Introduction
# Video Transcript
Extract transcripts from videos via [TranscriptAPI.com](https://transcriptapi.com).
## Setup
If `$TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY` is not set, help the user create an account (100 free credits, no card):
**Step 1 — Register:** Ask user for their email.
```bash node ./scripts/tapi-auth.js register --email USER_EMAIL ```
→ OTP sent to email. Ask user: _"Check your email for a 6-digit verification code."_
**Step 2 — Verify:** Once user provides the OTP:
```bash node ./scripts/tapi-auth.js verify --token TOKEN_FROM_STEP_1 --otp CODE ```
> API key saved to `~/.openclaw/openclaw.json`. See **File Writes** below for details. Existing file is backed up before modification.
Manual option: [transcriptapi.com/signup](https://transcriptapi.com/signup) → Dashboard → API Keys.
## File Writes
The verify and save-key commands save the API key to `~/.openclaw/openclaw.json` (sets `skills.entries.transcriptapi.apiKey` and `enabled: true`). **Existing file is backed up to `~/.openclaw/openclaw.json.bak` before modification.**
To use the API key in terminal/CLI outside the agent, add to your shell profile manually: `export TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY=<your-key>`
## 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" ```
| Param | Required | Default | Values | | ------------------- | -------- | ------- | -------------------------------------- | | `video_url` | yes | — | YouTube URL or 11-char video ID | | `format` | no | `json` | `json` (structured), `text` (readable) | | `include_timestamp` | no | `true` | `true`, `false` | | `send_metadata` | no | `false` | `true`, `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
| Code | Meaning | Action | | ---- | ------------- | ----------------------------------- | | 401 | Bad API key | Check key or re-setup | | 402 | No credits | Top up at transcriptapi.com/billing | | 404 | No transcript | Video may not have captions enabled | | 408 | Timeout | Retry once after 2s |
1 credit per successful request. Errors don't consume credits. Free tier: 100 credits, 300 req/min.