Youtube2Text

YouTube2Text - Video Transcription API

A powerful text extraction service that converts YouTube video content into clean, timestampless transcripts for content analysis, research, and processing workflows.

Overview

YouTube2Text transforms YouTube videos into readable text by removing subtitle timing markers and metadata, delivering pure content suitable for:

Content analysis and insights
Text summarization workflows
Research and documentation
Content generation pipelines
Natural language processing tasks

Quick Start

Begin with a demo API key from https://api.youtube2text.org. For consistent access and higher usage limits, upgrade to a subscription plan.

API Reference

Base URL: https://api.youtube2text.org
Transcription Endpoint: /transcribe

Request Format

Send POST requests with these parameters:

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`url`	string	Yes	Complete YouTube video URL
`maxChars`	number	No	Character limit (default: 150,000)

Authentication

Include your API key in the request header:

x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY

HTTP Status Codes

Code	Meaning
200	Transcription successful
400	Invalid request parameters
401	Authentication failed
404	Video or transcript not found
429	Rate limit exceeded
500	Server error

Error Types

VALIDATION_ERROR: Parameter validation failed
UNAUTHORIZED: Invalid API credentials
VIDEO_NOT_FOUND: YouTube video unavailable
TRANSCRIPT_UNAVAILABLE: No captions available
INVALID_URL: Malformed video URL
RATE_LIMIT_EXCEEDED: Quota or rate limit reached
INTERNAL_ERROR: Server-side issue

Examples

This directory contains examples of how to use the YouTube2Text API with different AI models and in different programming languages.

Python

JavaScript

TypeScript

Automation Integration

Workflow Automation

The API integrates with popular automation platforms:

Zapier: Connect via MCP integration for triggered workflows
n8n: Use HTTP request nodes or MCP connectors for process automation
Make (Integromat): HTTP modules for video processing pipelines

Example Workflow Ideas

Content Pipeline: YouTube → Transcription → Summary → Social Media Posts
Research Automation: Video URLs → Transcripts → Analysis → Report Generation
Content Monitoring: Channel Watching → New Videos → Auto-transcription → Alerts

Response Examples

Successful Response

{
  "result": {
    "videoId": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "title": "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up (Official Video)",
    "pubDate": "2009-10-25T07:57:33-07:00",
    "content": "We're no strangers to love You know the rules and so do I...",
    "contentSize": 1337,
    "truncated": false
  }
}

Error Response

{
  "error": {
    "code": "RATE_LIMIT_EXCEEDED",
    "message": "Monthly quota exceeded",
    "status": 429,
    "retryAfterSeconds": 3600,
    "details": "Upgrade plan for higher limits"
  }
}

Best Practices

Store API keys securely using environment variables
Implement proper error handling for all status codes
Respect rate limits and implement retry logic with exponential backoff
Cache transcripts locally when possible to avoid redundant API calls
Monitor usage to stay within quota limits
Use appropriate maxChars limits for your use case

Support

For additional examples, troubleshooting, and advanced integration patterns, visit the project repository or API documentation.

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