# YouTube Transcript Scraper (`futurizerush/youtube-transcript-scraper`) Actor Extract YouTube video transcripts in multiple languages. Get time-stamped or text-only subtitles. - **URL**: https://apify.com/futurizerush/youtube-transcript-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [Rush](https://apify.com/futurizerush) (community) - **Categories:** Videos, AI, Agents - **Stats:** 56 total users, 2 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 2 bookmarks - **User rating**: 5.00 out of 5 stars ## Pricing $50.00 / 1,000 results 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/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. 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. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use 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 ## YouTube Transcript Scraper Extract transcripts and subtitles from YouTube videos in multiple languages. Get time-stamped or text-only output with support for auto-generated captions and automatic translation. ### What does YouTube Transcript Scraper do? YouTube Transcript Scraper extracts subtitle and caption data from YouTube videos. It retrieves transcripts in all available languages, including auto-generated and manually uploaded subtitles. Use it to: - Extract video transcripts for content analysis, SEO, or accessibility purposes - Get subtitles in multiple languages from a single video - Process large batches of videos efficiently - Obtain time-stamped segments or plain text output ### Input | Parameter | Type | Default | Description | |-----------|------|---------|-------------| | `video_ids` | Array | Required | YouTube video IDs or full URLs | | `languages` | Array | All available | Specific language codes to fetch (e.g., `en`, `zh-TW`, `es`) | | `text_only` | Boolean | `false` | Return plain text without timestamps | | `include_generated` | Boolean | `true` | Include auto-generated (machine-created) transcripts | | `include_translation` | Boolean | `true` | Auto-translate when requested language is unavailable | | `fetch_all` | Boolean | `false` | Fetch all available languages regardless of language setting | #### Example Input ```json { "video_ids": [ "dQw4w9WgXcQ", "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw" ], "languages": ["en", "es"], "text_only": false, "include_generated": true } ```` #### Supported Language Codes YouTube uses ISO 639-1 language codes. Common examples: | Code | Language | Code | Language | |------|----------|------|----------| | `en` | English | `ja` | Japanese | | `es` | Spanish | `ko` | Korean | | `fr` | French | `zh-CN` | Chinese (Simplified) | | `de` | German | `zh-TW` | Chinese (Traditional) | | `pt-BR` | Portuguese (Brazil) | `ru` | Russian | Full language code reference: [ISO 639-1 codes](https://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/php/code_list.php) ### Output Each video produces one dataset item with the following fields: | Field | Type | Description | |-------|------|-------------| | `video_id` | String | 11-character YouTube video ID | | `video_url` | String | Full YouTube URL | | `transcripts` | Object | Transcript data keyed by language code | | `languages_count` | Number | Number of successfully extracted languages | | `successful_languages` | Array | Language codes that were extracted | | `failed_languages` | Array | Language codes that failed | | `text_only` | Boolean | Whether text-only mode was used | | `metadata` | Object | Extraction timestamp and proxy status | #### Time-Stamped Output Example ```json { "video_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ", "video_url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ", "transcripts": { "en": { "language": "en", "language_name": "English", "is_generated": false, "is_translatable": true, "transcript": [ { "index": 0, "text": "Never gonna give you up", "start": "00:00.000", "end": "00:03.120", "start_seconds": 0.0, "end_seconds": 3.12, "duration": 3.12, "word_count": 5, "char_count": 23 } ], "stats": { "total_segments": 87, "total_words": 435, "total_characters": 2340, "average_segment_duration": 3.2, "total_duration": 278.4 } } }, "languages_count": 1, "successful_languages": ["en"], "failed_languages": [], "text_only": false, "metadata": { "fetched_at": "2026-02-27T12:34:56.789+00:00", "proxy_used": true } } ``` #### Text-Only Output Example ```json { "video_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ", "video_url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ", "transcripts": { "en": { "language": "en", "language_name": "English", "is_generated": false, "is_translatable": true, "transcript": [ "Never gonna give you up", "Never gonna let you down", "Never gonna run around and desert you" ], "stats": { "total_segments": 87, "total_words": 435, "total_characters": 2340, "average_segment_duration": 0.0, "total_duration": 0.0 } } }, "languages_count": 1, "successful_languages": ["en"], "failed_languages": [], "text_only": true } ``` #### Error Output Example When a video has no subtitles or is unavailable: ```json { "video_id": "INVALID_ID", "video_url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INVALID_ID", "error": "Video unavailable", "code": "VIDEO_UNAVAILABLE" } ``` ### Use Cases - **Content Analysis** - Extract transcripts for sentiment analysis, topic modeling, or keyword extraction - **Multi-Language Research** - Compare transcripts across languages for translation quality analysis - **Accessibility** - Create text versions of video content for hearing-impaired users - **SEO and Marketing** - Repurpose video content into blog posts, articles, or social media - **Education** - Extract lecture transcripts for study notes or course materials - **Data Collection** - Build datasets for natural language processing or machine learning ### Tips - Enable **Include Auto-Generated Transcripts** for videos without manual subtitles (most videos have auto-generated English captions) - Use **Fetch All Available Languages** when you need comprehensive multilingual coverage - For large batches (50+ videos), the scraper automatically manages rate limiting and proxy rotation - Videos without any subtitles will return an error result but will still be included in the output - Run statistics are saved in the Key-Value Store under the `SUMMARY` key ### Frequently Asked Questions **Q: Why do some videos return errors?** A: Videos may have subtitles disabled by the uploader, be private, age-restricted, or region-blocked. The scraper reports the specific reason for each failure. **Q: What is the difference between auto-generated and manual transcripts?** A: Manual transcripts are uploaded by the video creator and tend to be more accurate. Auto-generated transcripts are created by YouTube's speech recognition and may contain errors, especially for specialized terminology. **Q: Can I get transcripts for live streams?** A: Only if the live stream has been completed and YouTube has processed the auto-generated or manual captions. **Q: How many videos can I process in one run?** A: There is no hard limit, but larger batches take longer due to rate limiting. The scraper handles batches of any size with built-in delays to avoid being blocked. *** YouTube Transcript Scraper is built for reliability with automatic retry, proxy rotation, and intelligent rate limiting. Compatible with Claude Code, Gemini, Codex, OpenClaw and other AI coding agents. # Actor input Schema ## `video_ids` (type: `array`): Enter YouTube video IDs (e.g., 'dQw4w9WgXcQ') or full URLs. Supports watch, short, and embed URL formats. ## `languages` (type: `array`): Select specific languages to extract. Leave empty to get all available transcripts for each video. ## `text_only` (type: `boolean`): Return plain text without timestamps or segment metadata. Useful for content analysis or AI processing. ## `include_generated` (type: `boolean`): Include machine-generated transcripts. Most videos have auto-generated English captions even without manual subtitles. ## `include_translation` (type: `boolean`): When a transcript is not available in the requested language, use YouTube's built-in translation from an available language. ## `fetch_all` (type: `boolean`): Extract transcripts in every available language for each video. This significantly increases processing time and output volume. ## Actor input object example ```json { "video_ids": [ "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ" ], "languages": [], "text_only": false, "include_generated": true, "include_translation": true, "fetch_all": false } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `overview` (type: `string`): No description ## `results` (type: `string`): No description ## `summary` (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 '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "video_ids": [ "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ" ] }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("futurizerush/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 '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "video_ids": ["https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"] } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("futurizerush/youtube-transcript-scraper").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "video_ids": [ "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ" ] }' | apify call futurizerush/youtube-transcript-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=futurizerush/youtube-transcript-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "YouTube Transcript Scraper", "description": "Extract YouTube video transcripts in multiple languages. Get time-stamped or text-only subtitles.", "version": "0.0", "x-build-id": "mTe5oarUfpFzVcrSt" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/futurizerush~youtube-transcript-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-futurizerush-youtube-transcript-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/futurizerush~youtube-transcript-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-futurizerush-youtube-transcript-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/futurizerush~youtube-transcript-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-futurizerush-youtube-transcript-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "required": [ "video_ids" ], "properties": { "video_ids": { "title": "YouTube Video IDs or URLs", "minItems": 1, "type": "array", "description": "Enter YouTube video IDs (e.g., 'dQw4w9WgXcQ') or full URLs. Supports watch, short, and embed URL formats.", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "languages": { "title": "Languages", "type": "array", "description": "Select specific languages to extract. Leave empty to get all available transcripts for each video.", "items": { "type": "string", "enumSuggestedValues": [ "en", "es", "fr", "de", "pt-BR", "ja", "ko", "zh-CN", "zh-TW", "ru", "it", "ar", "hi", "nl", "pl", "tr", "vi", "th", "id", "sv" ], "enumTitles": [ "English", "Spanish", "French", "German", "Portuguese (Brazil)", "Japanese", "Korean", "Chinese (Simplified)", "Chinese (Traditional)", "Russian", "Italian", "Arabic", "Hindi", "Dutch", "Polish", "Turkish", "Vietnamese", "Thai", "Indonesian", "Swedish" ] }, "default": [] }, "text_only": { "title": "Text Only Mode", "type": "boolean", "description": "Return plain text without timestamps or segment metadata. Useful for content analysis or AI processing.", "default": false }, "include_generated": { "title": "Include Auto-Generated Transcripts", "type": "boolean", "description": "Include machine-generated transcripts. Most videos have auto-generated English captions even without manual subtitles.", "default": true }, "include_translation": { "title": "Auto-Translate Missing Languages", "type": "boolean", "description": "When a transcript is not available in the requested language, use YouTube's built-in translation from an available language.", "default": true }, "fetch_all": { "title": "Fetch All Available Languages", "type": "boolean", "description": "Extract transcripts in every available language for each video. This significantly increases processing time and output volume.", "default": false } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```