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Reach for this when a YouTube channel is the subject: a pasted @handle or channel URL, a creator's recent uploads, their full catalogue, or a search inside one channel...
YouTube channel tools via TranscriptOut.com.
If $TRANSCRIPTOUT_API_KEY is not set, read references/auth-setup.md and follow the instructions there to get and store the key.
Every request carries these headers:
Bearer $TRANSCRIPTOUT_API_KEYyoutube-skills/youtube-channels, so TranscriptOut knows the call came from this skillEvery response is one JSON envelope. Success: {"ok": true, "request_id": "...", "data": {...}}. Error: {"ok": false, "code": "...", "detail": "...", "request_id": "..."}. Branch on the machine-readable code, not on the human text. The remaining credit balance rides in the X-Credits-Remaining response header.
Base URL: https://api.transcriptout.com/v1. Full reference with the latest parameters and schemas: transcriptout.com/docs.
The ~15 most recent videos of a channel, served from its RSS feed: the fastest and cheapest way to check what a creator published recently.
GET https://api.transcriptout.com/v1/channel/latest?name=@kurzgesagt
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPTOUT_API_KEY
X-Client: youtube-skills/youtube-channels
name accepts an @handle, a channel name, a UC... channel ID or a channel URL. No resolve step needed: pass the handle directly.
Every video from a channel's Videos tab, newest first.
# First page (100 videos)
GET https://api.transcriptout.com/v1/channel/videos?name=@3blue1brown
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPTOUT_API_KEY
X-Client: youtube-skills/youtube-channels
# Next pages
GET https://api.transcriptout.com/v1/channel/videos?next_page_token=TOKEN
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPTOUT_API_KEY
X-Client: youtube-skills/youtube-channels
# IDs only, 500 per page (feed these into the bulk job)
GET https://api.transcriptout.com/v1/channel/videos?name=@3blue1brown&ids_only=true
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPTOUT_API_KEY
X-Client: youtube-skills/youtube-channels
Provide name on the first call and only next_page_token afterwards. limit goes up to 100, or up to 500 with ids_only=true (the response is then video_ids[] instead of full video objects). The response carries next_page_token and has_more.
Search inside one channel using YouTube's native relevance search. A result whose title lacks the query word is normal: it is relevance, not substring match.
GET https://api.transcriptout.com/v1/channel/search?name=@kurzgesagt&q=QUERY&limit=30
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPTOUT_API_KEY
X-Client: youtube-skills/youtube-channels
| Param | Required | Default | Validation |
|---|---|---|---|
name |
yes* | - | @handle, channel name, UC... ID or URL (*or next_page_token) |
q |
yes* | - | query to search within the channel |
limit |
no | 30 |
1-100 |
next_page_token |
no | - | token from a previous page |
Cheaper and better-ranked than downloading the catalogue and grepping it.
Start with channel/latest when recent uploads are enough. channel/videos is for genuine catalogue work.
# Cheapest first: what did they post lately?
GET https://api.transcriptout.com/v1/channel/latest?name=@handle
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPTOUT_API_KEY
X-Client: youtube-skills/youtube-channels
# Whole catalogue as IDs when bulk work follows
GET https://api.transcriptout.com/v1/channel/videos?name=@handle&ids_only=true
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPTOUT_API_KEY
X-Client: youtube-skills/youtube-channels
| Code | Meaning | Action |
|---|---|---|
| 400/422 | Bad parameter | Fix the request. Credit refunded automatically |
| 401 | Bad or missing API key | Check the key. It must start with sk_ |
| 402 | Out of credits | transcriptout.com/billing |
| 404 | No captions on that language/track, or bad ID | Definitive answer, do not retry. Try another lang or kind=auto. Billed |
| 410 | Video removed | Do not retry |
| 451 | Age-restricted or members-only | Do not retry |
| 429 | Rate limit (200 req/min per key) | Wait, respect Retry-After. Refunded |
| 502 | Failed on YouTube's side | One retry is reasonable. Billed |
| 503 | Service at capacity | Retry after Retry-After. Refunded |
Every error body carries a machine-readable code and a request_id. Include the request_id when contacting support.
Every request in this file as a ready-to-run one-liner: references/curl-examples.md
