Resolve a URL

Turn a YouTube URL (or bare ID) into a video list. Useful for previewing a channel or playlist before submitting it as a bulk job, or for paginating through a large channel one page at a time. Does not fetch transcripts.

GET/api/v1/resolve

Query parameters

Name	Type	Description
`url`required	`string`	A YouTube URL or bare ID. Accepts video URLs (`watch?v=`, `shorts/`, `embed/`, `youtu.be/`, `live/`), channel URLs (`@handle`, `/channel/UC…`, `/c/name`, `/user/name`), playlist URLs (`?list=PL…`), or any of these as bare IDs (11-char video ID, `UC…` channel ID, `PL…` playlist ID, `@handle`).
`continuation`	`string`	Opaque token from a previous response. Pass back verbatim to fetch the next page.

Request

bash

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer yvt_live_..." \
  "https://api.youtubevideotranscript.io/api/v1/resolve?url=https://www.youtube.com/@channelname"

Response 200 (channel)

json

{
  "type": "channel",
  "name": "Channel Display Name",
  "video_count": 87,
  "videos": [
    {
      "video_id": "abc12345678",
      "title": "Video Title",
      "duration_seconds": 142,
      "thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/abc12345678/hqdefault.jpg"
    }
  ],
  "continuation": "Eg0SC1VDeHl6...etc..."
}

Response 200 (playlist)

Same shape, with "type": "playlist".

Response 200 (single video)

If the input is a single video URL or ID, the response is a hint to call the transcript endpoint directly:

json

{
  "type": "video",
  "video_id": "abc12345678",
  "message": "Single video: call GET /api/v1/transcript/:videoId directly"
}

Pagination

The continuation field is opaque and changes shape over time. Treat it as a black box and pass it back verbatim in the next request to fetch the next page. continuation: null means the last page.

bash

# First page
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer yvt_live_..." \
  "https://api.youtubevideotranscript.io/api/v1/resolve?url=https://www.youtube.com/@channel"

# Next page: pass the continuation back
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer yvt_live_..." \
  "https://api.youtubevideotranscript.io/api/v1/resolve?url=https://www.youtube.com/@channel&continuation=Eg0SC1VDeHl6..."

Errors

Status	Type	When
400	`bad_request`	`url` missing, or input couldn't be recognized as a YouTube identifier

Global 401, 429, and 5xx also apply. See Errors.