youtubetranscriptdevapi 0.1.1

YouTubeTranscript Python SDK

Official Python client for the YouTubeTranscript.dev API
Extract, transcribe, and translate YouTube video transcripts.

Installation

pip install youtubetranscriptdevapi

Quick Start

from youtubetranscript import YouTubeTranscript

yt = YouTubeTranscript("your_api_key")

# Extract transcript
result = yt.transcribe("dQw4w9WgXcQ")

print(f"Segments: {len(result.segments)}")
print(f"Duration: {result.duration:.0f}s")
print(f"Words: {result.word_count}")

for seg in result.segments[:5]:
    print(f"[{seg.start_formatted}] {seg.text}")

Get your free API key at youtubetranscript.dev/dashboard

Features

# Translate to any language
result = yt.transcribe("dQw4w9WgXcQ", language="es")

# Choose caption source
result = yt.transcribe("dQw4w9WgXcQ", source="manual")

# Format options
result = yt.transcribe("dQw4w9WgXcQ", format={"timestamp": True, "words": True})

# Batch — up to 100 videos at once
batch = yt.batch(["video1", "video2", "video3"])
for t in batch.completed:
    print(f"{t.video_id}: {t.word_count} words")

# ASR audio transcription (for videos without captions)
job = yt.transcribe_asr("video_without_captions")
result = yt.wait_for_job(job.job_id)  # polls until complete
print(result.text)

# Export formats
print(result.to_srt())       # SRT subtitles
print(result.to_vtt())       # WebVTT subtitles
print(result.to_plain_text())       # Plain text
print(result.to_timestamped_text()) # Text with timestamps

# Search within transcript
matches = result.search("keyword")

# Account stats
stats = yt.stats()
print(f"Credits: {stats.credits_remaining}")

# History
history = yt.list_transcripts(search="python tutorial", limit=5)

Async Client

import asyncio
from youtubetranscript import AsyncYouTubeTranscript

async def main():
    async with AsyncYouTubeTranscript("your_api_key") as yt:
        # Single
        result = await yt.transcribe("dQw4w9WgXcQ")

        # Concurrent
        results = await asyncio.gather(
            yt.transcribe("video1"),
            yt.transcribe("video2"),
            yt.transcribe("video3"),
        )

asyncio.run(main())

Error Handling

from youtubetranscript import YouTubeTranscript
from youtubetranscript.exceptions import (
    NoCaptionsError,
    AuthenticationError,
    InsufficientCreditsError,
    RateLimitError,
)

yt = YouTubeTranscript("your_api_key")

try:
    result = yt.transcribe("some_video")
except NoCaptionsError:
    # No captions — try ASR
    job = yt.transcribe_asr("some_video")
    result = yt.wait_for_job(job.job_id)
except AuthenticationError:
    print("Check your API key")
except InsufficientCreditsError:
    print("Top up at youtubetranscript.dev/pricing")
except RateLimitError as e:
    print(f"Rate limited — retry after {e.retry_after}s")

API Reference

YouTubeTranscript(api_key, *, base_url, timeout, max_retries)

Transcript object

Segment object

Credit Costs

License

MIT — see LICENSE

Links

• Website
• PyPI
• API Docs
• Dashboard
• Pricing