TranscriptFetch

com.transcriptfetchPublished by transcriptfetch.comOfficial publisherv1.2.3Updated Oct 30, 2026

Transcript retrieval for YouTube, TikTok and Instagram: whole channels, playlists and searches.

VerifiedStreamable HTTPWeb executableWeb Search & ScrapingMedia & Design

Overview

AI-generated overview

TranscriptFetch gives an assistant transcripts, video search and channel or playlist listings for YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, with AI transcription when…

What you can do
  • Fetch a transcript for a YouTube, TikTok or Instagram video or a direct media URL, with optional markdown, chunked or plain-text output
  • Search videos on YouTube, TikTok or Instagram, filtering by upload date, duration, captions and sort order
  • Find channels and playlists by keyword
  • List a channel's videos, Shorts, live streams, playlists or podcasts, and a playlist's videos
  • Check the remaining credit balance for the API key
When to use it
Useful when you want an assistant to read, summarize or quote video content from YouTube, TikTok or Instagram, or to research a channel or playlist without copying transcripts by hand.
Requirements
A TranscriptFetch account and an API key passed in TRANSCRIPTFETCH_API_KEY. Either the hosted remote endpoint with OAuth or API key, or the local npm package run with npx, which needs Node 18+. Optional TRANSCRIPTFETCH_BASE_URL overrides the API host.
Before you install
The API key is a billable credential; keep it out of shared configs. Usage is metered in credits (50 free per month), with caption fetches and video lists costing 1 credit and AI transcription 1 credit per started 5 minutes of audio, charged only on delivery. Requests send video URLs and search terms to TranscriptFetch's API.

Installation

In SourceWeft

  1. Open TranscriptFetch in the dashboard and add it to a workspace.
  2. Connect the required credentials. They are stored privately and never shown on public pages.
  3. Enable the server for the chats that should use its tools.

Web executable via Streamable HTTP. Remote servers run from the web runtime once configured in a workspace.

Use with an agent

Paste this prompt into Claude Code, Codex, Cursor or another agent — or into SourceWeft chat. The agent reads this server's install guide, shows you its publisher, endpoint and sign-in, and adds it to your client once you agree. Keys never go into a command.

Read https://sourceweft.com/mcp/com.transcriptfetch%2Fyoutube-transcripts/install.md and connect the MCP server it describes to my client. Before changing any config, show me its publisher, endpoint and sign-in method and wait for my OK. Never put an API key in a command or in a file I would commit; ask me where it should come from.

Read the install guide the agent follows

Other MCP clients

Add this to your client's mcpServers config. The client completes OAuth sign-in on first connect.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "transcriptfetch": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://transcriptfetch.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

README

[TranscriptFetch]

TranscriptFetch MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol server that gives any MCP client (Claude Desktop, Cursor, and others) access to the TranscriptFetch API: a production transcript API for YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, with AI transcription when captions are missing. Fetch transcripts, search videos, list channels and playlists, and check your credit balance.

Get an API key

  1. Create a free account at transcriptfetch.com. No card needed.
  2. Open Dashboard, then API keys and create a key. It starts with tf_live_.
  3. Put it in TRANSCRIPTFETCH_API_KEY in the client configuration below.

Every account gets 50 free credits a month. Failures are free: a fetch that returns no transcript is never charged.

Runs locally over stdio and calls the TranscriptFetch API with your key. Prefer a hosted, remote server? Point your client at https://transcriptfetch.com/mcp instead (OAuth or API key). The hosted server waits inline for short-form AI transcription, so no polling is needed there.

Tools

ToolWhat it does
get_transcriptTranscript for a video: YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, or a direct media URL. When a video has no captions but has speech, the audio is transcribed automatically; ai_fallback: true goes straight to the audio. Optional markdown (timestamped, linked paragraphs), chunks (about 500 tokens each, for a vector store) and timestamps: false for text only
search_videosSearch YouTube (default), TikTok or Instagram. On YouTube, filter by upload_date, duration and captions, and sort by views
search_channelsFind YouTube channels (default) or playlists by keyword
list_channel_videosA YouTube channel's videos, Shorts or live streams (tab), sorted newest, popular or oldest, or searched with query; also a TikTok or Instagram profile
list_channel_playlistsA YouTube channel's playlists, or its podcasts
list_playlist_videosA YouTube or TikTok playlist's videos
get_creditsRemaining credit balance for the key. Never billed

These are the same seven tools, with the same inputs, as the hosted server at https://transcriptfetch.com/mcp: npm run sync-tools regenerates them from its public card.

Pricing is per successful result: a caption fetch or a video list costs 1 credit, and AI transcription of the audio costs 1 credit per started 5 minutes of audio, charged only on delivery. Failed, blocked and empty results are never charged, which matters on short-form video where many clips have no speech at all.

Install

No install needed. Run it on demand with npx:

bash
TRANSCRIPTFETCH_API_KEY=tf_live_... npx -y transcriptfetch-mcp

Or install globally:

bash
npm install -g transcriptfetch-mcp

Requires Node 18+.

Run from source

bash
git clone https://github.com/TranscriptFetch/mcp-servercd mcp-server && npm install && npm run build

Then point your client at the built entrypoint with "command": "node" and "args": ["/absolute/path/to/mcp-server/dist/index.js"].

Client configuration

Claude Desktop

Add this to claude_desktop_config.json (Settings then Developer then Edit Config):

json
{  "mcpServers": {    "transcriptfetch": {      "command": "npx",      "args": ["-y", "transcriptfetch-mcp"],      "env": { "TRANSCRIPTFETCH_API_KEY": "tf_live_..." }    }  }}

Cursor

Add the same block under mcpServers in your Cursor MCP settings.

Restart the client, and the five tools appear.

Example

Once connected, ask your assistant naturally:

Get the transcript for https://youtu.be/aircAruvnKk and summarize the key points.

Search YouTube for "how transformers work" and list the top 5 videos.

List the latest videos from @lexfridman and pull the transcript of the newest one.

How many TranscriptFetch credits do I have left?

The assistant picks the matching tool and works from the returned transcript or video list.

Configuration

Env varRequiredDefault
TRANSCRIPTFETCH_API_KEYyesnone
TRANSCRIPTFETCH_BASE_URLnohttps://transcriptfetch.com

Docker

The server speaks MCP over stdio, so there is no port to expose. -i is required: without an attached stdin the transport closes immediately and the container looks like it crashed.

bash
docker build -t transcriptfetch-mcp .docker run --rm -i -e TRANSCRIPTFETCH_API_KEY=tf_live_... transcriptfetch-mcp

Links

License

MIT

Source: README.md at commit d771efd

Tools

0
This server asks you to sign in, so SourceWeft could not read its tools without an account and has not indexed them. What a connected account sees can depend on that account and its permissions.

Version history

2
  1. v1.2.3LatestOct 23, 2026
  2. v1.2.2Sep 16, 2026

Score

85% of the applicable checks met

How complete this listing is, computed from the registry entry, the endpoint and public sources. Not a rating of the server and not a statement that it is safe or working today: reachability is a dated check, and no installs or reviews go into the score.

  • Reached in the last 30 daysRequired25 pts
  • Auth declaredRequired10 pts
  • Tools listed15 pts

    Answer tools/list without a credential, or ship a package that starts in a sandbox without one.

  • DescriptionRequired15 pts
  • Logo10 pts
  • Documentation15 pts
  • License10 pts