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Path Parameters

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video_id
string
required
The YouTube video id (e.g. dQw4w9WgXcQ).

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Query Parameters

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lang
string
Preferred transcript language code (e.g. en, de). Falls back to the default available track.
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type
string
Track type preference: manual (human-authored) or asr (auto-generated).

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Response

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video_id
string
The video the transcript belongs to.
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language
string
Language code of the returned transcript (nullable).
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language_name
string
Human-readable language name (nullable).
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type
string
Track type: manual or asr (auto-generated) (nullable).
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is_translatable
boolean
Whether the track can be machine-translated (nullable).
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available_transcripts
array
Other available transcript tracks (with language metadata).
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translation_languages
array
Languages the transcript can be translated into.
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segments
array
Timed transcript lines.
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full_text
string
The entire transcript as a single plain-text string (nullable).
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srt
string
The transcript formatted as a ready-to-use SubRip (.srt) file (nullable).
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vtt
string
The transcript formatted as a ready-to-use WebVTT (.vtt) file (nullable).

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Example Response

{
  "video_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "language": "en",
  "language_name": "English",
  "type": "manual",
  "is_translatable": true,
  "available_transcripts": [
    { "language": "en", "language_name": "English", "type": "manual" },
    { "language": "es", "language_name": "Spanish", "type": "asr" }
  ],
  "segments": [
    { "start_ms": 18000, "end_ms": 21000, "duration_ms": 3000, "start_time_text": "0:18", "text": "Never gonna give you up" },
    { "start_ms": 21000, "end_ms": 24000, "duration_ms": 3000, "start_time_text": "0:21", "text": "Never gonna let you down" }
  ],
  "full_text": "Never gonna give you up Never gonna let you down ...",
  "srt": "1\n00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:21,000\nNever gonna give you up\n\n2\n00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:24,000\nNever gonna let you down\n",
  "vtt": "WEBVTT\n\n00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:21.000\nNever gonna give you up\n\n00:00:21.000 --> 00:00:24.000\nNever gonna let you down\n"
}

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Available Caption Tracks

To list the caption tracks for a video without downloading the full transcript, call: 
curl "https://scrapebadger.com/v1/youtube/videos/dQw4w9WgXcQ/captions" \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"
This returns a CaptionsResponse with video_id, a tracks array (each with language, language_name, type, is_translatable, base_url), and translation_languages. The captions endpoint costs 2 credits.
A transcript request costs 5 credits; the /captions listing costs 2 credits. Failed requests are not charged.