n8n-nodes-transcriptfetch

This is an n8n community node for TranscriptFetch - the video transcript API for AI.

Setup guide and ready-to-import workflows: transcriptfetch.com/docs/n8n

Quick links: install · add your API key · first workflow · templates · AI agents · troubleshooting

Fetch transcripts from YouTube, TikTok & Instagram - with automatic AI transcription when captions don't exist - directly inside your n8n workflows. Structured JSON output with per-segment timestamps, built for RAG, agents, and LLM pipelines.

n8n is a fair-code licensed workflow automation platform.

Installation

Follow the installation guide in the TranscriptFetch n8n docs.

In short: in n8n, open the nodes panel, search for TranscriptFetch and click Install node (it is a verified community node). On a self-hosted instance you can also install it under Settings > Community nodes with the package name n8n-nodes-transcriptfetch. Then add your API key and run your first workflow.

Credentials

Sign up at transcriptfetch.com and create an API key in the dashboard. Add it as a TranscriptFetch API credential in n8n: step by step.

Billing is per-credit: a successful caption fetch costs 1 credit, failed or blocked fetches are never charged, and every account gets 50 free credits a month. Videos without captions are transcribed from audio automatically (short videos typically finish in about 30 seconds) and are billed once, on delivery of the finished transcript, at the audio-transcription rate (see billing in n8n and pricing).

Trigger

TranscriptFetch Trigger starts a workflow when a YouTube channel, TikTok profile or Instagram account publishes a new video, and hands you the transcript in the same step, so you don't need an RSS Feed Trigger plus a separate transcript call. Setup and examples: trigger guide.

• Channel - a YouTube @handle, /channel/UC… URL or UC… ID, a TikTok @profile, or an Instagram account URL to watch.
• Check Every - how often TranscriptFetch checks the channel: once a day on any plan, or every 6 hours, hour or 15 minutes on a paid plan.
• Include Transcript - attach each new video's transcript (on by default).
• YouTube Tab - watch a YouTube channel's videos, Shorts or live streams.

Since 0.5.0 the trigger runs on a TranscriptFetch monitor: activating the workflow creates a monitor that checks the channel on TranscriptFetch's schedule and POSTs each new video to the workflow's webhook URL, signed with the monitor's secret (the trigger rejects anything unsigned). Deactivating the workflow deletes the monitor. Changing the node's settings replaces the monitor on the next activation.

Billing. Every check costs 1 credit, whether or not it finds a new video, and so does the first check when the workflow is activated, which records what is already on the channel so the back catalogue is not replayed. A daily check uses about 30 credits a month. A caption transcript costs 1 credit; a video without captions is transcribed from its audio at 1 credit per started 5 minutes. Brand-new YouTube uploads usually get captions a little after they go live, so the monitor waits for them before falling back to audio.

The webhook URL must be public HTTPS. n8n Cloud always is. A self-hosted instance needs WEBHOOK_URL set to a public https:// address (a reverse proxy or a tunnel); otherwise activation fails with a message saying so. Without a public URL, run the TranscriptFetch node's List Channel Videos on a Schedule Trigger instead.

Each item carries an event field and the video metadata (videoId, url, title, channel, duration, publishedAt, platform, eventId, monitorId, creditsSpent), plus a transcriptStatus (what each value means):

| transcriptStatus | Meaning | | --- | --- | | ok | text and segments are populated; source says whether they came from captions or audio | | processing | The transcript is still coming (captions not out yet, or audio transcription running). It arrives later as its own item with event: "transcript" and the same videoId | | unavailable | The transcript couldn't be fetched; see reason and message | | skipped | Include Transcript was off |

Items with event: "video" are new uploads, oldest first. Items with event: "transcript" are transcripts that finished after their video was reported.

Upgrading from 0.4.x: the trigger is now version 2. Re-add it to existing workflows; the old polling version is gone.

Operations

Every operation with its inputs and outputs: operations in the n8n guide.

Transcript

• Get Video Transcript - transcript for a YouTube, TikTok or Instagram video, or a direct media file URL. Options: Mode (auto reads captions and transcribes the audio when there are none; captions never transcribes; audio always does), Timestamps (segments with start, duration, text, or one joined text), Wait for Audio Transcription (on by default: when the API answers with a job the node polls it, free, and returns the finished transcript; raise Max Wait for long videos, or turn it off to get the job_id and poll_url back immediately), and Callback URL (have the finished transcript POSTed to you instead).
• Get Transcripts (Batch) - many transcripts in one call: up to 50, or 500 on Mega and Scale. Entries without captions come back as processing jobs charged on delivery; re-send the batch once they have finished, or set Mode to captions to have them fail instead.
• List Channel Videos - the latest videos of a YouTube channel, TikTok profile or Instagram account. Cursor pages through the listing; Since Video ID trims it to what is newer than a video you have already seen; each such poll costs 1 credit, whether or not it finds new videos.
• List Playlist Videos - the videos of a YouTube or TikTok playlist, with Cursor paging.
• Search Videos - keyword search on YouTube, TikTok or Instagram (Platform), with Cursor paging. Every result's url can go straight into the transcript operations.

All operations call the v2 API and return its envelope: ok, request_id, data and usage (credits spent and balance). Transcripts carry video_id, url, platform, title, channel, duration, language, thumbnail_url, source (captions or audio) and the text.

The node is also marked usable as a tool, so n8n AI Agent nodes can call it directly: use it with an AI Agent.

Resources

• TranscriptFetch n8n guide
• Ready-to-import workflow templates
• Troubleshooting
• TranscriptFetch API documentation
• n8n community nodes documentation

License

MIT