#!/usr/bin/env node
/**
* YouTube Transcript CLI Tool
* Simple command-line interface to get YouTube video transcripts
*/
import { Command } from "commander";
import axios from "axios";
import * as dotenv from "dotenv";
// Load environment variables
dotenv.config();
const program = new Command();
// Helper function to extract video ID from various YouTube URL formats
function extractVideoId(input) {
// If it's already a video ID (11 characters), return as is
if (input.length === 11 && !input.includes("/") && !input.includes("=")) {
return input;
}
// Extract video ID from various YouTube URL formats
const patterns = [
/(?:youtube\.com\/watch\?v=|youtu\.be\/|youtube\.com\/embed\/|youtube\.com\/v\/)([^&\n?#]+)/,
/youtube\.com\/watch\?.*v=([^&\n?#]+)/,
];
for (const pattern of patterns) {
const match = input.match(pattern);
if (match && match[1]) {
return match[1];
}
}
// If no pattern matches, assume it's already a video ID
return input;
}
// Helper function to format timestamp
function formatTimestamp(offsetMs) {
const totalSeconds = Math.floor(offsetMs / 1000);
const hours = Math.floor(totalSeconds / 3600);
const minutes = Math.floor((totalSeconds % 3600) / 60);
const seconds = totalSeconds % 60;
if (hours > 0) {
return `${hours}:${minutes.toString().padStart(2, "0")}:${seconds
.toString()
.padStart(2, "0")}`;
} else {
return `${minutes}:${seconds.toString().padStart(2, "0")}`;
}
}
// Main command
program
.name("youtube-transcript")
.description("Extract transcripts from YouTube videos")
.version("1.0.0")
.argument("<video>", "YouTube video ID or URL")
.option("-l, --language <lang>", "Language code (e.g., en, es, fr)", "en")
.option("-o, --output <file>", "Output file (optional)")
.option("--no-timestamps", "Hide timestamps in output")
.option("--json", "Output in JSON format")
.action(async (video, options) => {
try {
console.log("š Extracting transcript...\n");
const videoId = extractVideoId(video);
console.log(`š¹ Video ID: ${videoId}`);
console.log(`š Language: ${options.language}`);
// Check for RapidAPI key
const rapidApiKey = process.env.RAPIDAPI_KEY;
if (!rapidApiKey) {
console.log("\nā RapidAPI key not found.");
console.log("Please set RAPIDAPI_KEY in your .env file.");
console.log(
"Get your key from: https://rapidapi.com/8v2FWW4H6AmKw89/api/youtube-transcripts"
);
process.exit(1);
}
// Fetch transcript using RapidAPI
const response = await axios.get(
"https://youtube-transcripts.p.rapidapi.com/youtube/transcript",
{
params: {
url: `https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=${videoId}`,
videoId: videoId,
chunkSize: 500,
text: false,
lang: options.language,
},
headers: {
"x-rapidapi-key": rapidApiKey,
"x-rapidapi-host": "youtube-transcripts.p.rapidapi.com",
},
}
);
const transcriptData = response.data;
// Convert RapidAPI format to our expected format
let transcript = [];
if (transcriptData && transcriptData.content) {
transcript = transcriptData.content.map((entry, index) => ({
text: entry.text,
offset: entry.offset, // Already in milliseconds
duration: entry.duration,
}));
}
if (!transcript || transcript.length === 0) {
console.log("\nā No transcript available for this video.");
console.log("\nThis could be due to:");
console.log("ā¢ Video has captions disabled by the creator");
console.log("ā¢ Video is private, deleted, or region-restricted");
console.log("ā¢ YouTube has changed their internal API");
console.log("ā¢ Network or firewall restrictions");
console.log(
"\nš” Try visiting the video directly on YouTube to check for captions."
);
process.exit(1);
}
console.log(`ā
Found ${transcript.length} transcript segments\n`);
let output = "";
if (options.json) {
// JSON output
output = JSON.stringify(
{
videoId,
language: options.language,
totalSegments: transcript.length,
duration: formatTimestamp(
transcript[transcript.length - 1]?.offset || 0
),
transcript: transcript,
},
null,
2
);
} else {
// Text output
const header =
`YouTube Transcript for Video ID: ${videoId}\n` +
`Language: ${options.language}\n` +
`Total Segments: ${transcript.length}\n` +
`Duration: ${formatTimestamp(
transcript[transcript.length - 1]?.offset || 0
)}\n\n` +
`--- TRANSCRIPT ---\n`;
const formattedTranscript = transcript
.map((entry) => {
if (options.timestamps) {
const timestamp = formatTimestamp(entry.offset);
return `[${timestamp}] ${entry.text}`;
} else {
return entry.text;
}
})
.join("\n");
output = header + formattedTranscript;
}
if (options.output) {
// Write to file
const fs = await import("fs");
fs.writeFileSync(options.output, output, "utf8");
console.log(`š Transcript saved to: ${options.output}`);
} else {
// Print to console
console.log(output);
}
} catch (error) {
console.error("\nā Error occurred:");
console.error("š Error message:", error.message);
if (error.response) {
console.error("š Response status:", error.response.status);
console.error("š Response statusText:", error.response.statusText);
console.error(
"š Response data:",
JSON.stringify(error.response.data, null, 2)
);
console.error("š Response headers:", error.response.headers);
} else if (error.request) {
console.error("š” Request was made but no response received");
console.error("š Request details:", error.request);
} else {
console.error("š Error setting up request:", error.message);
}
console.error("š Full error object:", error);
if (error.response?.status === 401) {
console.log("\nš” Authentication error - check your RapidAPI key");
} else if (error.response?.status === 429) {
console.log("\nš” Rate limit exceeded - try again later");
} else if (error.response?.status === 404) {
console.log("\nš” Video not found or transcript not available");
}
process.exit(1);
}
});
// Parse command line arguments
program.parse();
