YTAPI Python client

Python client for YTAPI: YouTube transcripts, video details, search, channels and playlists over one HTTP API. It works from servers and cloud functions, where fetching YouTube directly tends to get blocked.

• No dependencies beyond the standard library. Python 3.10+.
• Typed responses (TypedDict), typed errors, automatic retries and pagination.
• Reference: docs.ytapi.dev.

Install

pip install ytapi-sdk

The package is ytapi-sdk on PyPI, and you import it as ytapi.

Quickstart

Get a key at ytapi.dev. New accounts get 200 free credits, and no card is needed.

from ytapi import YTAPI

api = YTAPI()  # reads YTAPI_API_KEY (or YTAPI_KEY) from the environment
transcript = api.get_transcript("dQw4w9WgXcQ")
for segment in transcript["segments"][:3]:
    print(segment["start"], segment["text"])

By default you get the captions in the video's own language, as timed segments. A successful request uses 1 credit, and errors are free.

Examples

# Other formats. markdown, text, srt and vtt come back as a string.
srt = api.get_transcript("dQw4w9WgXcQ", format="srt")
spanish = api.get_transcript("dQw4w9WgXcQ", format="text", languages=["es", "*"])
words = api.get_transcript("dQw4w9WgXcQ", format="word_timestamps", word_level=True)

# Free: title, length, channel and the caption languages a video has.
basic = api.get_basic_info("dQw4w9WgXcQ")
# 1 credit: description, counts, chapters and more.
info = api.get_video_info("dQw4w9WgXcQ")

# Channels take an @handle, a channel ID (UC...) or a URL.
channel = api.get_channel("@3blue1brown")
for video in api.iter_channel_videos("@3blue1brown", sort_by="popular"):
    print(video["video_id"], video["title"])

# Playlists, page by page or as an iterator.
for video in api.iter_playlist_videos("PLZHQObOWTQDNU6R1_67000Dx_ZCJB-3pi"):
    print(video["video_id"], video["length_text"])

# Search: type is video, channel, playlist, shorts or movie.
page = api.search("rust async", type="video", upload_date="month", limit=10)
for hit in page["items"]:
    print(hit["title"])

# Search suggestions are free.
print(api.get_suggestions("nextjs")["suggestions"])

# Batch: up to 100 transcript or basic_info tasks per job.
job = api.create_batch(
    [
        {"id": "a", "type": "transcript", "video_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ", "format": "text"},
        {"id": "b", "type": "basic_info", "video_id": "jNQXAC9IVRw"},
    ]
)
done = api.poll_batch(job["id"], timeout=120)
print(done["successful"], done["credits_deducted"])

The iterators (iter_playlist_videos, iter_channel_videos, iter_channel_playlists, iter_search) follow next_cursor for you. Each page is a request and uses a credit. In a batch, each successful task uses 1 credit and failed tasks are free.

Errors

from ytapi import InsufficientCreditsError, NotFoundError, RateLimitedError, YTAPIError

try:
    api.get_transcript("xxxxxxxxxxx")
except NotFoundError as exc:
    print(exc.code)  # captions_disabled, language_not_found, video_unavailable, ...
except RateLimitedError as exc:
    print(exc.code, exc.retry_after)  # rate_limited or daily_limit_exceeded
except InsufficientCreditsError:
    print("Out of credits: https://ytapi.dev/#pricing")
except YTAPIError as exc:
    print(exc.status, exc.code, exc)  # status 0 means a network error

Retries

The client retries a 429, a 5xx or a network error up to max_retries times (default 2). It backs off from 0.5 seconds, doubling up to 8, and waits longer when the server sends Retry-After. One case is not retried:

• A 429 that asks for a long wait. The cutoff is max_retry_wait, default 60 seconds. This includes a free account's daily limit (daily_limit_exceeded), which lasts until 00:00 UTC. The client raises these right away instead of hanging your program.

create_batch sends an Idempotency-Key header (a new UUID per call, or pass idempotency_key=), so a retried submit returns the job it already created instead of starting and billing a second one. Pass your own key, such as an order ID, to make retrying the whole call safe as well.

Use YTAPI(max_retries=0) to turn retries off.

Releases

Each GitHub release publishes the matching version to PyPI through trusted publishing. The release tag must match the version in pyproject.toml, such as v0.1.0.

Tests

PYTHONPATH=src python3 -m unittest discover -s tests

The tests mock HTTP and need no network or API key.

License

MIT