youtube-search
Scannednpx machina-cli add skill ZeroPointRepo/youtube-skills/youtube-search --openclawYouTube Search
Search YouTube and fetch transcripts via TranscriptAPI.com.
Setup
If $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 your shell profile and agent config. Ready to use.
Manual option: transcriptapi.com/signup → Dashboard → API Keys.
API Reference
Full OpenAPI spec: transcriptapi.com/openapi.json — consult this for the latest parameters and schemas.
GET /api/v2/youtube/search — 1 credit
Search YouTube globally for videos or channels.
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/search?q=QUERY&type=video&limit=20" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
| Param | Required | Default | Validation |
|---|---|---|---|
q | yes | — | 1-200 chars (trimmed) |
type | no | video | video or channel |
limit | no | 20 | 1-50 |
Video search response:
{
"results": [
{
"type": "video",
"videoId": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
"title": "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up",
"channelId": "UCuAXFkgsw1L7xaCfnd5JJOw",
"channelTitle": "Rick Astley",
"channelHandle": "@RickAstley",
"channelVerified": true,
"lengthText": "3:33",
"viewCountText": "1.5B views",
"publishedTimeText": "14 years ago",
"hasCaptions": true,
"thumbnails": [{ "url": "...", "width": 120, "height": 90 }]
}
],
"result_count": 20
}
Channel search response (type=channel):
{
"results": [{
"type": "channel",
"channelId": "UCuAXFkgsw1L7xaCfnd5JJOw",
"title": "Rick Astley",
"handle": "@RickAstley",
"url": "https://www.youtube.com/@RickAstley",
"description": "Official channel...",
"subscriberCount": "4.2M subscribers",
"verified": true,
"rssUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UC...",
"thumbnails": [...]
}],
"result_count": 5
}
GET /api/v2/youtube/channel/search — 1 credit
Search videos within a specific channel. Accepts channel — an @handle, channel URL, or UC... ID.
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/search\
?channel=@TED&q=climate+change&limit=30" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
| Param | Required | Validation |
|---|---|---|
channel | yes | @handle, channel URL, or UC... ID |
q | yes | 1-200 chars |
limit | no | 1-50 (default 30) |
Returns up to ~30 results (YouTube limit). Same video response shape as global search.
GET /api/v2/youtube/channel/resolve — FREE
Convert @handle to channel ID:
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/resolve?input=@TED" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
Workflow: Search → Transcript
# 1. Search for videos
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/search\
?q=python+web+scraping&type=video&limit=5" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
# 2. Get transcript from result
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/transcript\
?video_url=VIDEO_ID&format=text&include_timestamp=true&send_metadata=true" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
Errors
| Code | Action |
|---|---|
| 402 | No credits — transcriptapi.com/billing |
| 404 | Not found |
| 408 | Timeout — retry once |
| 422 | Invalid channel identifier |
Free tier: 100 credits, 300 req/min.
Source
git clone https://github.com/ZeroPointRepo/youtube-skills/blob/main/skills/youtube-search/SKILL.mdView on GitHub Overview
This skill lets you search YouTube for videos or channels, optionally narrowing to a specific channel, and then fetch transcripts via TranscriptAPI. It helps you discover content on a topic and quickly access transcripts for review or analysis.
How This Skill Works
The skill uses YouTube search endpoints to return video or channel results. You can also search within a specific channel using the channel/search endpoint and convert handles to IDs with channel/resolve. After identifying a video, transcripts can be retrieved through TranscriptAPI using your API key.
When to Use It
- When you want to find videos about a topic (e.g., 'neural networks') across YouTube.
- When you want to search for channels or creators related to a topic.
- When you want to look up a specific channel by @handle, URL, or ID and search within it.
- When you want to discover who makes videos about a niche topic by exploring a channel's content.
- When you need transcripts for found videos for quick review or citation.
Quick Start
- Step 1: Obtain a TranscriptAPI key (register or sign in) to authorize requests.
- Step 2: Run a YouTube search, e.g., q=machine+learning&type=video&limit=5 to get video results.
- Step 3: Pick a video and request its transcript through TranscriptAPI using your API key.
Best Practices
- Use precise keywords and optional quotes to narrow results.
- Decide early whether you want video results (type=video) or channel results (type=channel).
- If targeting a creator, first resolve their handle to a channel ID with channel/resolve.
- Use channel/search to limit results to a specific channel before broadening the query.
- Monitor credits: global search and channel search cost 1 credit each; fetch transcripts as needed.
Example Use Cases
- Search YouTube for videos about 'quantum computing' with limit 5.
- Search within the TED channel for 'climate change'.
- Resolve @TED to a channel ID and then search within that channel for 'ai safety'.
- Find channels about 'data visualization' and review subscriber counts.
- Select a video from results and fetch its transcript via TranscriptAPI.
