A single Universal Transcript Retrieval API to fetch clean, timestamped transcripts across platforms, built for LLMs, agents, and RAG.
Universal Transcript Retrieval API: Fetch Transcripts from Any Platform
Use VidNavigator’s Universal Transcript Retrieval API to get clean, timestamped, LLM‑ready transcripts and metadata from YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, X (Twitter), and more, returned in a consistent JSON format.
Introduction: Why this API now?
The rapid rise of large language models and AI agents has created demand for reliable, large‑scale, multi‑platform transcript access. Modern RAG pipelines need consistent structures, timestamps, and metadata across sources to ground answers in verifiable evidence.
Our aim is to remove platform fragmentation so teams can build faster. To our knowledge, this is the only large‑scale, multi‑platform transcript retrieval API that combines native caption capture with robust transcription fallback and returns a uniform, LLM‑ready JSON schema for retrieval‑augmented generation (RAG) and analytics.
Key takeaways
- One API for transcripts across YouTube, X, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook.
- Preferred Transcript API with Transcribe API fallback when captions are missing.
- Consistent JSON: text, start, end, plus rich video_info for RAG.
- Built‑in timestamps make answers verifiable and shareable.
What is the Universal Transcript Retrieval API?
It’s a single interface to programmatically retrieve (or generate) video transcripts and structured metadata across platforms. This enables reliable RAG, analytics, and search experiences without building platform‑specific scrapers.
How it works
- Transcript API: Retrieves native captions/subtitles when available and normalizes them to JSON.
- Transcribe API: Falls back to high‑quality ASR when captions are missing or for uploads.
- Uniform schema: You get consistent fields (text, start, end) plus video_info for every source.
Quickstart
Transcript API (preferred)
Transcribe API (fallback & uploads)
Python example
Transcript vs Transcribe (when to use)
| Feature | Transcript API | Transcribe API |
|---|---|---|
| Speed | Fast (uses native captions) | Slower (runs ASR) |
| Best for | Platforms with captions | No captions or file uploads |
| Cost | Lower | Higher |
Response structure (example)
Best practices for accuracy and scale
- Call Transcript API first for speed; fallback to Transcribe API when captions are absent.
- Persist transcripts to your store to power RAG and avoid repeated fetches.
- Keep timestamps to anchor answers and create shareable, verifiable links.
- Respect platform policies; cache responsibly and handle rate limits/backoffs.
Pricing & capacity
Start free. For high‑volume retrieval, use the Voyager plan or contact us for Enterprise. Credits support bursty workloads and batch backfills.