API Reference

Complete reference for all available API endpoints.

Base URL

https://api.fetchtranscript.com/v1

Authentication

Bearer Token or X-API-Key Header

Response Headers

All successful responses include these custom headers:

Header	Description
X-Processing-Time	Request processing time in milliseconds
X-Credits-Remaining	Number of credits remaining after this request

Common Error Codes

All authenticated endpoints may return these error codes:

Status	Error Code	Description
401	missing_api_key	No API key provided in request
401	invalid_api_key	API key is invalid or inactive
402	insufficient_credits	Account has no credits remaining
429	rate_limited	Too many requests, please slow down

See the Error Handling page for complete error documentation.

Transcripts

GET/v1/transcripts/{video_id}

Get the transcript for a YouTube video.

Path Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
video_id	string	YouTube video ID (11 characters)

Query Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
lang	string	en	Language code (e.g., "en", "es", "fr")
format	string	json	Response format: json, text, or srt

Response

For format=json, segments are returned. For format=text or format=srt, the full text is returned instead of segments.

JSON (format=json)

{
  "video_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "language": "en",
  "segments": [
    {
      "text": "We're no strangers to love",
      "start": 0.0,
      "duration": 2.5
    }
  ],
  "is_generated": false,
  "provider": "youtube_transcript_api",
  "metadata": {
    "title": "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up",
    "author": "Rick Astley",
    "thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dQw4w9WgXcQ/maxresdefault.jpg",
    "length_seconds": 212,
    "view_count": 1400000000,
    "short_description": "The official video for..."
  }
}

JSON (format=text)

{
  "video_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "language": "en",
  "text": "We're no strangers to love...",
  "is_generated": false,
  "provider": "youtube_transcript_api",
  "metadata": {
    "title": "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up",
    "author": "Rick Astley",
    "thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dQw4w9WgXcQ/maxresdefault.jpg",
    "length_seconds": 212,
    "view_count": 1400000000,
    "short_description": "The official video for..."
  }
}

GET/v1/transcripts/{video_id}/languages

List available transcript languages for a video.

Path Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
video_id	string	YouTube video ID (11 characters)

Response

JSON

{
  "video_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "languages": [
    {
      "language_code": "en",
      "language": "English",
      "is_generated": false,
      "is_translatable": true
    },
    {
      "language_code": "es",
      "language": "Spanish",
      "is_generated": true,
      "is_translatable": true
    }
  ]
}

Videos

GET/v1/videos/{video_id}

Get video metadata including title, views, likes, duration, and more.

Path Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
video_id	string	YouTube video ID (11 characters)

Response

JSON

{
  "video_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "title": "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up",
  "description": "The official video for...",
  "channel_id": "UCuAXFkgsw1L7xaCfnd5JJOw",
  "channel_name": "Rick Astley",
  "duration": 212,
  "view_count": 1400000000,
  "like_count": 15000000,
  "comment_count": 2500000,
  "upload_date": "20091025",
  "thumbnail_url": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dQw4w9WgXcQ/maxresdefault.jpg",
  "tags": ["rick astley", "never gonna give you up"],
  "categories": ["Music"]
}

GET/v1/videos/{video_id}/chapters

Get video chapters/timestamps if available.

Path Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
video_id	string	YouTube video ID (11 characters)

Response

JSON

{
  "video_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "chapters": [
    {
      "title": "Intro",
      "start_time": 0.0,
      "end_time": 30.0
    },
    {
      "title": "Verse 1",
      "start_time": 30.0,
      "end_time": 60.0
    }
  ],
  "has_chapters": true
}

GET/v1/videos/{video_id}/comments

Get video comments.

Path Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
video_id	string	YouTube video ID (11 characters)

Query Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
limit	integer	100	Max comments to fetch (1-500)

Response

JSON

{
  "video_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "comments": [
    {
      "comment_id": "abc123",
      "text": "Great video!",
      "author": "John Doe",
      "author_id": "UCxxxxxx",
      "like_count": 100,
      "reply_count": 5,
      "published_at": "2023-01-01T00:00:00Z",
      "is_pinned": false
    }
  ],
  "total_count": 2500000,
  "has_more": true
}

Channels

GET/v1/channels/{channel_id}

Get channel metadata including name, description, subscriber count, and more.

Path Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
channel_id	string	Channel ID (@handle or UCxxxxxx format)

Response

JSON

{
  "channel_id": "UCBcRF18a7Qf58cCRy5xuWwQ",
  "name": "MKBHD",
  "description": "Quality Tech Videos...",
  "subscriber_count": 18000000,
  "video_count": 1500,
  "thumbnail_url": "https://yt3.googleusercontent.com/...",
  "channel_url": "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBcRF18a7Qf58cCRy5xuWwQ"
}

GET/v1/channels/{channel_id}/videos

List videos from a YouTube channel with pagination.

Path Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
channel_id	string	Channel ID (@handle or UCxxxxxx format)

Query Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
limit	integer	30	Videos per page (1-100)
offset	integer	0	Number of videos to skip
include_shorts	boolean	false	Include YouTube Shorts

Response

JSON

{
  "channel_id": "UCBcRF18a7Qf58cCRy5xuWwQ",
  "videos": [
    {
      "video_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
      "title": "Sample Video Title",
      "description": "Video description...",
      "thumbnail_url": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dQw4w9WgXcQ/maxresdefault.jpg",
      "duration": 212,
      "view_count": 1000000
    }
  ],
  "total_count": 1500,
  "offset": 0,
  "limit": 30,
  "has_more": true
}

Search

GET/v1/search

Search YouTube videos by query.

Query Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
q	string	required	Search query (1-500 characters)
limit	integer	10	Max results (1-50)

Response

JSON

{
  "query": "rick astley",
  "results": [
    {
      "video_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
      "title": "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up",
      "description": "The official video...",
      "channel_name": "Rick Astley",
      "channel_id": "UCuAXFkgsw1L7xaCfnd5JJOw",
      "duration": 212,
      "view_count": 1400000000,
      "thumbnail_url": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dQw4w9WgXcQ/hqdefault.jpg",
      "upload_date": "20091025"
    }
  ],
  "total_results": 10
}