguration` | object | Recommended. YouTube refuses most datacenter addresses. |

```json
{
  "videoIds": [
    "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "https://youtu.be/9bZkp7q19f0",
    "https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kX0KTNBiisM"
  ],
  "language": "en",
  "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"] }
}
```

### Output

One dataset item per caption line:

```json
{
  "video_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "start": 18.64,
  "duration": 3.24,
  "text": "We're no strangers to love",
  "language": "en"
}
```

Export as JSON, CSV, Excel or XML from the dataset, or read it straight from the Apify API.

### Languages and auto-generated captions

Both human-written and auto-generated (ASR) tracks are supported, in every language YouTube offers them. Set `language` to prefer a specific track; when that language is not available the video's first track is used instead, and the `language` field on each row tells you which one you actually got.

### Pricing

Pay per result. You are charged for each transcript line delivered, plus a small per-run start fee. Videos that are skipped cost you nothing beyond that start fee.

### Videos that return nothing

Some videos genuinely have no transcript, and this actor tells you which rather than failing the whole run:

- **No captions available** — the uploader disabled them and no auto-generated track exists
- **Age-restricted or private** — the video cannot be read without signing in
- **Region-blocked** — not available from the address the run used

Every skipped video is reported in the run log with its reason, and the run finishes normally with the transcripts it did get.

### Why a proxy is recommended

YouTube refuses most datacenter addresses with a bot check. With `RESIDENTIAL` proxy groups enabled the check does not fire, and runs complete without retries. Without a proxy, expect a portion of your videos to be skipped.

### FAQ

**Do I need a YouTube API key?** No. There is no key, no OAuth flow and no daily quota.

**How many videos can I pass at once?** There is no fixed limit. The run processes them in order and reports what it could not read.

**Can I get the whole transcript as one block of text?** Each row is one caption line with its timing. Concatenate the `text` fields in order to get a single block, or keep the timings to link back to the moment in the video.

**Does it work on Shorts?** Yes, when the Short has captions. Pass the `/shorts/` URL directly.

# Actor input Schema

## `videoIds` (type: `array`):

Bare video IDs, watch URLs, youtu.be links, or /shorts/ links. Mixed input is fine.

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

Two-letter code such as en or ja. Falls back to the video's first available track.

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

Recommended. YouTube rate-limits datacenter addresses.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "videoIds": [
    "dQw4w9WgXcQ"
  ],
  "language": "en",
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `transcripts` (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 = {
    "videoIds": [
        "dQw4w9WgXcQ"
    ],
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": true
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("superslowsloth/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 = {
    "videoIds": ["dQw4w9WgXcQ"],
    "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": True },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("superslowsloth/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 '{
  "videoIds": [
    "dQw4w9WgXcQ"
  ],
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}' |
apify call superslowsloth/youtube-transcript-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,superslowsloth/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/fZY24Gz1KEGqdGbw2/builds/5sYa7ymmePgyj2Vfa/openapi.json