youtube-transcript-cli: YouTube transcripts from the command line

yt-transcript <link> prints the transcript of a YouTube video, or saves it as text, SRT, VTT, Markdown with time links, or JSON. It works the same on your laptop, a server or CI, where direct caption requests often get blocked, because the transcript comes from the okdata API. One Python file, standard library only, Python 3.9+. $0.004 per video.

Install

pipx install git+https://github.com/okdataapi/youtube-transcript-cli
# or just run the file:  python3 yt_transcript.py <link>

Get a key at okdata.online and keep it in the environment, not in scripts you commit:

export OKDATA_API_KEY=okd_...

Use it

yt-transcript https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ              # plain text to stdout
yt-transcript https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ --format srt -o talk.srt    # subtitles
yt-transcript dQw4w9WgXcQ --lang en --format md                        # Markdown, every line links to its moment
yt-transcript URL1 URL2 URL3 --format txt -o transcripts/              # several videos, one file each
yt-transcript URL1 URL2 --dry-run                                      # what it would cost

Accepts watch?v= links, youtu.be links, Shorts, live and embed links, or bare 11-character ids. Duplicates are fetched once.

Option
--format	txt (default), srt, vtt, md, json (segments with start and end in seconds)
--lang	preferred language, e.g. en, zh; the original language when left out
-o	a file for one video, a folder for several
--budget	refuse runs that could cost more than this many dollars (default 1)
--dry-run	print the cost and stop; needs no key

Pipe it into an AI tool: yt-transcript <link> | llm "summarise in five bullets".

What it costs

youtube.videos.transcript.get costs $0.004 per video; 250 videos cost $1. Failed calls are free. Prices: prices.json.

Notes

• A sample project by okdata, not affiliated with YouTube or Google. The script only calls the okdata API.
• Respect creators: summarise and quote, do not republish whole transcripts.
• In an AI agent? Connect okdata's remote MCP server https://api.okdata.online/mcp, or install the okdata-transcripts skill from okdataapi/skills.
• Tests: python3 -m unittest discover -s tests (a local mock server; no network, no cost).
• Issues and ideas welcome. MIT licence.

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中文

yt-transcript <链接> 取 YouTube 视频字幕，输出纯文本、SRT、VTT、带时间跳转链接的 Markdown 或 JSON。 服务器和 CI 上也能用（直接请求字幕经常被拦），因为字幕来自 okdata 的接口。每个视频 $0.004，失败不扣钱。 在 okdata 注册拿 key，放进 OKDATA_API_KEY 即可。MIT 许可证。