YouTube Channel Monitor API

Create a monitor for new videos

Watch a YouTube channel or a TikTok or Instagram profile, and receive every new video as an event, by webhook and from the events endpoint. Creation reads the target once, free, to learn what is already there.

• Baseline: a channel or profile that does not exist answers 404 not_found. Everything on its first page today is recorded as already seen, baseline_count says how many, so only videos that appear later are reported.
• Each check, every interval_minutes, reads the newest 30 rows and reports the ones it has not seen as one monitor.videos event, sent to webhook_url when one is set and always readable from the events endpoint. One check reports at most 50 videos; any more are reported by the next checks.
• Billing: a check that finds nothing new is free. One that finds new videos costs 1 credit, the price of one listing page (plus 1 per caption transcript with transcripts: true), charged before the event is recorded or delivered.
• An account that cannot pay records nothing: the videos are not marked seen, last_error reads insufficient_credits, the monitor stays active, and the same videos are delivered by the first check after credits return.
• Limits: 5 monitors and a 60-minute minimum interval without a paid plan, 100 monitors and 15 minutes on any paid plan. Creating past the cap answers monitor_limit_reached.
• A monitor does not report a video published more than 24 hours before it was created (pinned posts and reordered tabs keep resurfacing old videos).
• YouTube channels: tab chooses the uploads (default), the Shorts or the live streams; a creator who posts only Shorts needs tab: "shorts". Fixed once created.
• Monitors watch channels and profiles only. A playlist or search type is refused with invalid_request; read those on demand with the playlist and search endpoints.
• The 201 response carries webhook_secret, the key every delivery is signed with. It is shown this once: store it.

Body parameters

curl https://transcriptfetch.com/api/v2/monitors \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPTFETCH_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"target":"@lexfridman","webhook_url":"https://example.com/hooks/transcriptfetch","interval_minutes":60,"transcripts":true,"name":"Lex Fridman uploads"}'

{
  "ok": true,
  "request_id": "req_…",
  "data": {
    "kind": "monitor",
    "id": "mon_m3k1x9qz4vb2p7",
    "type": "channel",
    "platform": "youtube",
    "target": "@lexfridman",
    "options": {
      "tab": "videos"
    },
    "name": "Lex Fridman uploads",
    "status": "active",
    "has_new": true,
    "last_event_id": "mev_m3k1xa0b7c8d9e",
    "interval_minutes": 60,
    "transcripts": true,
    "webhook_url": "https://example.com/hooks/transcriptfetch",
    "next_check_at": "2026-09-25T15:00:12.000Z",
    "last_checked_at": null,
    "last_error": null,
    "created_at": "2026-09-24T09:12:40.000Z",
    "updated_at": "2026-09-24T09:12:40.000Z",
    "webhook_secret": "whsec_…",
    "baseline_count": 30
  },
  "usage": {
    "credits_spent": 0,
    "balance": 250
  }
}