Real-time YouTube & Shorts data, one API call.
Extract transcripts, summaries, stats, comments, and more from YouTube videos and Shorts.
The YouTube & Shorts API from Captapi gives developers reliable access to public YouTube & Shorts data without building or maintaining scrapers — send one authenticated request and get clean, structured JSON back.
curl "https://api.captapi.com/v1/youtube/transcript?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DdQw4w9WgXcQ" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer capt_live_..."What is the YouTube & Shorts API?
Extract transcripts, summaries, stats, comments, and more from YouTube videos and Shorts. Every endpoint is a single authenticated GET request that responds with predictable JSON, so the data drops straight into dashboards, AI pipelines, RAG systems, and no-code automations. AI agents can call the same endpoints as MCP tools via @captapi/mcp.
Endpoints
What you can do with the YouTube & Shorts API
Transcript
GET /v1/youtube/transcript
YouTube's published captions with timestamps — not speech-to-text. Flat 1 credit; 404 is free.
1 credit
Audio Transcript
GET /v1/youtube/audio-transcript
Speech-to-text for YouTube audio. Use it when a video has no captions — or when you want a transcript of what was actually spoken rather than YouTube's published captions. Priced per started minute of audio.
2 credits/min of audio
Summarizer
GET /v1/youtube/summarize
GPT summary from YouTube's published captions — same source as /transcript. Flat 3 credits; caption-miss 404 is free.
3 credits
Video Details
GET /v1/youtube/video-details
YouTube video metadata + stats. Always includes degraded / degradedReason — retry when degraded is true.
1 credit
Comments
GET /v1/youtube/comments
Get comments on any YouTube video — text, author, likes, and truncated publishedTimeApprox from the relative label, with cursor pagination (nextCursor + hasMore). Flat 2 credits per call.
2 credits
Channel Details
GET /v1/youtube/channel-details
YouTube channel stats — ISO country, createdAt date-only, real banner or null, quote-aware SEO tags, absolute links. Flat 1 credit.
1 credit
Search
GET /v1/youtube/search
YouTube search with cursor pagination — typed hits, ids, canonical URLs, filters (2 credits/page).
2 credits
Channel Videos
GET /v1/youtube/channel-videos
Channel uploads with cursor pagination — exact publishedAt from reel_item_watch (same as channel-shorts).
2 credits
Playlist Videos
GET /v1/youtube/playlist-videos
Paginated playlist contents — cursor/nextCursor/hasMore, same row shape as channel-videos. Flat 2 credits/page.
2 credits
Playlist
GET /v1/youtube/playlist
Playlist metadata only — title, channel{}, totalVideos, thumbnailUrl. No videos[]. Flat 1 credit.
1 credit
Shorts Transcript
GET /v1/youtube/shorts/transcript
Transcript for a YouTube Short — rejects long-form videos (≤3 min only).
1 credit
Shorts Summarizer
GET /v1/youtube/shorts/summarize
AI summary of a YouTube Short — rejects long-form videos (≤3 min only).
3 credits
Shorts Stats
GET /v1/youtube/shorts/video-details
YouTube Short metadata — same schema as Video Details, with isShort:true; long-form videos get HTTP 422.
1 credit
Shorts Comments
GET /v1/youtube/shorts/comments
Comments on a YouTube Short — rejects long-form videos (≤3 min only).
2 credits
Channel Shorts
GET /v1/youtube/channel-shorts
Channel Shorts with cursor pagination — same row shape as channel-videos (exact publishedAt).
2 credits
Trending Shorts
GET /v1/youtube/trending-shorts
YouTube Shorts recommendation sequence — fixed window per call (no cursor), not a global chart.
2 credits
Channel Streams
GET /v1/youtube/channel-streams
Channel Live tab only — liveStatus per row; 0 credits when hasLiveTab is false.
2 credits
Hashtag Search
GET /v1/youtube/hashtag-search
Videos from youtube.com/hashtag/{name} — nested channel{}, viewCountIsApproximate. Not keyword search.
~20 credits (1/result) · billed per result
Comment Replies
GET /v1/youtube/comment-replies
Replies under a top-level comment — parentReplyCount + cursor. Nested reply ids return 404.
2 credits
Channel Playlists
GET /v1/youtube/channel-playlists
Channel playlists with cursor pagination — id, title, totalVideos, thumbnailUrl. Flat 2 credits/page.
2 credits
Community Posts
GET /v1/youtube/community-posts
Community posts — channel{}, publishedTimeApprox, likeCountIsApproximate, linkedVideos[], cursor (1 credit).
1 credit
Community Post Details
GET /v1/youtube/community-post-details
One community post — list schema + commentCount trio + isEdited.
1 credit
Video Sponsors
GET /v1/youtube/video-sponsors
SponsorBlock community segments — free while the CC BY-NC-SA commercial-use exception is pending.
0 credits
How it works
- 1. Sign up — get 100 free credits, no card required.
- 2. Create a key from your dashboard.
- 3. Call any endpoint above with
Authorization: Bearer capt_live_...and parse the JSON response. Passcache=trueto reuse a prior response from the 24h cache at no cost.
Frequently asked questions
What is the YouTube & Shorts API?+
The YouTube & Shorts API is a REST API from Captapi that returns public YouTube & Shorts data as clean, structured JSON. It covers 23 endpoints — Transcript, Audio Transcript, Summarizer, Video Details, Comments, Channel Details, and more — behind one Bearer API key, with no OAuth flow and no infrastructure to build or maintain.
What data can I get from the YouTube & Shorts API?+
Extract transcripts, summaries, stats, comments, and more from YouTube videos and Shorts. Each endpoint is a single GET request that responds with predictable JSON fields, so the data is ready for dashboards, AI pipelines, and automations.
Do I need a YouTube & Shorts developer account or OAuth?+
No. You only need a Captapi key (capt_live_...), sent as an Authorization: Bearer header. The same key works across all 32 platforms Captapi supports. We handle proxies, rate limits, retries, and parsing for you.
How much does the YouTube & Shorts API cost?+
YouTube & Shorts endpoints cost between 0 and 20 credits per call, depending on the endpoint and how many results you request. New accounts start with 100 free credits (no credit card). Pass cache=true to serve from the 24h cache (0 credits on hit); default is always fresh. Hits include cached + cachedAt. Selected profile endpoints also accept cacheMaxAge=1d|3d|7d|14d|30d.
Can AI agents use the YouTube & Shorts API?+
Yes. Every YouTube & Shorts endpoint is exposed as a tool in the official MCP server (@captapi/mcp) for Claude, Cursor, and VS Code, and is also available through the @captapi/cli CLI, an n8n community node, a Make.com app, and an Apify Actor.
Is the YouTube & Shorts API suitable for production use?+
Yes. It is a stable REST API with predictable JSON, automatic retries, and upstream fallbacks. Pass cache=true to serve from the 24h cache (0 credits on hit); default is always fresh. Hits include cached + cachedAt. Selected profile endpoints also accept cacheMaxAge=1d|3d|7d|14d|30d. Only successful responses consume credits — failed or empty results are never charged.
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Start using the YouTube & Shorts API in sixty seconds
Sign up, grab your API key, and make your first request. 100 credits on the house — no credit card.