Read YouTube videos and transcripts with Openhandle
Build search and summaries from public YouTube data. Read channels, Shorts, comments, and timed transcripts through the Openhandle API.
You can now build search and summaries from public YouTube videos with Openhandle. Read a channel’s uploads, get video stats, or fetch a transcript with times for each line.
YouTube is live with 29 read endpoints in Test and Live. Use an Openhandle key with the Authorization: Bearer header.
Start with a channel or a search
Read a channel’s profile and list its videos or Shorts. Search across YouTube by keyword, or search within one channel. For each video, you can read comments and their replies.
| Request | What you get |
|---|---|
GET /v1/youtube/profiles/@YouTube | The channel profile and its counts |
GET /v1/youtube/profiles/@YouTube/videos | The channel’s videos |
GET /v1/youtube/profiles/@YouTube/shorts | The channel’s Shorts |
GET /v1/youtube/search/posts?q=espresso&type=short | Shorts about espresso |
GET /v1/youtube/posts/{id}/comments | Comments on a video |
Channel paths accept an @handle or a channel ID. Video paths accept the 11 character video ID. If you have a YouTube link, pass it to POST /v1/urls/fetch.
You can also read livestreams, playlists, community posts, and channel products. Trending videos and weekly music charts take a country filter. The YouTube docs cover all 29 endpoints and their filters.
Use transcripts for search and summaries
Call GET /v1/youtube/posts/{id}/transcript to get a video’s caption text. Use it to search what people say or give your app text to summarize.
Each segment has text, start, and end. Times are in milliseconds from the start of the video. The response also lists the caption languages the video offers.
Choose a caption language with language=en, for example. Leave language out to get the track in the spoken language. A video without captions, or without the language you request, returns no segments.
Get video and audio files
Call GET /v1/youtube/posts/{id}/files to get video and audio streams with download links. Each stream includes its quality and format. Check hasVideo and hasAudio to see what it contains.
YouTube combines picture and sound in one file only up to 360p. For 720p and higher, pair a video stream with an audio stream.
The links keep working, so you can save them and download later. Players can request parts of a file to skip ahead. The files call costs one request. Downloading the files is free.
Need stills instead? GET /v1/youtube/posts/{id}/storyboard returns a small frame every 2 seconds, and GET /v1/youtube/posts/{id}/frame?at=43 returns one sharp frame at the second you pick.
Know which counts are rounded
YouTube lists often show labels such as "152M views" or "8 days ago". Openhandle keeps the date label in createdAtLabel and puts the estimated day in approximateCreatedAt. Rounded video counts set metrics.isApproximate to true.
For exact views, likes, and publish time, call GET /v1/youtube/posts/{id}. YouTube always rounds subscriber counts. A video’s comment count is rounded too. The comments endpoint gives the exact total in meta.comments.
Pay per request
The first Live pricing tier costs $0.0025 per request, paid from your balance. Failed requests are free. See pricing for volume rates and cheaper cached responses.
Openhandle has no daily quota. Each key allows 10 requests per second, with higher limits available on request. The YouTube Data API pricing guide explains Google’s quota system if you want to compare.
Make your first call
Use a Test key to try all 29 endpoints with sample data. Find examples at GET /v1/test-data?platform=youtube.
New accounts get 100 free Live requests, with no card needed. Follow the quickstart to create a key and make your first request.