Source guide
Use YouTube URLs with the Fast Transcriber API
Queue public YouTube videos, Shorts, and youtu.be links and retrieve one consistent transcript result.
Turn permitted YouTube media into searchable text
Use the same source_url contract for standard uploads and Shorts. Keep the YouTube video ID in your data model to deduplicate different URL forms that point to the same media.
Standard videos
Submit youtube.com/watch?v={video-id}.
YouTube Shorts
Submit youtube.com/shorts/{video-id} directly.
Compact shares
youtu.be/{video-id} links use the same resolver.
Timestamped output
Completed jobs use the shared text and segment result schema.
From request to transcript
A predictable sequence you can reuse in server applications, automations, and internal tools.
- 01
Submit one public URL
Send the media URL as source_url with a server-side bearer key.
- 02
Store the job location
Read the job ID and Location header from the 202 Accepted response.
- 03
Retrieve the result
Poll with bounded backoff until the status is completed or failed.
Make the request
Examples use the production API origin and an environment variable for the secret key.
curl --include --request POST https://fast-transcriber.com/api/v1/transcriptions \
--header "Authorization: Bearer $FAST_TRANSCRIBER_API_TOKEN" \
--header "Content-Type: application/json" \
--data '{
"source_url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID",
"speaker_diarization": false
}'Requirements and boundaries
- The video must open publicly without signing in.
- Private, members-only, removed, age-restricted, and active live streams cannot be imported.
- Submit one video URL rather than a playlist or channel page.
- Wait for a live broadcast to finish and its public replay to become available.
Frequently asked questions
Which YouTube URL forms work?+
Public watch URLs, Shorts URLs, and youtu.be shares are supported.
Can the API access private videos?+
No. If you are authorized to process private media, retrieve it yourself and use direct upload.
Does it require a creator caption track?+
The Fast Transcriber pipeline produces the transcript from accessible media rather than exposing a captions-only API contract.