REF · youtubesearch-api

Clean YouTube data for agents.

Search, video metadata, timestamped transcripts, and structured summaries. Four operations return plain fields and markdown, so an agent reads only the range it needs.

Free tier
1,000 credits / mo
Operations
Four, one contract
Rate limit
10 req/s, every tier
01 / 05Overview

Four operations, one clean contract

Instead of loading an entire video into context, an agent asks for exactly the field, section, or time range it needs. Every response is plain structured data — no player, no scraping, no HTML to unpick.

Interfaces
REST API · MCP server · CLI
Operations
search · metadata · transcript · summary
Formats
JSON fields · Markdown
Access
API key required — free tier, no card
02 / 05Endpoints

The endpoint index

One call per operation. Cost is metered in credits — a summary reads more than a search, and nothing else surprises you.

search
1 cr
/v1/search
Ranked video matches with ids and metadata
JSON
metadata
1 cr
/v1/videos/:id
Title, channel, duration, and counts for one video
JSON
transcript
1–10 cr
/v1/transcript
Timestamped text, by range or in full
JSON · text
summary
1–5 cr
/v1/summary
A sectioned overview of a video
Markdown
03 / 05Pipeline

From request to clean data

A video goes in as an id or a query. What comes back is aligned, structured, and ready to read — the messy middle is handled.

A
Request
video id or query
B
Resolve
locate source
C
Extract
captions · metadata
D
Normalize
align timestamps
E
Deliver
  • fields
  • text
  • markdown
04 / 05Sample

A single exchange

One request for a transcript range. The response carries only the segments asked for.

RequestGET /v1/transcript?id=dQw4w9WgXcQ&range=01:30-03:00
Response
{
  "id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "range": "01:30–03:00",
  "language": "en",
  "segments": [
    { "t": "01:32", "text": "The agent fetches only the range it needs," },
    { "t": "01:47", "text": "so a 90-minute talk costs a handful of tokens." }
  ]
}
05 / 05Pricing

Two tiers

Take a free key for 1,000 credits a month — same speed as pro. Move to Pro when an agent runs in production.

Free
$0
1,000 credits every month, no card
Monthly credits
1,000
Operations
All four
Interfaces
REST · MCP · CLI
Throughput
10 req/s
Pro
$20 / mo
For agents in production
Monthly credits
20,000
Operations
All four
Interfaces
REST · MCP · CLI
Throughput
10 req/s
Get started

Start with 1,000 credits a month.

Free key, 1,000 credits/mo, no card — same speed as pro