youtube-search
by @therohitdas
Use when the user wants to find YouTube content on any topic: searching for videos or channels, finding creators who cover a subject, discovering tutorials,...
clawhub install youtube-searchπ About This Skill
name: youtube-search description: "Use when the user wants to find YouTube content on any topic: searching for videos or channels, finding creators who cover a subject, discovering tutorials, talks, or expert discussions, or looking up a channel by name or handle. Also use proactively when the user wants to research a topic and YouTube is a good source. Not for account management or written-source-only research." version: "1.5.0" user-invocable: true compatibility: Requires internet access to reach transcriptapi.com. No additional runtimes or dependencies needed. required_environment_variables: - name: TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY prompt: Your TranscriptAPI key (starts with sk_) help: Free account at https://transcriptapi.com β 100 credits, no card required. Or let the agent create one for you. required_for: all API requests metadata: {"openclaw":{"emoji":"π","requires":{"env":["TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"]},"primaryEnv":"TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY","homepage":"https://transcriptapi.com"},"hermes":{"tags":["youtube","search","video","channels","discovery","research"],"category":"media"}}
YouTube Search
Search YouTube and fetch transcripts via TranscriptAPI.com.
Setup
If $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY is not set, read references/auth-setup.md and follow the instructions there to get and store the key.
Required Headers
Every request needs two headers:
Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEYHermesAgent/0.11.0, ClaudeCode/1.0). Version is optional β agent name alone is fine. Do not omit this header or send a bare default β Cloudflare will return a 403 (error code 1010) and block the request.API Reference
Full OpenAPI spec: transcriptapi.com/openapi.json β consult this for the latest parameters and schemas.
GET /api/v2/youtube/search β 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" \
-H "User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0"
| Param | Required | Default | Validation |
| ------- | -------- | ------- | --------------------- |
| q | yes | β | 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 β 1 credit
Search videos within a specific channel. Accepts channel β 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" \
-H "User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0"
| 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 β FREE
Convert @handle to channel ID:
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/resolve?input=@TED" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY" \
-H "User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0"
Workflow: Search β 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" \
-H "User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0"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" \
-H "User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0"
Errors
| Code | Meaning | Action | | -------- | ---------------- | ---------------------------------------------- | | 401 | Bad API key | Check key | | 402 | No credits | transcriptapi.com/billing | | 403/1010 | Cloudflare block | Add or fix User-Agent header | | 404 | Not found | Resource doesn't exist | | 408 | Timeout | Retry once | | 422 | Invalid param | Check param format |
Free tier: 100 credits, 300 req/min.
βοΈ Configuration
If $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY is not set, read references/auth-setup.md and follow the instructions there to get and store the key.