# YouTube To Transcript (`hexa-api/youtube-to-transcript`) Actor

Extract YouTube transcripts from public video URLs

- **URL**: https://apify.com/hexa-api/youtube-to-transcript.md
- **Developed by:** [Hexa API](https://apify.com/hexa-api) (community)
- **Categories:** Videos, Open source, Social media
- **Features:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 36 total users, 5 monthly users, 98.6% runs succeeded, 2 bookmarks
- **User rating**: 5.00 out of 5 stars

## Pricing

$1.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## YouTube Transcript Scraper

> Pricing note: Apify may display this Actor as `Pay per event`, but the effective pricing is equivalent to `$1 per 1,000 successful transcripts`. Each successful transcript creates one dataset item. Failed items are not pushed to the dataset and are not billed.

Extract YouTube transcripts from public video URLs through Hexa API's production-grade delivery layer. This Actor is built for teams that want a simple input, stable output, and a high-availability service experience instead of managing transcript infrastructure themselves.

Every request is routed through Hexa API's dedicated transcript service, where we normalize responses, enforce input validation, and isolate upstream failures behind a cleaner contract for Apify users. Only successful transcript results are written to the dataset.

### Why teams use this Actor

- High-availability delivery through Hexa API's managed transcript service
- Stable, normalized output for downstream automations and data pipelines
- Support for single URLs and bulk URL arrays in one run
- Up to 20 video URLs per run
- Plain text, structured JSON, or both
- Billing-safe behavior that writes only successful transcript results to the dataset

### Use cases

- AI and LLM training datasets
- Content repurposing workflows
- SEO and keyword analysis
- Media and research pipelines

### Input

```json
{
  "videoUrls": [
    { "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ" },
    { "url": "https://youtu.be/aqz-KE-bpKQ" }
  ],
  "outputFormat": "both",
  "lang": "en"
}
```

### Input fields

- `videoUrls` required array of YouTube video URLs, with a maximum of 20 URLs per run
- `outputFormat` optional one of `json`, `text`, `both`
- `lang` optional language code such as `en`, `tr`, `de`, `fr`

Only direct video URLs are supported. Playlist and channel URLs are intentionally not supported in this version.

### Output examples

`outputFormat: "json"`

```json
{
  "inputUrl": "https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "videoId": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "videoUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "status": "ok",
  "language": "en",
  "transcript": [
    {
      "text": "Never gonna give you up",
      "start": 0.32,
      "dur": 4.08,
      "lang": "en"
    }
  ]
}
```

`outputFormat: "text"`

```json
{
  "inputUrl": "https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "videoId": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "videoUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "status": "ok",
  "language": "en",
  "transcriptText": "Never gonna give you up"
}
```

`outputFormat: "both"`

```json
{
  "inputUrl": "https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "videoId": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "videoUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "status": "ok",
  "language": "en",
  "transcript": [
    {
      "text": "Never gonna give you up",
      "start": 0.32,
      "dur": 4.08,
      "lang": "en"
    }
  ],
  "transcriptText": "Never gonna give you up"
}
```

### Error handling

Failed items are collected in the run `OUTPUT` record and not pushed to the dataset. Hexa API maps upstream failures into product-specific error types such as:

- `INVALID_URL`
- `TRANSCRIPT_NOT_FOUND`
- `UPSTREAM_RATE_LIMITED`
- `UPSTREAM_TIMEOUT`
- `UPSTREAM_UNAVAILABLE`
- `UPSTREAM_BAD_RESPONSE`

### FAQ

#### Does it need a YouTube API key?

No. Users only provide YouTube video URLs. Hexa API handles the transcript delivery layer behind the Actor.

#### Does it support playlists or channels?

No. This version supports only direct YouTube video URLs.

#### Are failed videos billed?

No. Only successful transcript results are pushed to the dataset.

#### Who is this built for?

Teams and developers who need reliable YouTube transcript access inside Apify without building and maintaining their own transcript service stack.

### Built by Hexa API

Hexa API builds high-availability API products and delivery layers for production use cases. This Actor packages that service experience into an Apify-native workflow so users can run transcript jobs with a clean input schema and predictable outputs.

# Actor input Schema

## `videoUrls` (type: `array`):

Direct YouTube video URLs only. Supports watch, shorts, and youtu.be links. Submit up to 20 URLs per run.

## `outputFormat` (type: `string`):

Choose whether to return timestamped transcript items, plain text, or both.

## `lang` (type: `string`):

Optional transcript language. Leave empty to get any available language.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "videoUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
    }
  ],
  "outputFormat": "json",
  "lang": ""
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

Successful transcript items written to the run's default dataset. Each item represents one successfully processed YouTube video URL.

## `runOutput` (type: `string`):

The OUTPUT record in the default key-value store containing the run summary and any failed items that were not billed.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "videoUrls": [
        {
            "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
        }
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("hexa-api/youtube-to-transcript").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "videoUrls": [{ "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ" }] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("hexa-api/youtube-to-transcript").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "videoUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
    }
  ]
}' |
apify call hexa-api/youtube-to-transcript --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,hexa-api/youtube-to-transcript"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/4GTGBCOGLfgrUhcb3/builds/dyVJGK6DgHN8MmsYX/openapi.json