Download YouTube Transcripts in n8n via Supadata API

Download YouTube transcripts in n8n—automatically, in one click

This n8n workflow lets you paste a YouTube URL into an n8n form, fetches the video transcript via the Supadata YouTube Transcript API, and returns a downloadable .txt file containing the transcript text.

What this workflow does

• Collects a YouTube link from an n8n Form submission (works with standard YouTube URLs and YouTube Shorts).
• Calls the Supadata YouTube Transcript API using the provided URL to retrieve transcript text.
• Extracts and validates the video ID from the submitted link and checks that transcript content exists.
• Formats the transcript by adding a transcript header plus the full plain-text transcript.
• Generates a downloadable file named using the video ID and responds with the resulting .txt for easy download.
• If a transcript isn’t available or the link is invalid, the workflow returns an error.

Use cases

• Turn YouTube content into readable text for research, archiving, or note-taking workflows.
• Build internal content libraries where team members submit links and receive transcripts as files.
• Support SaaS operations by automating transcription retrieval for customers who provide YouTube URLs.
• Enhance automation pipelines in n8n by converting transcripts into downstream processing steps.

Technical details

• n8n Form Trigger to capture the YouTube URL from users.
• HTTP Request to the Supadata YouTube Transcript API (requires your Supadata API key in the x-api-key header).
• Code to extract/validate the video ID and format the transcript.
• Convert to File to output a .txt transcript for download.

Setup

• Create a Supadata account, generate an API key, and update the hardcoded x-api-key header in the Supadata request.
• Make the n8n Form Trigger reachable (configure your public n8n URL if needed) and use the form URL to submit YouTube links.