Youtube-skills youtube-api

YouTube API access without the official API quota hassle — transcripts, search, channels, playlists, and metadata with no Google API key needed. Use when the user needs YouTube data programmatically, wants to avoid Google API quotas, or asks for "youtube api", "get video data", "youtube without api key", "no quota youtube".

install

source · Clone the upstream repo

git clone https://github.com/ZeroPointRepo/youtube-skills

Claude Code · Install into ~/.claude/skills/

T=$(mktemp -d) && git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/ZeroPointRepo/youtube-skills "$T" && mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r "$T/clawhub/youtube-api" ~/.claude/skills/zeropointrepo-youtube-skills-youtube-api && rm -rf "$T"

manifest: clawhub/youtube-api/SKILL.md

source content

YouTube API

YouTube data access via TranscriptAPI.com — no Google API quota needed.

Setup

$TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY

is not set, help the user create an account (100 free credits, no card):

Step 1 — Register: Ask user for their email.

node ./scripts/tapi-auth.js register --email USER_EMAIL

→ OTP sent to email. Ask user: "Check your email for a 6-digit verification code."

Step 2 — Verify: Once user provides the OTP:

node ./scripts/tapi-auth.js verify --token TOKEN_FROM_STEP_1 --otp CODE

API key saved to
~/.openclaw/openclaw.json
. See File Writes below for details. Existing file is backed up before modification.

Manual option: transcriptapi.com/signup → Dashboard → API Keys.

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.

Endpoint Reference

All endpoints:

https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/...

Channel endpoints accept

channel

— an

@handle

, channel URL, or

UC...

ID. Playlist endpoints accept

playlist

— a playlist URL or ID.

Endpoint	Method	Cost
`/transcript?video_url=ID`	GET	1
`/search?q=QUERY&type=video`	GET	1
`/channel/resolve?input=@handle`	GET	free
`/channel/latest?channel=@handle`	GET	free
`/channel/videos?channel=@handle`	GET	1/page
`/channel/search?channel=@handle&q=Q`	GET	1
`/playlist/videos?playlist=PL_ID`	GET	1/page

Quick Examples

Search videos:

curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/search\
?q=python+tutorial&type=video&limit=10" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"

Get transcript:

curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/transcript\
?video_url=dQw4w9WgXcQ&format=text&include_timestamp=true&send_metadata=true" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"

Resolve channel handle (free):

curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/resolve?input=@TED" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"

Latest videos (free):

curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/latest?channel=@TED" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"

Browse channel uploads (paginated):

curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/videos?channel=@NASA" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
# Use continuation token from response for next pages

Browse playlist (paginated):

curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/playlist/videos?playlist=PL_PLAYLIST_ID" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"

Parameter Validation

Field	Rule
`channel`	`@handle` , channel URL, or `UC...` ID
`playlist`	Playlist URL or ID ( `PL` / `UU` / `LL` / `FL` / `OL` prefix)
`q` (search)	1-200 chars
`limit`	1-50
`continuation`	non-empty string

Why Not Google's API?

	Google YouTube Data API	TranscriptAPI
Quota	10,000 units/day (100 searches)	Credit-based, no daily cap
Setup	OAuth + API key + project	Single API key
Transcripts	Not available	Core feature
Pricing	$0.0015/unit overage	$5/1000 credits

Errors

Code	Meaning	Action
401	Bad API key	Check key
402	No credits	transcriptapi.com/billing
404	Not found	Resource doesn't exist
408	Timeout/retryable	Retry once after 2s
422	Validation error	Check param format
429	Rate limited	Wait, respect Retry-After

Free tier: 100 credits, 300 req/min. Starter ($5/mo): 1,000 credits.