Guides
Guides for transcripts, ad breakdowns and competitor research on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, with or without code.
Ads and top videos
Hook, angle, offer and call to action, read the way a strategist would, one ad or a whole feed. In a chat or in code.
- Creative breakdownBreak down a video ad: hook, angle, offer and call to actionPaste a TikTok, Instagram or YouTube ad and get its hook, angle, offer, claims and call to action as fields, each with its source line.
- Creative breakdownFind what a competitor's most viewed videos have in commonRank a brand's recent TikToks by views, pull the hook and premise from the top and bottom five, and compare them. One Python script, run on Duolingo.
Get the transcript
Clean text with times, ready to export, chunk and quote.
- TranscriptYouTube transcript API: clean text and timestampsGet a YouTube video's transcript as JSON in one request, from curl, Python or JavaScript: what comes back, and how languages and missing captions work.
- TranscriptTikTok transcript API: captions, on-screen text, soundsGet a TikTok's transcript from its link in one request: corrected captions or transcribed audio, on-screen text, translations, sound and ad flag.
- TranscriptInstagram Reels transcript: the words and on-screen textGet an Instagram Reel's transcript from its link, with the text shown on screen. Photo and carousel posts give their text slide by slide.
- TranscriptGet a YouTube transcript as JSON with timestampsOne request returns a YouTube transcript as JSON with start and end times per caption line, from curl, Python or JavaScript, plus links to the moment.
- TranscriptGet a YouTube Shorts transcript and read its hookGet a YouTube Short's transcript from its link, in the playground or one API call, read the first line as the hook, and get on-screen text.
- TranscriptClean up YouTube auto captions: punctuation, names, errorsFix YouTube auto captions without retranscribing: punctuation, names, misheard words and fillers, with every word kept at its time. Tested on 15 videos in four languages.
- TranscriptConvert a YouTube transcript to SRT, Markdown or plain textGet a YouTube, TikTok or Instagram transcript as plain text, Markdown with timestamp links, or an SRT subtitle file, with a short Python script for each.
- TranscriptChunk a video transcript for RAG, with a link to each momentTurn a YouTube, TikTok or Instagram video into search-ready RAG chunks that keep author, section and a link to the moment, in a short Python loop.
Fields and summaries
Your own JSON Schema, a preset or a question, every value cited to its source.
- Your fieldsExtract structured data from a video with a JSON SchemaDescribe the fields you want as a JSON Schema, send a YouTube, TikTok or Instagram link, and get JSON where every value has its quote and timestamp.
- Your fieldsSummarize a YouTube video with AI, and check the summaryThree ways to summarize a YouTube video with AI, from a cited summary in one call to a clean transcript for your own model, and how to check each point.
- Your fieldsTurn a YouTube video into newsletter notes with cited quotesGet a summary, key points and pull quotes from a YouTube talk, interview or podcast, each quote linked to its moment, and a script that drafts the section.
Agents, automations and production
Hand the work to a coding agent, a chat, an HTTP step or your server.
- Agents and automationsAdd YouTube transcripts with Claude Code, Codex or CursorGive your coding agent the CleanScript skill or one prompt and it writes the code for transcripts and cited fields from YouTube, TikTok and Instagram.
- Agents and automationsGive a YouTube video to ChatGPT or Claude, with timestampsConnect CleanScript to ChatGPT or Claude once, then paste a YouTube, TikTok or Instagram link to get the transcript, summary or answers. No code, no key.
- Agents and automationsGet YouTube transcripts in n8n, Make and ZapierCall the CleanScript API from an HTTP step in n8n, Make or Zapier to get a YouTube, TikTok or Instagram transcript and check a creator for new posts.
- TranscriptYouTube transcript script works locally, fails deployedWhy a YouTube transcript script gets blocked once it runs on a server, and how to handle every CleanScript error in production: retry, skip or fix.
- Transcriptyoutube-transcript-api alternatives when YouTube blocks youyoutube-transcript-api works locally but fails in the cloud with RequestBlocked or IpBlocked. Your options: proxies or a hosted API, and how to switch.