⌨️ CLI / TERMINAL

YouTube Transcript CLI — Extract Transcripts from Terminal

Extract YouTube transcripts directly from the command line. Use curl one-liners, our NPM package, or Python SDK to integrate transcript extraction into shell scripts, CI/CD pipelines, and automation workflows.

GET API KEY →API DOCUMENTATION

QUICK START WITH CURL

The fastest way to get a transcript from your terminal — a single curl command:

Terminal

curl -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  "https://youtubetranscript.dev/api/v2/transcript?video=dQw4w9WgXcQ"

USING THE NPM PACKAGE

For more complex workflows, use the NPM package in Node.js scripts:

JavaScript / Node.js

import { YouTubeTranscript } from "youtube-transcript-api";

const yt = new YouTubeTranscript({ apiKey: process.env.API_KEY });

const result = await yt.getTranscript("dQw4w9WgXcQ");
console.log(result.data?.transcript.text);

USING THE PYTHON SDK

Python scripts work great for data processing and analysis pipelines:

Python

from youtubetranscript import YouTubeTranscript
import os

yt = YouTubeTranscript(os.environ["API_KEY"])

result = yt.transcribe("dQw4w9WgXcQ")
print(result.text)

CLI TIPS AND TRICKS

Pipe to jq for JSON Processing

Use jq to extract specific fields from the JSON response:

curl -H "x-api-key: KEY" \
  "https://youtubetranscript.dev/api/v2/transcript?video=ID" \
  | jq '.text'

Save to File

Redirect output to save transcripts directly to files:

curl -H "x-api-key: KEY" \
  "https://youtubetranscript.dev/api/v2/transcript?video=ID" \
  > transcript.txt

Batch Processing with xargs

Process multiple video URLs from a file:

cat urls.txt | xargs -I{} curl -H "x-api-key: KEY" \
  "https://youtubetranscript.dev/api/v2/transcript?video={}"

Integration with Shell Scripts

Build automation scripts that extract and process transcripts as part of larger workflows.

USE CASES

CI/CD Pipelines

Extract transcripts as part of content processing pipelines in GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, or Jenkins.

Research Scripts

Batch process video URLs for academic research, content analysis, or dataset building.

Content Automation

Automate transcript extraction with cron jobs, shell scripts, or Makefiles.

Developer Workflows

Quick transcript extraction during development without leaving the terminal.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Can I extract YouTube transcripts from the command line?+

Yes. Use curl with the YouTubeTranscript.dev API to extract transcripts in a single command. You can also use our NPM package or Python SDK for more complex CLI workflows.

Do I need an API key for CLI usage?+

Yes. Get your API key from your YouTubeTranscript.dev account settings. Include it as the x-api-key header in your curl requests.

Can I process multiple videos from a file?+

Yes. Put video URLs in a text file (one per line) and use xargs or a simple loop to process them all. Our API handles concurrent requests within your plan's rate limits.

What output formats does the CLI support?+

The API returns JSON by default, which you can process with jq. You can request specific formats (text, SRT, VTT) through the format parameter.

Start Extracting from Terminal

One curl command away from your first transcript.

GET API KEY →