Get YouTube transcripts with a single command. No SDK, no dependencies, no setup. Just copy the cURL command below, paste your API key, and get transcripts from any YouTube video. Perfect for shell scripts, CI/CD pipelines, and quick testing.
# Get a transcript
curl -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
"https://api.youtubetranscripts.co/v1/transcript?url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
# Get plain text format
curl -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
"https://api.youtubetranscripts.co/v1/transcript?url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ&format=text"
# Get SRT subtitle format
curl -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
"https://api.youtubetranscripts.co/v1/transcript?url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ&format=srt"
# Batch request (up to 25 videos)
curl -X POST -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"urls": ["https://youtube.com/watch?v=video1", "https://youtube.com/watch?v=video2"]}' \
"https://api.youtubetranscripts.co/v1/batch"
# Pipe to jq for pretty printing
curl -s -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
"https://api.youtubetranscripts.co/v1/transcript?url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ" \
| jq '.transcript[] | .text'No SDK or dependencies required
Copy-paste ready commands for instant testing
Pipe output to jq for JSON processing
Perfect for shell scripts and automation
Works on Linux, macOS, and Windows (WSL)
Combine with other CLI tools for powerful workflows
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