YouTube Lite
Complete YouTube toolkit via TranscriptAPI.com. Everything in one skill.
Setup
You MUST have a $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY environment variable set.
If you don't have tell the user to create a free account at transcriptapi.com: transcriptapi.com/signup → Dashboard → API Keys.
If you have the key, See File Writes below for details. Existing file is backed up before modification.
File Writes
The verify and save-key commands save the API key to ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json (sets skills.entries.transcriptapi.apiKey and enabled: true). Existing file is backed up to ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json.bak before modification.
To use the API key in terminal/CLI outside the agent, add to your shell profile manually:
export TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY=<your-key>
API Reference
Full OpenAPI spec: transcriptapi.com/openapi.json — consult this for the latest parameters and schemas.
Transcript — COST 1 credit
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/transcript\
?video_url=VIDEO_URL&format=text&include_timestamp=true&send_metadata=true" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
| Param | Required | Default | Values |
|---|
video_url | yes | — | YouTube URL or 11-char video ID |
format | no | json | json, text |
include_timestamp | no | true | true, false |
send_metadata | no | false | true, false |
Response (format=json):
{
"video_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
"language": "en",
"transcript": [{ "text": "...", "start": 18.0, "duration": 3.5 }],
"metadata": { "title": "...", "author_name": "...", "author_url": "..." }
}
Search — COST 1 credit
# Videos
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/search?q=QUERY&type=video&limit=20" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
# Channels
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/search?q=QUERY&type=channel&limit=10" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
| Param | Required | Default | Validation |
|---|
q | yes | — | 1-200 chars |
type | no | video | video, channel |
limit | no | 20 | 1-50 |
Channels
All channel endpoints accept channel — an @handle, channel URL, or UC... channel ID. No need to resolve first.
Resolve handle — FREE
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/resolve?input=@TED" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
Response: {"channel_id": "UC...", "resolved_from": "@TED"}
Latest 15 videos — FREE
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/latest?channel=@TED" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
Returns exact viewCount and ISO published timestamps.
All channel videos — COST 1 credit/page
# First page (100 videos)
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/videos?channel=@NASA" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
# Next pages
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/videos?continuation=TOKEN" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
Provide exactly one of channel or continuation. Response includes continuation_token and has_more.
Search within channel — COST 1 credit
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/search\
?channel=@TED&q=QUERY&limit=30" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
Playlists — COST 1 credit/page
Accepts playlist — a YouTube playlist URL or playlist ID.
# First page
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/playlist/videos?playlist=PL_ID" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
# Next pages
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/playlist/videos?continuation=TOKEN" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
Valid ID prefixes: PL, UU, LL, FL, OL. Response includes playlist_info, results, continuation_token, has_more.
Credit Costs
If you will use NOT FREE endpoints, make sure to tell the user and let them to choose if they want to proceed or not.
| Endpoint | Cost |
|---|
| transcript | 1 |
| search | 1 |
| channel/resolve | free |
| channel/latest | free |
| channel/videos | 1/page |
| channel/search | 1 |
| playlist/videos | 1/page |
Validation Rules
| Field | Rule |
|---|
channel | @handle, channel URL, or UC... ID |
playlist | Playlist URL or ID (PL/UU/LL/FL/OL prefix) |
q | 1-200 chars |
limit | 1-50 |
Errors
| Code | Meaning | Action |
|---|
| 401 | Bad API key | Check key |
| 402 | No credits | transcriptapi.com/billing |
| 404 | Not found | Resource doesn't exist or no captions |
| 408 | Timeout | Retry once after 2s |
| 422 | Validation error | Check param format |
| 429 | Rate limited | Wait, respect Retry-After |
Typical Workflows
Research workflow: search → pick videos → fetch transcripts
# 1. Search
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/search\
?q=machine+learning+explained&limit=5" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
# 2. Transcript
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/transcript\
?video_url=VIDEO_ID&format=text&include_timestamp=true&send_metadata=true" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
Channel monitoring: latest (free) → transcript
# 1. Latest uploads (free — pass @handle directly)
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/latest?channel=@TED" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
# 2. Transcript of latest
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/transcript\
?video_url=VIDEO_ID&format=text&include_timestamp=true&send_metadata=true" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
Free tier: 100 credits, 300 req/min. Starter ($5/mo): 1,000 credits.
