Quick YouTube utility — fetch transcripts, search videos, get latest from channels. Use when someone shares a YouTube link, asks about a video, or says "yt", "youtube", "check this video", "what's this video about", "find videos about", "latest from".
Install
Documentation
yt
Quick YouTube lookup via [TranscriptAPI.com](https://transcriptapi.com).
Setup
If $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY is not set, help the user create an account (100 free credits, no card):
node ./scripts/tapi-auth.js register --email USER_EMAIL
→ OTP sent to email. Ask user: _"Check your email for a 6-digit verification code."_
Step 2 — Verify: Once user provides the OTP:node ./scripts/tapi-auth.js verify --token TOKEN_FROM_STEP_1 --otp CODE
> API key saved to ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json. See File Writes below for details. Existing file is backed up before modification.
Manual option: [transcriptapi.com/signup](https://transcriptapi.com/signup) → Dashboard → API Keys.
File Writes
The verify and save-key commands save the API key to ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json (sets skills.entries.transcriptapi.apiKey and enabled: true). Existing file is backed up to ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json.bak before modification.
To use the API key in terminal/CLI outside the agent, add to your shell profile manually:
export TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY=<your-key>
API Reference
Full OpenAPI spec: [transcriptapi.com/openapi.json](https://transcriptapi.com/openapi.json) — consult this for the latest parameters and schemas.
Transcript — 1 credit
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/transcript\
?video_url=VIDEO_URL&format=text&include_timestamp=true&send_metadata=true" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
Search — 1 credit
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/search?q=QUERY&type=video&limit=10" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
| Param | Default | Values |
| ------- | ------- | ---------------------- |
| q | — | 1-200 chars (required) |
| type | video | video, channel |
| limit | 20 | 1-50 |
Channel latest — FREE
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/latest?channel=@TED" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
Returns last 15 videos with exact view counts and publish dates. Accepts @handle, channel URL, or UC... ID.
Resolve handle — FREE
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/resolve?input=@TED" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
Use to convert @handle to UC... channel ID.
Errors
| Code | Action |
| ---- | -------------------------------------- |
| 402 | No credits — transcriptapi.com/billing |
| 404 | Not found / no captions |
| 408 | Timeout — retry once |
Free tier: 100 credits. Search and transcript cost 1 credit. Channel latest and resolve are free.
Launch an agent with Yt on Termo.