# How to Get YouTube Transcripts in Ruby (and Rails)

Source: https://transcript-yt.com/blog/youtube-transcript-api-ruby · Updated 2026-11-09 · TranscriptYT

> Fetch YouTube transcripts in Ruby with Net::HTTP and JSON from the standard library: timestamped segments, SRT and VTT files, translation, and Rails jobs.

Ruby's standard library is enough: Net::HTTP and JSON fetch any public video's transcript from the TranscriptYT [YouTube Transcript API](https://transcript-yt.com/api), with no gem to install and no YouTube scraping on your server.

## Fetch a transcript

Create a free key in the [dashboard](https://transcript-yt.com/dashboard/keys) (100 transcripts, no card) and export it as TRANSCRIPTYT_KEY.

```
require "net/http"
require "json"

def get_transcript(video, **params)
  uri = URI("https://transcript-yt.com/v1/transcript")
  uri.query = URI.encode_www_form(url: video, **params)
  req = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)
  req["Authorization"] = "Bearer #{ENV.fetch("TRANSCRIPTYT_KEY")}"
  res = Net::HTTP.start(uri.host, uri.port, use_ssl: true, read_timeout: 120) { |http| http.request(req) }
  return res.body if res.is_a?(Net::HTTPSuccess) && params[:format]
  data = JSON.parse(res.body)
  raise "#{data["error"]["code"]}: #{data["error"]["message"]}" unless res.is_a?(Net::HTTPSuccess)
  data
end

t = get_transcript("https://youtu.be/5f3Pn-N6yLc")
puts t["title"]
t["segments"].first(3).each { |s| printf("%7.1fs  %s\n", s["start"], s["text"]) }
```

## Subtitle files and translation

Pass format: "srt" (or vtt, text, csv, md) and the helper above returns the file body. Add translate_to: with a language code to translate into one of 150+ languages with the timings kept.

```
File.write("captions.es.srt", get_transcript("5f3Pn-N6yLc", format: "srt", translate_to: "es"))
```

## Errors and retries

BLOCKED, RATE_LIMITED, and UPSTREAM_ERROR are temporary; retry them with backoff (retry_on in Active Job does this). VIDEO_UNAVAILABLE, NO_CAPTIONS, and LANGUAGE_NOT_AVAILABLE are final, and a 402 means you're out of credits. Failed requests are never billed. Every code is in the [docs](https://transcript-yt.com/docs).

## FAQ

### How do I get a YouTube transcript in Ruby?

Send a GET request to https://transcript-yt.com/v1/transcript with the video URL as the url parameter and your key in the Authorization header, then JSON.parse the body.

### Can I fetch transcripts in a Rails background job?

Yes. Put the request in an Active Job or Sidekiq job and store the text on your model. Retry the job on BLOCKED, RATE_LIMITED, and UPSTREAM_ERROR.

### Does it work with Faraday or HTTParty?

Yes. It's one GET request with a Bearer header, so any HTTP client works.