You can now connect an MCP-compatible AI assistant to InstantTranscriber. Ask it to transcribe an interview, retrieve a YouTube video's existing captions, or turn a finished transcript into notes in the same conversation.
Premium now includes 15 audio hours per billing month for the API and MCP combined, up from 8 hours. Free accounts include 1 hour per UTC calendar month. The separate API Plan includes 100 hours per billing month.
Connect your existing account
Add https://api.instanttranscriber.com/mcp as a remote Streamable HTTP MCP server in your assistant. Choose OAuth authentication, sign in to InstantTranscriber, review the permissions, and allow the connection. You can disconnect assistants from your profile at any time.
The MCP setup guide includes configuration examples, available tools, and troubleshooting. Clients need support for remote MCP and OAuth; availability depends on your assistant and workspace settings.
Transcribe audio from your assistant
For example: “Use InstantTranscriber to transcribe this interview from its audio URL. When it is ready, give me the key decisions and action items.” The assistant submits the recording, checks its progress, and retrieves the transcript. It can then use the text to create notes or summaries.
Start with a public audio/video file URL, or upload a local file through the REST API and give the assistant the returned transcription ID. Files attached to a chat are not automatically shared with an MCP server.
YouTube captions and audio transcription are separate tools
Existing captions: Ask “Get this YouTube video's available captions as SRT. Do not transcribe the audio.” InstantTranscriber retrieves an available original-language caption track, including auto-generated captions. This uses zero audio hours, including on Free accounts.
New audio transcription: Ask “Transcribe the audio of this YouTube video using my InstantTranscriber allowance.” This creates a normal asynchronous transcription job and counts against your shared API/MCP audio allowance.
Caption retrieval never silently switches to audio transcription. If captions are unavailable, the assistant receives an error and can ask whether you want audio processing. YouTube can restrict captions or audio access; private, restricted and live videos are not guaranteed to work. Uploading the original file is an alternative when you are allowed to process it.
One allowance across API and MCP
- Free: 1 audio hour per UTC calendar month.
- Premium: 15 audio hours per billing month.
- API Plan: 100 audio hours per billing month, with its existing overage settings.
API and MCP draw from the same account balance. Checking status, retrieving a completed transcript, and fetching existing YouTube captions do not consume additional audio hours. Caption retrieval has request-rate limits to keep the service available.
Retrieve transcripts and subtitles
Completed results are available as TXT, SRT or VTT. Long results are returned in pages; the assistant follows the next offset to retrieve the whole document. It can also list your recent API/MCP jobs and check your remaining allowance before starting another recording.
Only the connected account's API/MCP transcription jobs are accessible. Audio submissions use a unique request ID so a retry does not create a second job with the same request and arguments.
Set up InstantTranscriber MCP, read the API documentation, or check your allowance and connected assistants.