youtube-data

The saved excerpt is a snapshot from when this skill was listed. The external source remains the complete and most current version.

---
name: youtube-data
description: "Use when structured YouTube data is needed: pasted video/channel/playlist links, transcripts for analysis, video metadata, channel upload history, search results, or playlist contents — without Google API quotas or OAuth. Triggers on YouTube URLs, creator names, topic research, or any request needing YouTube content, even if not mentioned explicitly. Not for uploads, account management, or written-source-only research."
version: "1.6.2"
user-invocable: true
compatibility: Requires internet access to reach transcriptapi.com. No additional runtimes or dependencies needed.
required_environment_variables:
  - name: TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
    prompt: Your TranscriptAPI key (starts with sk_)
    help: Free account at https://transcriptapi.com — 100 credits, no card required. Or let the agent create one for you.
    required_for: all API requests
metadata: {"openclaw":{"emoji":"▶️","requires":{"env":["TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"]},"primaryEnv":"TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY","homepage":"https://transcriptapi.com"},"hermes":{"tags":["youtube","transcripts","video","search","channels","playlists","data","metadata"],"category":"media"}}
---

# YouTube Data

YouTube data access via [TranscriptAPI.com](https://transcriptapi.com) — lightweight alternative to Google's YouTube Data API.

## Setup

If `$TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY` is not set, read [references/auth-setup.md](references/auth-setup.md) 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.

## API Reference

Full OpenAPI spec: [transcriptapi.com/openapi.json](https://transcriptapi.com/openapi.json) — consult this for the latest parameters and schemas.

## Video Data (transcript + metadata) — 1 credit

```http
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/transcript?video_url=VIDEO_URL&format=json&include_timestamp=true&send_metadata=true
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0
```

**Response:**

```json
{
  "video_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "language": "en",
  "transcript": [
    { "text": "We're no strangers to love", "start": 18.0, "duration": 3.5 }
  ],
  "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"
  }
}
```

## Video Info & Rich Metadata

Check languages before spending a transcript credit (free), or pull view/like counts, publish date, description, duration, and tags (1 credit):

```http
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/info?video_url=VIDEO_URL
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0
```

```http
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/video/metadata?video_url=VIDEO_URL&include=details,related
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0
```

`video/metadata` returns `title`, `viewCountText`, `likeCountText`, `publishDate`, `description`, `descriptionLinks`, `channel`, `thumbnails`, plus `details` (duration, category, tags, caption tracks) and `related` videos when requested via `include`.

> **Naming:** `/video/metadata` was previously `/video/info`. The old path still works but is deprecated.

## Search Data — 1 credit/page

```http
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/search?q=QUERY&type=video&limit=20
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0
```

`type` also accepts `playlist` and `movie`. First page only, you can add `sort` (`relevance`/`views`), `upload_date` (`hour`/`today`/`week`/`month`/`year`), `duration` (`short`/`medium`/`long`), and `features` (e.g. `hd,subtitles,cc`).