YouTube Transcribe
API Docs GitHub Telegram Bot Try It →

You found a great video. But copying subtitles manually? There must be a better way.

Transcripts from YouTube

Paste a URL → get clean text as JSON, TXT, or WebVTT.
One GET request, no API key.
Or just send a link to @get_youtube_transcript_bot in Telegram.

any YouTube URL format auto or manual subtitles free, no auth required
↓ Try It Now GitHub Telegram Bot

In brief

How It Works

01

Grab a YouTube URL

Any format works: youtube.com/watch, youtu.be, /shorts, /live, /embed — or just the video ID.

02

Call the API

Simple GET request. Choose format: JSON with metadata, plain text, or WebVTT subtitles.

03

Use the transcript

Feed it to AI, create notes, build search indexes, generate summaries — your workflow.

Try it live

Get a transcript right now

Equivalent curl command

Response

// Press "Get Transcript →" to fetch a real response

API Reference

Endpoints

GET /transcript/{video_id}

Returns JSON with full transcript and metadata: title, video ID, language, segments with timestamps.

Parameters

auto— bool. Use auto-generated subtitles (default: true)
timestamps— bool. Include start/duration per segment (default: true)
curl https://youtubetranscribe.khabaroff.studio/transcript/dQw4w9WgXcQ
GET /transcript/{video_id}/txt

Returns plain text transcript. Clean, ready to paste into an AI prompt or document.

Parameters

auto— bool. Use auto-generated subtitles (default: true)
pretty— bool. Add paragraph breaks and clean up (default: false)
curl https://youtubetranscribe.khabaroff.studio/transcript/dQw4w9WgXcQ/txt
GET /transcript/{video_id}/vtt

Returns a WebVTT subtitle file. Drop it into any video player or use as closed captions.

Parameters

auto— bool. Use auto-generated subtitles (default: true)
curl https://youtubetranscribe.khabaroff.studio/transcript/dQw4w9WgXcQ/vtt
GET /health

Health check endpoint. Use it to verify the service is up before making transcript requests.

Returns

{"status": "healthy"}
curl https://youtubetranscribe.khabaroff.studio/health

Use cases

What people build with it

AI Summarization

Feed transcripts to GPT or Claude for summaries, key points, action items, and Q&A — in seconds.

Content Repurposing

Turn video content into blog posts, social media threads, newsletters, or course materials — without rewatching.

Search & Research

Build searchable indexes of video content for knowledge management, competitive research, or personal libraries.

Accessibility

Generate subtitles for videos that don't have them, translate them, or improve auto-generated captions for clarity.

FAQ

Common questions

Is this free? +

Yes. No API keys, no rate limits (yet). If you need heavy usage, self-host it — Docker image, one command.

What languages are supported? +

Any language that YouTube supports for auto-generated or manual subtitles. If YouTube has it, you can get it.

What if a video has no subtitles? +

You'll get a 404 with a clear error message. Most YouTube videos have auto-generated subtitles, so this is rare.

Can I self-host this? +

Yes. Docker image, one command. See the GitHub repo for instructions.

What YouTube URL formats work? +

All of them: youtube.com/watch?v=, youtu.be/, /embed/, /shorts/, /live/, or just the 11-character video ID.