Transcribe

Extract a transcript from any supported video URL.

Endpoint: GET /api/v1/transcribe

Base URL: https://scriptbase.app

Cost: 1 credit per request. Failed requests are refunded.

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Default	Description
`url`	string	Yes	—	Video URL to transcribe
`language`	string	No	`en`	Target language (ISO 639-1)
`format`	string	No	`json`	Output format: `json`, `srt`, `vtt`, or `text`

Headers

Header	Required	Description
`X-API-Key`	Yes	Your API key

Example

curl -L "https://scriptbase.app/api/v1/transcribe?url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ&format=json&language=en" \
  -H "X-API-Key: your_api_key"

Response

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "platform": "youtube",
    "language": "en",
    "duration_sec": 213,
    "segments": [
      { "start": 18.0, "end": 21.5, "text": "We're no strangers to love" },
      { "start": 21.5, "end": 24.7, "text": "You know the rules and so do I" }
    ],
    "full_text": "We're no strangers to love. You know the rules and so do I."
  },
  "meta": {
    "format": "json",
    "credits_used": 1,
    "credits_remaining": 19
  }
}

Fields

Field	Type	Description
`data.platform`	string	Detected platform (`youtube`, `tiktok`, `instagram`, etc.)
`data.language`	string	Detected/requested language code
`data.duration_sec`	number	Video length in seconds
`data.segments[].start`	number	Segment start time in seconds
`data.segments[].end`	number	Segment end time in seconds
`data.segments[].text`	string	Segment text
`data.full_text`	string	Full transcript joined into one string
`meta.credits_used`	number	Credits deducted by this request
`meta.credits_remaining`	number	Credits left on your account

Output Formats

JSON (default)

Segments and full text, as shown above.

SRT

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "content": "1\n00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:21,500\nWe're no strangers to love\n\n..."
  },
  "meta": { "format": "srt", "credits_used": 1, "credits_remaining": 19 }
}

VTT

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "content": "WEBVTT\n\n00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:21.500\nWe're no strangers to love\n\n..."
  },
  "meta": { "format": "vtt", "credits_used": 1, "credits_remaining": 19 }
}

Text

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "content": "We're no strangers to love. You know the rules and so do I."
  },
  "meta": { "format": "text", "credits_used": 1, "credits_remaining": 19 }
}

Supported Platforms

YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and X (Twitter).

Unsupported URLs return a 400 error with the list of supported platforms.

Errors

Status	Error	Cause
`400`	`url query parameter is required`	Missing `url` param
`400`	`format must be json, srt, text, or vtt`	Invalid format
`400`	`Unsupported URL`	Platform not supported
`401`	`Missing X-API-Key header`	No API key provided
`401`	`Invalid API key`	Key is inactive or doesn't exist
`401`	`API key expired`	Key past expiration date
`402`	`Insufficient credits`	No credits remaining
`404`	`This video isn't available for transcription.`	Source removed or private
`422`	`No spoken audio detected in this video.`	Nothing to transcribe
`429`	`Rate limited. Try again in a moment.`	Too many requests
`499`	`Transcript request was cancelled.`	Job cancelled before completion
`502`	Pipeline / network failure	Upstream service failed — credit refunded
`503`	`Transcription service is temporarily unavailable. Try again.`	Provider downtime
`504`	`Transcript generation timed out. Try again.`	Took too long — credit refunded

See Errors for full message variants and retry strategy.

API Reference