Automate YouTube Video Transcription with n8n Workflow
From Manual Grind to Automated Flow
Manually transcribing YouTube videos can drain your time and energy. Copying text, pausing and rewinding, and managing scattered notes all pull you away from the deep work that actually grows your projects or business.
Automation gives you a different path. With n8n, you can build a workflow that quietly runs in the background, fetches new videos from your favorite YouTube channels, sends them to a transcription API, and stores clean transcripts in your database or content system of choice.
This guide walks you through a ready-to-use n8n workflow template that automates YouTube video transcription from end to end. Think of it as a starting point for a more focused, more scalable way of working. You set it up once, then let it work for you every day.
Shifting Your Mindset: Automation as a Growth Lever
Before we dive into the technical steps, it is worth pausing for a mindset shift. Automation is not just about saving a few minutes here and there. It is about:
- Freeing your attention from repetitive tasks
- Creating systems that work while you are offline
- Building an infrastructure that scales as your content library grows
By automating YouTube transcriptions with n8n, you are doing more than processing videos. You are building a reusable workflow that can feed your research, content creation, SEO efforts, and knowledge base with almost no manual intervention.
The workflow template you are about to explore is a practical example of that mindset. You can use it as-is, or treat it as a foundation to experiment, extend, and customize for your own goals.
The Journey: From YouTube Channel To Structured Transcript
This n8n workflow follows a clear path:
- Track selected YouTube channels and fetch their latest videos
- Extract video IDs and request transcripts using an external API
- Combine transcripts with metadata and save them to your database
Let us walk through each part of the journey so you can understand how it works and how to adapt it to your own automation stack.
Step 1 – Tracking YouTube Channels Automatically
The workflow begins by defining which YouTube channels you want to monitor. Instead of checking channels manually, you give n8n a list of channel IDs and let it do the work for you.
Channels To Track Node
Inside the workflow, you will find a node called Channels To Track. This node stores the YouTube channel IDs you want to follow. Each channel ID is processed separately so that the workflow can handle multiple channels in a clean and scalable way.
Validating Channel IDs With a Code Node
A custom JavaScript Code node takes over to validate these channel IDs. It checks two important conditions:
- The ID starts with
UC - The ID is exactly 24 characters long
Once an ID passes validation, the node generates a valid RSS feed URL for that channel, for example:
https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=CHANNEL_ID
Finding Recent Videos With the RSS Feed Reader
The generated RSS URL is then passed into the Find Channel’s Videos RSS feed reader node. This node fetches the most recent videos from each tracked channel, turning your channel list into a stream of fresh content ready to be transcribed.
Automation Tip: Keep It Running On Autopilot
- Use a Schedule node instead of a manual trigger so this workflow runs periodically without your input.
- If you do not know a channel ID, you can quickly look it up using free YouTube channel ID finder tools.
At this stage, you have already moved from “checking channels manually” to “n8n keeps an eye on everything for me.” That is the first big mindset shift: let the system watch, so you can focus on what to do with the information.
Step 2 – Extracting Video IDs and Transcribing Content
Once the workflow has collected recent videos, the next step is to turn those video links into usable text. This is where the real time savings start to show.
Filtering and Preparing Video Data
The workflow first splits the list of videos into individual items. It then filters out YouTube Shorts, unless you intentionally want to include them. This helps you focus on longer form content that usually carries more depth and value.
A combination of Set and Code nodes then processes each video URL. Using a regular expression (regex), the workflow extracts a clean YouTube video ID from every URL. This ID is what you need to request a transcript from the transcription API.
Requesting Transcripts From youtube-transcript.io
For each valid video ID, the workflow sends a POST request to the youtube-transcript.io API. The API responds with the transcript in JSON format.
The workflow then parses this JSON response and combines the segments into a clean transcript text that you can index, analyze, or repurpose.
Handling Errors Gracefully
Not every video will have captions available. When transcription fails, for example because captions are missing, the workflow stops processing that specific item. This prevents broken or incomplete data from entering your system and keeps your database clean.
Important Notes For This Step
- You need an API key from youtube-transcript.io. The service currently offers 25 free transcripts per month.
- Only videos with available captions can be transcribed. If there are no captions, the API cannot return a transcript.
- If you want to transcribe YouTube Shorts as well, you can adjust the filter condition in the workflow to include them.
By this point, you have turned a manual, video-by-video process into an automated pipeline that can handle dozens or hundreds of videos without extra effort. That is the kind of leverage that compounds over time.
Step 3 – Storing Transcripts Where You Need Them
Transcripts are only truly powerful when they are easy to find and use. The final part of the workflow focuses on saving the data in a structured and searchable way.
Combining Transcript and Video Metadata
After a transcript is successfully retrieved, the workflow enriches it with key video metadata, such as:
- Video title
- Channel or author name
- Publication date
- Source URL to the original YouTube video
This combination creates a complete record that is perfect for content analysis, research, SEO planning, or feeding into other tools like AI summarizers and search systems.
Saving To Your Database Or Content System
In the example workflow, this data is saved to a Supabase table named content_queue_1. Supabase acts as a central store where all transcripts and related metadata are collected.
You are not locked into Supabase though. You can easily swap this node out and connect to:
- Google Sheets
- Airtable
- Another SQL or NoSQL database
- Any other app supported by n8n
This flexibility allows you to integrate the workflow into your existing content operations or data stack instead of building everything from scratch.
Pro Tip: Protect Against Rate Limits
- Add a short Wait node between save operations to reduce the risk of hitting rate limits on your database or external tools.
- Align your saving destination with your broader content workflow. For example, send transcripts to a “content queue” table that your team reviews and turns into articles, newsletters, or social posts.
Turning This Template Into Your Own Automation System
This n8n workflow template already automates the full loop:
- Fetching new videos from chosen YouTube channels
- Extracting video IDs and requesting transcripts
- Cleaning and saving transcript data with metadata
Yet the real power is what you do next. You can:
- Connect the transcripts to a search interface or knowledge base
- Trigger follow-up workflows, like summarizing each transcript or sending highlights to your team
- Use the stored data for SEO research, content planning, or training materials
Each small automation like this becomes a building block. Over time, those blocks form a complete, automated workflow ecosystem that supports your growth instead of holding it back.
Your Next Step: Start, Experiment, Improve
You do not need to automate everything at once. Start with this YouTube transcription template, get it running, and then tweak it as your needs evolve. Every improvement you make, every node you adjust, is an investment in a more focused and efficient future.
Ready to reclaim your time and turn YouTube videos into structured, searchable insight? Import this n8n workflow template into your instance, connect your accounts, and let it run. As it quietly handles the repetitive work, you can focus on strategy, creativity, and growth.
If you would like a custom guide or support adapting this workflow to your stack, feel free to reach out and build on this foundation.
Happy automating, and here is to more time for the work that truly matters.
