Which language should I use?

Any. It is plain HTTP and JSON, so every language with an HTTP client works. The tabs show the same request nine ways.

How to scrape YouTube video transcript

Preview

The API is in early access. Ask for a key; the examples use api.socialscrape.io.

Before you start

An API key, sent in the x-api-key header. Keep it on your server.
For this endpoint you send one of url or id. The YouTube video transcript page lists every parameter.

Step 1: Send the request

GET /v1/youtube/video/transcript. Pick your language; each one reads the key from SOCIALSCRAPE_API_KEY.

curl

curl -G "https://api.socialscrape.io/v1/youtube/video/transcript" \
  -H "x-api-key: $SOCIALSCRAPE_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode 'id=dQw4w9WgXcQ' \
  --data-urlencode 'language=de'

Python

import os
import requests

params = {
    "id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "language": "de",
}
res = requests.get(
    "https://api.socialscrape.io/v1/youtube/video/transcript",
    headers={"x-api-key": os.environ["SOCIALSCRAPE_API_KEY"]},
    params=params,
    timeout=60,
)
body = res.json()

if body["ok"]:
    print(body["data"])
else:
    print(body["error"]["code"], body["error"]["message"])

JavaScript

const url = new URL("https://api.socialscrape.io/v1/youtube/video/transcript");
url.search = new URLSearchParams({
  id: "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  language: "de",
}).toString();
const res = await fetch(url, {
  headers: { "x-api-key": process.env.SOCIALSCRAPE_API_KEY },
});
const body = await res.json();

if (body.ok) {
  console.log(body.data);
} else {
  console.error(body.error.code, body.error.message);
}

TypeScript

const url = new URL("https://api.socialscrape.io/v1/youtube/video/transcript");
url.search = new URLSearchParams({
  id: "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  language: "de",
}).toString();
const res = await fetch(url, {
  headers: { "x-api-key": process.env.SOCIALSCRAPE_API_KEY! },
});
const body = await res.json();

if (body.ok) {
  console.log(body.data);
} else {
  console.error(body.error.code, body.error.message);
}

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
	"net/url"
	"os"
)

func main() {
	q := url.Values{}
	q.Set("id", "dQw4w9WgXcQ")
	q.Set("language", "de")
	req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", "https://api.socialscrape.io/v1/youtube/video/transcript" + "?" + q.Encode(), nil)
	req.Header.Set("x-api-key", os.Getenv("SOCIALSCRAPE_API_KEY"))
	res, err := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)
	if err != nil {
		panic(err)
	}
	defer res.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(res.Body)
	fmt.Println(res.StatusCode, string(body))
}

PHP

<?php
$query = http_build_query([
    'id' => 'dQw4w9WgXcQ',
    'language' => 'de',
]);
$ch = curl_init('https://api.socialscrape.io/v1/youtube/video/transcript' . "?" . $query);
curl_setopt_array($ch, [
    CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
    CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => ["x-api-key: " . getenv("SOCIALSCRAPE_API_KEY")],
]);
$body = json_decode(curl_exec($ch), true);
curl_close($ch);

if ($body["ok"]) {
    print_r($body["data"]);
} else {
    echo $body["error"]["code"], " ", $body["error"]["message"], "\n";
}

Ruby

require "net/http"
require "json"

uri = URI('https://api.socialscrape.io/v1/youtube/video/transcript')
uri.query = URI.encode_www_form('id' => 'dQw4w9WgXcQ', 'language' => 'de')
req = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)
req["x-api-key"] = ENV.fetch("SOCIALSCRAPE_API_KEY")
res = Net::HTTP.start(uri.hostname, uri.port, use_ssl: true) { |http| http.request(req) }
body = JSON.parse(res.body)

if body["ok"]
  puts body["data"]
else
  puts body["error"]["code"], body["error"]["message"]
end

Java

import java.net.URI;
import java.net.URLEncoder;
import java.net.http.HttpClient;
import java.net.http.HttpRequest;
import java.net.http.HttpResponse;
import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        String query = "id=" + URLEncoder.encode("dQw4w9WgXcQ", StandardCharsets.UTF_8) + "&language=" + URLEncoder.encode("de", StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
        HttpRequest req = HttpRequest.newBuilder()
            .uri(URI.create("https://api.socialscrape.io/v1/youtube/video/transcript" + "?" + query))
            .header("x-api-key", System.getenv("SOCIALSCRAPE_API_KEY"))
            .GET()
            .build();
        HttpResponse<String> res = HttpClient.newHttpClient().send(req, HttpResponse.BodyHandlers.ofString());
        System.out.println(res.statusCode() + " " + res.body());
    }
}

using System;
using System.Net.Http;

var client = new HttpClient();
client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Add("x-api-key", Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("SOCIALSCRAPE_API_KEY"));
var query = string.Join("&", new[] {
    "id=" + Uri.EscapeDataString("dQw4w9WgXcQ"),
    "language=" + Uri.EscapeDataString("de"),
});
var res = await client.GetAsync("https://api.socialscrape.io/v1/youtube/video/transcript" + "?" + query);
Console.WriteLine((int)res.StatusCode);
Console.WriteLine(await res.Content.ReadAsStringAsync());

Step 2: Read the response

The result is in data. Here is what the object gives you, from a recorded sample.

Python

print(body["data"]["text"])

JavaScript

console.log(body.data.text);

Fields printed aboveSample

{
  "text": "Uns beiden ist die Liebe nicht fremd Du kennst die Regeln genau wie ich Für mich zählst nur du Das kriegst du sonst von keinem hier Ich will dir sagen, wie i..."
}

A field the platform does not give comes back as null. The full field list is on the endpoint page.

Step 3: Handle errors

Check ok, then branch on error.code and error.retryable, never on the message.

Python

body = res.json()
if not body["ok"]:
    err = body["error"]
    if err["retryable"]:
        ...  # wait a moment and send the same request again
    else:
        raise RuntimeError(f'{err["code"]}: {err["message"]}')

JavaScript

const body = await res.json();
if (!body.ok) {
  const { code, message, retryable } = body.error;
  if (retryable) {
    // wait a moment and send the same request again
  } else {
    throw new Error(`${code}: ${message}`);
  }
}

Code	HTTP	Retry	Meaning
`invalid_params`	400	no	A parameter is missing, unknown or has the wrong type.
`unsupported_url`	400	no	The URL is not one this endpoint accepts (wrong platform or form).
`not_found`	404	no	The platform says this profile, post or item does not exist.
`transcript_unavailable`	404	no	No captions exist and AI transcription is not possible for this media.

Other errors, such as unauthorized or rate_limited, are on the errors page.

With the SDK

The Python and TypeScript clients wrap all of this: typed errors, retries. They are in preview and not published yet.

Python

from socialscrape import SocialScrape

client = SocialScrape()  # reads SOCIALSCRAPE_API_KEY

res = client.youtube.video_transcript(id="dQw4w9WgXcQ", language="de")
print(res.data)
print(res.credits_charged, res.credits_remaining)

TypeScript

import { SocialScrape } from "socialscrape";

const client = new SocialScrape(); // reads SOCIALSCRAPE_API_KEY

const res = await client.youtube.videoTranscript({ id: "dQw4w9WgXcQ", language: "de" });
console.log(res.data);
console.log(res.credits_charged, res.credits_remaining);

What it costs

1 credit for captions; AI transcription 1 up to 2 minutes, then 1 per started minute. A failed request costs nothing. Add max_age_days to reuse a cached result for 0 credits. Results are kept 30 days.

YouTube video transcript API: sample response and every parameter.
A full Python script and a full JavaScript script for this endpoint.
All YouTube endpoints.

How to scrape YouTube video transcript

Before you start

Step 1: Send the request

Step 2: Read the response

Step 3: Handle errors

With the SDK

What it costs

Next

Questions

Get a key.