README.md

youtube-transcriber-api

Youtube's official API currently does not support fetching of a video's transcript. This project is a simple flask server that provides API endpoints for retrieving pure-text transcripts for YouTube videos. It also provides the ability to translate transcripts into different languages. This project is built on top of jdepoix's library

API Endpoints

Note: All language codes used should follow the ISO 639-1 standard (case-sensitive)

Transcripts

GET /v1/transcripts{{id}}

Retrieve transcripts for a specified YouTube video. (try: https://youtube-transcriber-api.vercel.app/v1/transcripts?id=k_GM1JA608Y&lang=en)

Query Parameters

Parameter	Required	Note
id	Yes	The ID of the YouTube video
lang	No	The language code for the desired transcript. If no language is specified, all available transcripts will be returned
type	No	The desired output format. Accepts json, text, srt, and webvtt. Default to text if not specified
lb	No	Boolean (0 or 1) indicating whether the transcript should contain line breaks. Only applies for type text. Default to 0 if not specified
sfx	No	Boolean (0 or 1) indicating whether the transcript should contain sound effects information eg. [Cheering], [Applause], [Music]. Default to 0 if not specified

Response

The request returns a JSON object containing the following fields:

Field	Description
video_id	The ID of the YouTube video
transcripts	A list of transcripts. Each transcript has the following fields: language: The language of the transcript languageCode: The ISO 639-1 code isGenerated: Boolean indicating whether the transcript is machine-generated isTranslatable: Boolean indicating whether the transcript can be translated text: The transcript in the specified format

Translation

GET /v1/translations{{id}}{{lang}}

Retrieve a translated transcript for a specified YouTube video. (try: https://youtube-transcriber-api.vercel.app/v1/transcripts?id=k_GM1JA608Y&lang=es)

Query Parameters

Parameter	Required	Note
id	Yes	The ID of the YouTube video
lang	Yes	The language code for the target language

Response

The request returns a JSON object containing the following fields:

Field	Description
video_id	The ID of the YouTube video
sourceLanguage	The language code of the source transcript
targetLanguage	The language code of the target translation
transcripts	The transcript text

Metadata

GET /v1/metadata{{id}}

Retrieve transcript metadata for a specified YouTube video. (try: https://youtube-transcriber-api.vercel.app/v1/metadata?id=k_GM1JA608Y)

Query Parameters

Parameter	Required	Note
id	Yes	The ID of the YouTube video

Response

The request returns a JSON object containing the following fields:

Field	Description
video_id	The ID of the YouTube video.
transcripts	A list of transcript metadata. Each item has the following fields: language: The language of the transcription languageCode: The ISO 639-1 code isGenerated: Boolean indicating whether the transcript is machine-generated isTranslatable: Boolean indicating whether the transcript can be translated

Future Plans

• Add rate limitating
• Migrate from flask (WSGI) to FastAPI (ASGI)

Donation

License

See license