A professional-grade API for extracting, transcribing, and translating YouTube video content into structured text formats.
Install & Download
1. ClawHub CLI
The fastest way to install a skill directly from the registry.
npx clawhub@latest install youtube-transcript-api
2. Manual Installation
Copy the skill folder to one of these locations
~/.openclaw/skills/ <project>/skills/ Priority: Workspace > Local > Bundled
3. Prompt Installation
Copy this prompt to OpenClaw to install it automatically.
Help me install youtube-transcript-api using Clawhub. If Clawhub is not installed, install it first (npm i -g clawhub).
Prefer to download?
Get the raw skill files in a ZIP archive.
What is YouTube Transcript API Skill?
The YouTube Transcript API Skill provides a robust interface for developers to programmatically access YouTube video data. By integrating this into Openclaw Skills, users can automate the retrieval of native captions, generate ASR transcripts for videos lacking subtitles, and translate content into over 100 languages. This skill is essential for building AI pipelines that require high-quality video-to-text conversion.
This tool supports multiple output formats including timestamps and paragraphs, making it ideal for LLM context windows and content repurposing. Whether you are processing a single video or performing batch operations on up to 100 IDs, this skill ensures reliable delivery of transcript data through both synchronous and asynchronous workflows. Using Openclaw Skills with this API enables seamless integration of video content into your automated agents.
YouTube Transcript API Skill Use Cases
- Extracting subtitles or captions for AI training data and LLM prompts via Openclaw Skills.
- Transcribing YouTube videos that do not have existing captions using high-accuracy ASR technology.
- Automatically translating video transcripts for global content distribution and localized research.
- Batch processing large sets of YouTube URLs for data analytics and competitor research.
- Repurposing video content into blog posts, summaries, or social media snippets efficiently.
How YouTube Transcript API Skill Works
- Obtain a free API key and configure it within your Openclaw Skills environment.
- Send a POST request to the transcription endpoint using a YouTube URL or 11-character video ID.
- Specify optional parameters such as the target language for translation or ASR for audio-to-text conversion.
- For native captions, receive the transcript data synchronously within seconds directly in your Openclaw Skills workflow.
- For ASR jobs, monitor the status via a webhook or the dedicated jobs endpoint until processing is complete.
- Process the resulting JSON data for your specific application or storage needs.
YouTube Transcript API Skill Setup
To get started with this skill, install the official Node.js SDK or use standard HTTP clients to interact with the API. Ensure your environment has your API key stored securely for use within Openclaw Skills.
npm install youtube-audio-transcript-api
Configure your authorization header to test the connection via CLI:
curl -X POST https://youtubetranscript.dev/api/v2/transcribe \
-H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"video": "dQw4w9WgXcQ"}'
YouTube Transcript API Skill Data Schema & Taxonomy
The skill organizes data primarily through JSON objects containing transcript segments and metadata. Openclaw Skills can parse this data using the following taxonomy:
| Component | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| video_id | String | The unique 11-character YouTube identifier |
| transcript | Array | List of objects containing text, start time, and duration |
| language | String | The ISO 639-1 code of the returned content |
| status | String | Current state of the job (e.g., completed, processing) |
Output formats can be customized to timestamp, paragraphs, or words based on the request configuration to suit different Openclaw Skills requirements.
YouTube Transcript API Skill Advanced Features
- Asynchronous ASR transcription for videos without native subtitles or manual captions.
- Multi-video batch processing supporting up to 100 concurrent requests in a single job.
- Webhook integration for automated, hands-off delivery of long-running transcription jobs.
- High-fidelity translation support for 100+ languages to broaden accessibility for Openclaw Skills users.
- Smart credit management including zero-cost re-fetching of previously owned transcripts.
SKILL.md
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