YouTube API

YouTube transcript API creator captions first, timed per cue

One endpoint for YouTube videos and Shorts. Creator captions come first, timed per cue.

1.0Capabilities

Core advantages and the limits that come with them

Fetch creator captions from YouTube videos and Shorts as timed segments, with AI transcription on paid plans for videos without captions.

Creator captions first
When a video has published subtitles, the creator track is read directly, with no audio download and no AI transcription charge.
Watch, share and Shorts links
Standard watch links, youtu.be share links and Shorts links all resolve to the same video, so one request shape covers them.
Structured multi format exports
Export unified JSON results or download standard SRT and WebVTT subtitle files with consistent formatting.

Operational limits and transparency

Single region infrastructure deployed in us east.
Pricing: 1 credit per caption transcript and 2 credits per started minute of AI transcription, from one balance.
Maximum media duration is 2 hours (7,200 seconds) per source.

2.0Implementation

Request and response the exact request and what comes back

POST/v1/jobs

curl -X POST https://api.transcriptdock.com/v1/jobs \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer td_live_..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: $(uuidgen)" \
  -d '{
    "source": {
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
    },
    "mode": "captions_only",
    "caption_preference": "prefer_creator"
  }'

Job outcome

{
  "id": "7b8f9e0a-4c2d-4e6f-8a1b-3c5d7e9f1a2b",
  "status": "succeeded",
  "stage": null,
  "result_id": "9c1d3e5f-7a9b-4c2d-8e0f-1a3b5c7d9e2f",
  "error": null,
  "billing": {
    "credits_reserved": 0,
    "credits_charged": 1,
    "kind": "captions"
  },
  "source": {
    "platform": "youtube",
    "media_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "canonical_url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "title": "Sample YouTube Video",
    "upload_id": null
  },
  "options": {
    "mode": "captions_only",
    "language": null,
    "caption_preference": "prefer_creator"
  },
  "created_at": "2026-09-12T14:32:00Z"
}

Explore documentationAPI quickstart YouTube API specs

3.0Questions

Frequently asked

What happens with captions, AI transcription and limits for this source.

How does the API handle videos without closed captions?

When mode is set to auto, the system checks for creator captions first. If none exist, it safely acquires audio and runs AI transcription to produce a timestamped transcript.

Can I request captions only to prevent AI transcription charges?

Yes. Setting mode to captions_only guarantees that no AI transcription pipeline runs, ensuring predictable and low extraction costs.

Are YouTube Shorts supported?

Yes. Both standard youtube.com watch links and youtube.com/shorts URLs are normalized and transcribed.

4.0Tools

YouTube platform details

See caption and AI transcription capabilities for YouTube.

SRT to VTT converter

Convert downloaded YouTube subtitles between formats.