Package Exports

yt-transcript-api
yt-transcript-api/src/index.js

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Readme

✨ YT-TRANSCRIPT-API ✨

A lightweight JavaScript API and CLI for retrieving YouTube video transcripts and subtitles (including auto-generated and translated ones). No headless browsers required.

Author: Chintamani Pala

Features

Fetch YouTube video transcripts (captions/subtitles) via API or CLI.
Supports auto-generated and manually created transcripts.
Supports translation (where available).
No browser automation or scraping required.
Proxy support for bypassing IP blocks.
Multiple output formats: JSON, text, SRT, WebVTT, pretty-print.

Installation

npm install yt-transcript-api

Or clone this repository and install dependencies:

git clone https://github.com/chintamani-pala/yt-transcript-api.git
cd yt-transcript-api
npm install

Usage

Fetch Transcript (Default Language)

const { YouTubeTranscriptApi } = require('yt-transcript-api');
const ytt_api = new YouTubeTranscriptApi();
const video_id = '0Okxsszt624';

(async () => {
    const transcript = await ytt_api.fetch(video_id);
    console.log(transcript);
})();

Fetch Transcript (Specific Language)

(async () => {
    const transcript = await ytt_api.fetch(video_id, ["en"]);
    console.log(transcript);
})();

Fetch Transcript (Unavailable Language)

(async () => {
    try {
        await ytt_api.fetch(video_id, ["zz"]);
    } catch (err) {
        console.error("Transcript not found for requested language.");
    }
})();

List Available Transcripts

(async () => {
    const list = await ytt_api.list(video_id);
    console.log(list);
})();

Save Transcript to File

const fs = require('fs');
(async () => {
    const transcript = await ytt_api.fetch(video_id, ["en"]);
    fs.writeFileSync("transcript.json", JSON.stringify(transcript, null, 2));
})();

Format Transcript as JSON (Pretty)

const { formatters } = require('yt-transcript-api');
(async () => {
    const transcript = await ytt_api.fetch(video_id, ["en"]);
    const json = new formatters.JSONFormatter().formatTranscript(transcript, { space: 2 });
    console.log(json);
})();

Format Transcript as SRT

const { formatters } = require('yt-transcript-api');
(async () => {
    const transcript = await ytt_api.fetch(video_id, ["en"]);
    const srt = new formatters.SRTFormatter().formatTranscript(transcript);
    console.log(srt);
})();

Format Transcript as Text

const { formatters } = require('yt-transcript-api');
(async () => {
    const transcript = await ytt_api.fetch(video_id, ["en"]);
    const text = new formatters.TextFormatter().formatTranscript(transcript);
    console.log(text);
})();

Format Transcript as Pretty Print

const { formatters } = require('yt-transcript-api');
(async () => {
    const transcript = await ytt_api.fetch(video_id, ["en"]);
    const pretty = new formatters.PrettyPrintFormatter().formatTranscript(transcript);
    console.log(pretty);
})();

Format Transcript as WebVTT

const { formatters } = require('yt-transcript-api');
(async () => {
    const transcript = await ytt_api.fetch(video_id, ["en"]);
    const vtt = new formatters.WebVTTFormatter().formatTranscript(transcript);
    console.log(vtt);
})();

Error Handling: Invalid Video ID

(async () => {
    try {
        await ytt_api.fetch("invalid_video_id");
    } catch (err) {
        console.error("Invalid video ID.");
    }
})();

Using a Proxy

const { YouTubeTranscriptApi, GenericProxyConfig } = require('yt-transcript-api');
const proxyConfig = new GenericProxyConfig("http://proxy:8080");
const ytt_api = new YouTubeTranscriptApi({ proxy: proxyConfig });
(async () => {
    const transcript = await ytt_api.fetch(video_id, ["en"]);
    console.log(transcript);
})();

CLI Usage

Fetch transcript and print as JSON:

npx yt-transcript-api 0Okxsszt624 --languages en --format json

Fetch transcript in a different language:

npx yt-transcript-api 0Okxsszt624 --languages es --format text

Use a proxy:

npx yt-transcript-api 0Okxsszt624 --languages en --proxy http://proxy:8080

API Exports

YouTubeTranscriptApi - Main API class
YouTubeTranscriptCli - CLI class
TranscriptListFetcher - Fetches transcript lists
ProxyConfig, GenericProxyConfig, WebshareProxyConfig, InvalidProxyConfig - Proxy support
formatters - Output formatters (JSON, SRT, WebVTT, etc.)
errors - Custom error classes
settings - Internal constants

CLI Options

Option / Flag	Description
`--videoIds <ids>`	Comma-separated list of YouTube video IDs, or provide as positional arguments.
`--format <type>`	Output format: `json`, `pretty`, `text`, `srt`, `webvtt`. Default: `pretty`.
`--languages <codes>`	Comma-separated language codes (e.g. `en,hi`).
`--excludeManuallyCreated`	Exclude manually created transcripts.
`--excludeGenerated`	Exclude auto-generated transcripts.
`--httpProxy <url>`	Use an HTTP proxy server (e.g. `http://proxy:8080`).
`--httpsProxy <url>`	Use an HTTPS proxy server.
`--webshareProxyUsername <u>`	Username for Webshare proxy authentication.
`--webshareProxyPassword <p>`	Password for Webshare proxy authentication.
`--preserveFormatting`	Preserve original transcript formatting (where available).

Note:

Video IDs can be provided as a comma-separated list with --video-ids or as positional arguments.
Language codes can be provided as a comma-separated list with --languages.

Supported Output Formats

json: Raw transcript as JSON
text: Plain text transcript
srt: SubRip subtitle format
webvtt: Web Video Text Tracks format
pretty: Human-readable pretty print

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! To contribute:

Fork the repository and create your branch.
Make your changes with clear commit messages.
Ensure all tests pass (npm test).
Submit a pull request describing your changes.

For major changes, please open an issue first to discuss what you would like to change.

Support / Contact

For bug reports or feature requests, please open an issue on GitHub.
For questions, suggestions, or sponsorship, contact the author via GitHub or use the GitHub Sponsor button.

License

MIT

Author

Chintamani Pala