Video Transcript

zeropointrepo/youtube-skills/clawhub/video-transcript

by zeropointrepo4f7994b94e7dNo license1K starsListed Oct 8, 2026Updated Oct 8, 2026Repository updated 2 days ago

Use when video content needs to be extracted as text: pasted YouTube links or IDs, requests to transcribe, summarize, quote, translate, convert video to text, or extract information from video content. Also use when a user shares a video URL without explanation and wants to know what it says. Not for uploads or account management.

Instructions onlyProductivity & Workflow
AI-generated overview

Fetches YouTube video transcripts through the TranscriptAPI service and returns them as text or timestamped JSON.

What it does
This skill instructs an agent to call the TranscriptAPI transcript endpoint with a YouTube URL or 11-character video ID, using an API key and a User-Agent header. It returns the transcript either as readable text with optional timestamps or as structured JSON with per-segment start times and durations, and can include video metadata such as title and channel. It also documents error codes and guidance for summarizing long transcripts.
When to use it
Use it when a user shares a YouTube link or video ID and wants the spoken content as text, a summary, quotes, a translation, or extracted information. It is not intended for video uploads or account management.
Requirements
Internet access to transcriptapi.com and a TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY environment variable (a free tier provides 100 credits). Requests need an Authorization bearer header and a User-Agent header. No additional runtimes or dependencies are required, and the skill ships no scripts, only a reference document for key setup.

Video Transcript

Extract transcripts from videos via TranscriptAPI.com.

Setup

If $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY is not set, read references/auth-setup.md [blocked] and follow the instructions there to get and store the key.

Required Headers

Every request needs two headers:

  • Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
  • User-Agent: your agent's name and version if known (e.g. HermesAgent/0.11.0, ClaudeCode/1.0). Version is optional — agent name alone is fine. Do not omit this header or send a bare default — Cloudflare will return a 403 (error code 1010) and block the request.

GET /api/v2/youtube/transcript

bash
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/transcript\?video_url=VIDEO_URL&format=text&include_timestamp=true&send_metadata=true" \  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY" \  -H "User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0"
ParamRequiredDefaultValues
video_urlyes—YouTube URL or 11-char video ID
formatnojsonjson (structured), text (readable)
include_timestampnotruetrue, false
send_metadatanofalsetrue, false

Accepted URL formats:

  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID
  • https://youtu.be/VIDEO_ID
  • https://youtube.com/shorts/VIDEO_ID
  • Bare video ID: dQw4w9WgXcQ

Response (format=text&send_metadata=true):

json
{  "video_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",  "language": "en",  "transcript": "[00:00:18] We're no strangers to love\n[00:00:21] You know the rules...",  "metadata": {    "title": "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up",    "author_name": "Rick Astley",    "author_url": "https://www.youtube.com/@RickAstley",    "thumbnail_url": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dQw4w9WgXcQ/maxresdefault.jpg"  }}

Response (format=json):

json
{  "video_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",  "language": "en",  "transcript": [    { "text": "We're no strangers to love", "start": 18.0, "duration": 3.5 },    { "text": "You know the rules and so do I", "start": 21.5, "duration": 2.8 }  ]}

Tips

  • Summarize long transcripts into key points first, offer full text on request.
  • Use format=json when you need precise timestamps for quoting specific moments.
  • Use send_metadata=true to get video title and channel for context.
  • Works with YouTube Shorts too.

Errors

CodeMeaningAction
401Bad API keyCheck key or re-setup
402No creditsTop up at transcriptapi.com/billing
403/1010Cloudflare blockAdd or fix User-Agent header
404No transcriptVideo may not have captions enabled
408TimeoutRetry once after 2s

1 credit per successful request. Errors don't consume credits. Free tier: 100 credits, 300 req/min.

Source and attribution

Source:zeropointrepo/youtube-skillsinclawhub/video-transcriptat commit4f7994b

License: No license

Content belongs to its original authors. SourceWeft indexes it from a public repository.

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