n8nworkflows.xyz/workflows/Extract transcripts from external YouTube Videos using YouTube Transcript API-11867/readme-11867.md

Extract transcripts from external YouTube Videos using YouTube Transcript API

https://n8nworkflows.xyz/workflows/extract-transcripts-from-external-youtube-videos-using-youtube-transcript-api-11867

Extract transcripts from external YouTube Videos using YouTube Transcript API

1. Workflow Overview

This workflow extracts clean transcripts from any public YouTube video by utilizing the external YouTube Transcript API service available at youtube-transcript.io. It is designed as a sub-workflow triggered by another workflow, receiving a YouTube video ID as input and returning a cleaned transcript with metadata such as language, word count, and character count.

The workflow is logically grouped into these blocks:

• 1.1 Input Reception: Accepts the video ID as input from a parent workflow.
• 1.2 API Request: Sends a POST request to youtube-transcript.io to fetch the transcript data.
• 1.3 Parsing & Validation: Parses the API response safely, handling multiple possible response formats.
• 1.4 Transcript Availability Decision: Checks if the transcript is present.
• 1.5 Transcript Cleaning: Cleans and normalizes the transcript text if available.
• 1.6 Error Handling: Provides a structured fallback and stops execution if no transcript is found.
• 1.7 Final Output: Outputs structured data including transcript and metrics.

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2. Block-by-Block Analysis

2.1 Input Reception

Overview:
This block receives the YouTube video ID as input when the workflow is executed by another workflow. It sets the video ID as a variable for downstream use.

Nodes Involved:

• When Executed by Another Workflow
• Set Variables

Node Details:

• When Executed by Another Workflow

  • Type: Execute Workflow Trigger
  • Role: Entry trigger for sub-workflow execution
  • Configuration: Accepts a single input parameter youtubeVideoId
  • Inputs: External workflow trigger
  • Outputs: Passes input data to next node
  • Edge Cases: Missing or invalid youtubeVideoId will cause downstream failures
  • Version: 1.1

• Set Variables

  • Type: Set
  • Role: Stores youtubeVideoId variable from input JSON for consistent reference
  • Configuration: Assigns youtubeVideoId using expression ={{ $json.youtubeVideoId }}
  • Inputs: From trigger node
  • Outputs: Passes assigned variable to next node
  • Edge Cases: No special cases; variable must exist
  • Version: 3.4

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2.2 API Request

Overview:
Sends a POST request to the external YouTube Transcript API (youtube-transcript.io) to request transcript data for the specified video ID.

Nodes Involved:

• Get Transcript (YouTube Transcript API)

Node Details:

• Get Transcript (YouTube Transcript API)
  • Type: HTTP Request
  • Role: Fetches transcript data from youtube-transcript.io API
  • Configuration:
    • Method: POST
    • URL: https://www.youtube-transcript.io/api/transcripts
    • Headers: Content-Type: application/json
    • Body: JSON with ids array containing the video ID from Set Variables node ({{ $('Set Variables').item.json.youtubeVideoId }})
    • Response: Full response with raw text; prevents errors on HTTP failures (neverError=true)
    • Retry: Enabled with 5 seconds wait between tries to handle transient errors
  • Inputs: Receives video ID from Set Variables
  • Outputs: Full HTTP response forwarded to parsing node
  • Edge Cases: API downtime, invalid video ID, rate limits, network timeouts
  • Version: 4.2

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2.3 Parsing & Validation

Overview:
Parses the API response safely, handling various possible response formats and extracting transcript text and language metadata.

Nodes Involved:

• Parse API Response

Node Details:

• Parse API Response
  • Type: Code
  • Role: Robust JSON parsing and normalization of transcript data
  • Configuration:
    • Uses try-catch to parse response body safely
    • Supports multiple transcript shapes: text, transcript, or nested tracks[].transcript[]
    • Extracts language info from multiple possible fields
    • Returns structured JSON with keys: videoId, language, text, status, source
  • Inputs: Full HTTP response from API Request node
  • Outputs: Parsed transcript data or error JSON if parsing fails
  • Edge Cases: Malformed JSON, unexpected response structure, missing transcript text
  • Version: 2

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2.4 Transcript Availability Decision

Overview:
Evaluates whether a transcript was found in the parsed response and routes processing accordingly.

Nodes Involved:

• IF Has Transcript?

Node Details:

• IF Has Transcript?
  • Type: If
  • Role: Conditional routing based on presence of transcript text
  • Configuration:
    • Condition: $json.text !== null && $json.text !== undefined && $json.text !== ''
    • True branch: transcript exists
    • False branch: transcript missing
  • Inputs: Parsed data from previous node
  • Outputs: Routes to either cleaning or fallback node
  • Edge Cases: Empty strings or whitespace-only transcripts considered missing
  • Version: 2

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2.5 Transcript Cleaning

Overview:
Processes and normalizes the raw transcript text to produce clean output suitable for further AI or data processing.

Nodes Involved:

• Clean Transcript

Node Details:

• Clean Transcript
  • Type: Code
  • Role: Cleans and normalizes transcript text
  • Configuration:
    • Converts transcript to string if necessary
    • Replaces newlines with spaces, collapses multiple whitespaces to single spaces
    • Removes common music tags like [Music], [Música] (case-insensitive)
    • Computes wordCount and charCount metrics
    • Returns structured JSON with cleaned text and metadata
  • Inputs: Transcript JSON from IF node (true branch)
  • Outputs: Clean transcript JSON
  • Edge Cases: Non-string transcripts, transcripts with embedded tags or special characters
  • Version: 2

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2.6 Error Handling

Overview:
Provides fallback structured response and stops workflow execution with an error if no transcript was found.

Nodes Involved:

• No Transcript Fallback
• Stop and Error

Node Details:

• No Transcript Fallback

  • Type: Code
  • Role: Generates standardized error JSON when transcript is unavailable
  • Configuration:
    • Uses video ID from Set Variables node
    • Defaults language to es if not specified
    • Provides error message and suggestion to try alternative languages or fallback ASR/Whisper methods
  • Inputs: IF node (false branch)
  • Outputs: Error JSON to Stop node
  • Edge Cases: Missing preferred language; fallback to Spanish used
  • Version: 2

• Stop and Error

  • Type: Stop and Error
  • Role: Terminates workflow with an error message
  • Configuration: Error message: "There's no transcript for this YouTube video (Transcript API)."
  • Inputs: From No Transcript Fallback
  • Outputs: Workflow stops with error
  • Edge Cases: None (terminal node)
  • Version: 1

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2.7 Final Output

Overview:
The final output is the cleaned transcript data structured consistently for downstream use, including video ID, language, cleaned text, word and character counts, status, and source.

Nodes Involved:

• Clean Transcript (final output node)

Node Details:

• See Clean Transcript node above.

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3. Summary Table

Node Name	Node Type	Functional Role	Input Node(s)	Output Node(s)	Sticky Note
When Executed by Another Workflow	Execute Workflow Trigger	Sub-workflow entry point, input reception	External trigger	Set Variables	## 1. Input Processing - Receives execution as a sub-workflow - Defines youtubeVideoId and preferredLanguage Example: { "youtubeVideoId": "xObjAdhDxBE" }
Set Variables	Set	Assigns youtubeVideoId variable	When Executed by Another Workflow	Get Transcript (YouTube Transcript API)	## 1. Input Processing - Receives execution as a sub-workflow - Defines youtubeVideoId and preferredLanguage Example: { "youtubeVideoId": "xObjAdhDxBE" }
Get Transcript (YouTube Transcript API)	HTTP Request	Calls youtube-transcript.io API to fetch transcript	Set Variables	Parse API Response	## 2. Transcript API Request - Calls youtube-transcript.io - Does not require YouTube OAuth - Returns the response (Full Response + text) - The next node performs robust parsing
Parse API Response	Code	Parses and normalizes API response	Get Transcript (YouTube Transcript API)	IF Has Transcript?	## 3. Parsing & Cleaning - Parses JSON even when the response arrives as a string (using safe parsing / try-catch) - Supports multiple response shapes (text / transcript / tracks) - Basic cleaning
IF Has Transcript?	If	Checks for transcript presence	Parse API Response	Clean Transcript, No Transcript Fallback	## ❌ Error Handling Path - When no transcript is available: - Returns a structured error (No Transcript Fallback) - Ends the execution with Stop and Error - Suggests an ASR/Whisper fallback
Clean Transcript	Code	Cleans transcript text and computes metrics	IF Has Transcript? (true branch)	(Final output)	## 3. Parsing & Cleaning - Parses JSON even when the response arrives as a string (using safe parsing / try-catch) - Supports multiple response shapes (text / transcript / tracks) - Basic cleaning
No Transcript Fallback	Code	Generates error JSON when no transcript found	IF Has Transcript? (false branch)	Stop and Error	## ❌ Error Handling Path - When no transcript is available: - Returns a structured error (No Transcript Fallback) - Ends the execution with Stop and Error - Suggests an ASR/Whisper fallback
Stop and Error	Stop and Error	Terminates workflow with error	No Transcript Fallback	None	## ❌ Error Handling Path - When no transcript is available: - Returns a structured error (No Transcript Fallback) - Ends the execution with Stop and Error - Suggests an ASR/Whisper fallback
Sticky Note - Overview	Sticky Note	Documentation overview	None	None	## 🚀 Try It Out! YouTube Transcript API Extractor (Any Public Video) - Extracts a clean transcript from a videoId using youtube-transcript.io. Use cases include AI summaries, SEO, content pipelines. Workflow steps are documented.
Sticky Note - Input	Sticky Note	Input block explanation	None	None	## 1. Input Processing - Receives execution as a sub-workflow - Defines youtubeVideoId and preferredLanguage Example: { "youtubeVideoId": "xObjAdhDxBE" }
Sticky Note - API	Sticky Note	API Request block explanation	None	None	## 2. Transcript API Request - Calls youtube-transcript.io - Does not require YouTube OAuth - Returns the response (Full Response + text) - The next node performs robust parsing
Sticky Note - Processing	Sticky Note	Parsing and cleaning explanation	None	None	## 3. Parsing & Cleaning - Parses JSON even when the response arrives as a string (using safe parsing / try-catch) - Supports multiple response shapes (text / transcript / tracks) - Basic cleaning
Sticky Note - Output	Sticky Note	Final output format explanation	None	None	## ✅ Final Output Format - Success: { "videoId": "xObjAdhDxBE", "language": "es", "text": "Clean transcript text...", "wordCount": 1234, "charCount": 5678, "status": "success", "source": "youtube_transcript_api" }
Sticky Note - Errors	Sticky Note	Error handling path explanation	None	None	## ❌ Error Handling Path - When no transcript is available: - Returns a structured error (No Transcript Fallback) - Ends the execution with Stop and Error - Suggests an ASR/Whisper fallback

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4. Reproducing the Workflow from Scratch

1. Create Trigger Node:

   • Add Execute Workflow Trigger node.
   • Name it: When Executed by Another Workflow.
   • Configure input parameter: youtubeVideoId (string).
   • This node will receive the video ID when called from another workflow.

2. Set Variables Node:

   • Add a Set node named Set Variables.
   • Connect it from the trigger node.
   • Assign a variable named youtubeVideoId with the expression ={{ $json.youtubeVideoId }}.
   • This ensures consistent access to the video ID downstream.

3. HTTP Request Node:

   • Add an HTTP Request node named Get Transcript (YouTube Transcript API).
   • Connect it from Set Variables.
   • Configure as follows:
     • Method: POST
     • URL: https://www.youtube-transcript.io/api/transcripts
     • Headers: Add Content-Type header with value application/json
     • Body Content: JSON with key ids containing an array with the video ID:

       {
         "ids": ["{{ $('Set Variables').item.json.youtubeVideoId }}"]
       }
       

     • Set "Send Body" to true and specify body format as JSON.
     • Under Options, set Response to "Full Response" and "Never Error" to true.
     • Enable Retry on Fail with 5 seconds wait between tries.
   • No special credentials are required for this public API.

4. Code Node for Parsing:

   • Add a Code node named Parse API Response.
   • Connect from the HTTP Request node.
   • Paste the JavaScript code that:
     • Extracts the raw response body safely.
     • Parses JSON with try-catch.
     • Handles multiple transcript response formats.
     • Extracts transcript text and language.
     • Returns a JSON object with videoId, language, text, status, and source.
   • This node normalizes the API response.

5. If Node for Transcript Check:

   • Add an If node named IF Has Transcript?.
   • Connect from the Parse node.
   • Configure condition:
     • Expression: {{$json.text !== null && $json.text !== undefined && $json.text !== ''}}
     • Operator: Boolean equals true
   • True branch proceeds to transcript cleaning.
   • False branch proceeds to error handling.

6. Code Node for Cleaning Transcript:

   • Add a Code node named Clean Transcript.
   • Connect from the If node’s true branch.
   • Paste JavaScript code that:
     • Normalizes transcript text to string.
     • Replaces newlines with spaces.
     • Collapses multiple spaces.
     • Removes [Music], [Música], [Musica] tags case-insensitively.
     • Calculates wordCount and charCount.
     • Returns cleaned transcript JSON with metadata.
   • This node produces the final successful output.

7. Code Node for Transcript Missing Fallback:

   • Add a Code node named No Transcript Fallback.
   • Connect from the If node’s false branch.
   • Paste JavaScript code that:
     • Returns JSON with error message, fallback language (default es), and suggestion.
     • Includes videoId, status: 'no_transcript', and source.

8. Stop and Error Node:

   • Add a Stop and Error node named Stop and Error.
   • Connect from the No Transcript Fallback node.
   • Configure error message: There's no transcript for this YouTube video (Transcript API).
   • This node terminates workflow execution on error.

9. Add Sticky Note nodes:

   • Add sticky notes with the documented content as per the original workflow, placed near relevant nodes for usability and documentation purposes.

10. Testing:

    • Test the workflow by triggering it with a valid youtubeVideoId (e.g., xObjAdhDxBE).
    • Verify the output JSON includes text, language, wordCount, charCount, and status: success.

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5. General Notes & Resources

Note Content	Context or Link
This workflow uses the free and public API at youtube-transcript.io, which does not require YouTube OAuth.	API Documentation at https://youtube-transcript.io
Clean transcripts are useful for AI-driven content analysis such as summarization or sentiment analysis.	Use case examples include SEO, content pipelines, and indexing.
The workflow is designed as a sub-workflow to be called from other workflows with youtubeVideoId input.	Facilitates batch processing or integration with other automations.
Error handling suggests fallback to ASR/Whisper transcription methods if no transcript is found.	Whisper ASR: OpenAI Whisper models or other speech-to-text services can be integrated as fallback.

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Disclaimer:
The content provided is generated exclusively from an n8n workflow designed for legal and public data sources, respecting all applicable content policies.