YouTube Transcript for AI agents

YouTube Transcript retrieves and stores captions for videos, playlists, and channels, used by content and research teams that need a video's text rather than watching it. Connect it once through Arc0, and your agent, or Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor, can use it through one MCP endpoint, limited to what each user approved.

Connect YouTube Transcript See the 9 actions ↓

Video and audioAPI keyMCP + RESTyoutube.com

AUDIT LOG · YOUTUBE TRANSCRIPTPOLICY: acme-support

09:41:07 · claude · u_8f2read

youtube_transcript.list_stored_transcripts

List Stored Transcripts✓ allowed · 212ms

09:41:08 · claude · u_8f2read

youtube_transcript.get_video_transcript

Get Video Transcript✓ allowed · 164ms

EVERY YOUTUBE TRANSCRIPT CALL, ON THE RECORD

01 · USE CASES

What agents do in YouTube Transcript.

Get a video's transcript

Pull the caption text for a specific video, a read-only fetch.

Resolve a playlist's videos

List the videos in a playlist before requesting transcripts for each.

Check a batch job's status

Look up whether a batch transcript request has finished processing.

02 · ACTIONS

9 YouTube Transcript actions, graded by risk.

Every YouTube Transcript action is tagged read, write or destructive, so one policy covers the whole app and new actions inherit the right default.

read

Look things up. Allowed by default.

youtube_transcript.get_video_transcript
Get Video Transcript
youtube_transcript.get_stored_transcript
Get Stored Transcript
youtube_transcript.list_stored_transcripts
List Stored Transcripts
youtube_transcript.list_transcript_languages
List Transcript Languages
youtube_transcript.get_video_transcripts_batch
Get Video Transcripts Batch
youtube_transcript.get_video_transcript_job_status
Get Video Transcript Job Status
youtube_transcript.get_video_transcripts_batch_status
Get Video Transcripts Batch Status
youtube_transcript.resolve_channel_videos
Resolve Channel Videos
youtube_transcript.resolve_playlist_videos
Resolve Playlist Videos

write

Create and change things. Allow, or ask the user first.

No write actions.

destructive

Delete, cancel or archive. Ask first, or deny outright.

No destructive actions.

03 · HOW IT WORKS

YouTube Transcript in three steps.

01Your users connect YouTube TranscriptThey add their YouTube Transcript api key on Arc0 Connect, under your brand. It goes straight into the vault.
02You set the rulesReads run, and writes like “updates” can wait for the user to approve.
03Any agent can actYour agent calls YouTube Transcript through the Arc0 SDK or MCP, and so can Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor. Every call lands on the audit log.

POLICY.TS

await arc0.policies.set('youtube_transcript', {
  read: 'allow',
  write: 'ask',        
  destructive: 'deny',  
})

# Claude Code: the same connection, one URL
$ claude mcp add --transport http arc0 \
    https://mcp.arc0.ai/u/u_8f2

04 · AUTH AND DATA

How YouTube Transcript connects.

Users add their YouTube Transcript api key on Arc0 Connect. It is encrypted in the vault, never shown to the model, and each user can rotate or revoke it at any time.

The same YouTube Transcript connection serves your agent over MCP and your own backend over REST and the proxy, so a user connects once. How Arc0 handles credentials →

AUTH: API key
CREDENTIALS: Per-tenant encrypted vault
MODEL SEES: Results only, never credentials
AUDIT LOG: Every call, on every plan

05 · WORKS WITH

Use YouTube Transcript from any agent.

Claude

ChatGPT

Cursor

Codex

VS Code

OpenAI Agents SDK

Claude Agent SDK

Vercel AI SDK

Mastra

LangGraph

06 · RELATED

YouTube Transcript and Arc0, answered.

Q01

Can I use YouTube Transcript with Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor?

Yes. Connect YouTube Transcript to Arc0 once, then add your Arc0 MCP URL to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Claude Code or any other remote-MCP client. Each assistant only gets the YouTube Transcript actions you allow.

Q02

How do users connect YouTube Transcript?

Users add their YouTube Transcript api key on Arc0 Connect. It is encrypted in the vault, never shown to the model, and each user can rotate or revoke it at any time.

Q03

Which YouTube Transcript actions can my agent take?

9 in total: 9 read, 0 write and 0 destructive. Your policies decide which of them each agent may call.

Q04

Can I make my agent read-only in YouTube Transcript?

Yes. Allow read actions and deny writes in the YouTube Transcript policy. Your agent can still look things up, and any write it attempts is blocked and logged.

Q05

Can my own backend call YouTube Transcript too?

Yes. The same YouTube Transcript connection is available over REST and through the Arc0 proxy, so your product and your agent share one connection per user.

Get started

Plug YouTube Transcript into your agent.

Your users connect YouTube Transcript once, under your brand. Your agent gets 9 actions behind your policies, with every call on the record.

Connect YouTube Transcript Browse all apps →

Free to build · MCP + REST · Audit log on every plan