Python script to download transcripts from YouTube videos with optional timestamps.

utube_transcript_readme.md

YouTube Transcript Downloader

A simple Python script to download transcripts from YouTube videos with optional timestamps.

Description

This script downloads the transcript (subtitles/captions) from any YouTube video and saves it as a text file. It also fetches the video title and includes it at the top of the transcript for easy reference.

Features

• Downloads transcripts from YouTube videos
• Automatically fetches and includes video title
• Optional timestamp inclusion in [MM:SS] format
• Saves transcript to a text file named {video_id}_transcript.txt
• Clean, readable output

Prerequisites

You'll need Python 3.6 or higher installed on your system.

Installation

1. Install the required dependencies:

pip install youtube-transcript-api yt-dlp

Note: Make sure to use pip install (not apt-get) for Python packages.

Usage

Basic Usage

1. Open youtube_transcript_download.py in a text editor
2. Update the url variable with your YouTube video URL:

   url = "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOUR_VIDEO_ID"

3. Run the script:

   python youtube_transcript_download.py

The transcript will be printed to the console and saved to a file named {video_id}_transcript.txt.

With Timestamps

To include timestamps in the transcript, set include_timestamps to True:

include_timestamps = True

This will format each line like:

[00:15] Welcome to this video
[00:18] Today we're going to talk about...

Without Timestamps (Default)

Keep include_timestamps as False for a clean transcript without timestamps:

include_timestamps = False

Configuration

The script has two main configuration options in the === CONFIGURATION === section:

• url: The YouTube video URL you want to download the transcript from
• include_timestamps: Boolean flag (True or False) to include/exclude timestamps

Example Output

File: kE3hPpAanXg_transcript.txt

Title: Example Video Title

This is the first line of the transcript.
This is the second line.
And so on...

Troubleshooting

"No transcript found" error

• The video may not have captions/subtitles available
• Try a different video that you know has captions

"Could not fetch title" warning

• The script will still work, but the title will show as "Unknown Title"
• Check your internet connection

Import errors

• Make sure you've installed both dependencies: youtube-transcript-api and yt-dlp
• Use pip install not apt-get for Python packages

API Version Note

This script uses youtube-transcript-api version 1.x, which uses the instance-based approach:

ytt_api = YouTubeTranscriptApi()
transcript = ytt_api.fetch(video_id)

youtube_transcript_download.py

#  youtube_transcript_download.py
    
from youtube_transcript_api import YouTubeTranscriptApi
import yt_dlp  # New import for metadata

def get_transcript(video_url, include_timestamps=False):
    """
    Download transcript from a YouTube video, with optional title.
   
    Args:
        video_url: Full YouTube URL
        include_timestamps: If True, include [MM:SS] timestamps (default: False)
   
    Returns:
        Transcript as a string (with title header if available)
    """
    # Extract video ID from URL
    video_id = video_url.split("v=")[1].split("&")[0]
   
    # Fetch title using yt-dlp
    title = None
    try:
        ydl_opts = {'quiet': True}  # Minimal output
        with yt_dlp.YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl:
            info = ydl.extract_info(video_url, download=False)
            title = info.get('title', 'Unknown Title')
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Warning: Could not fetch title: {e}")
        title = 'Unknown Title'
   
    # Fetch transcript
    ytt_api = YouTubeTranscriptApi()
    # transcript = ytt_api.fetch(video_id)

    try:
        transcript = ytt_api.fetch(video_id)
    except Exception as e:  # Or specifically TranscriptsDisabled, NoTranscriptFound
        return f"Error fetching transcript: {e}"

    if include_timestamps:
        lines = []
        for snippet in transcript.snippets:
            mins, secs = divmod(int(snippet.start), 60)
            timestamp = f"[{mins:02d}:{secs:02d}]"
            lines.append(f"{timestamp} {snippet.text}")
        full_text = "\n".join(lines)
    else:
        full_text = "\n".join([snippet.text for snippet in transcript.snippets])
   
    # Prepend title as header
    full_text_with_title = f"Title: {title}\n\n{full_text}"
   
    return full_text_with_title, video_id

# === CONFIGURATION ===
# url = "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRhw-TYEKy4"
url = "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kE3hPpAanXg"

include_timestamps = False

# === RUN ===
text, video_id = get_transcript(url, include_timestamps)
print(text)

# Save to file
filename = f"{video_id}_transcript.txt"
with open(filename, "w", encoding="utf-8") as f:
    f.write(text)
    print(f"\nSaved to {filename}")