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🚀 Quickstart Guide

This guide will help you understand the basic workflow of using the ZapCap API to enhance your videos with dynamic, automated subtitles. Each section includes curl examples to get you started quickly.

Getting Started​

To begin, you'll need an API key which authenticates your requests to the ZapCap API. You can get your API key from the ZapCap dashboard.

For all examples below, replace YOUR_API_KEY with your actual API key.

Step 1: Upload a Video​

Start by uploading a video to the ZapCap API. You have several options:

Option A: Direct Upload​

See API Reference: Upload Video for all available parameters and configuration options

curl -X POST "https://api.zapcap.ai/videos" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: multipart/form-data" \
  -F "file=@/path/to/your/video.mp4"

Option B: Upload by URL​

See API Reference: Upload Video by URL for all available parameters and configuration options

curl -X POST "https://api.zapcap.ai/videos/url" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://example.com/path/to/video.mp4"
  }'

Both methods will return a response like:

{
  "status": "uploaded",
  "id": "cd97a23f-6c6d-4af7-ad66-b04ed4bb1c5e",
  "storageId": "storage-123"
}

Save the id value - you'll need it for the next steps.

Step 2: Get Available Templates​

View the templates on our Dashboard

Visit the Dashboard Templates page to view all the templates available.

Before creating a task, you'll need to choose a template:

See API Reference: Get Templates for response schema details

curl -X GET "https://api.zapcap.ai/templates" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY"

The response will include a list of available templates. Note down the id of the template you want to use.

Step 3: Create a Video Task​

Create a processing task using your video ID and chosen template:

See API Reference: Create Video Task for all available parameters and configuration options

curl -X POST "https://api.zapcap.ai/videos/YOUR_VIDEO_ID/task" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "templateId": "YOUR_TEMPLATE_ID",
    "autoApprove": true,
    "language": "en"
  }'

This will return a response with your task ID:

{
  "taskId": "54abe67d-be14-4c78-800b-01d12bcfaaa6"
}

Step 4: Monitor Task Progress​

Check the status of your task:

See API Reference: Get Video Task for complete response schema

curl -X GET "https://api.zapcap.ai/videos/YOUR_VIDEO_ID/task/YOUR_TASK_ID" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY"

The response will include the current status:

{
  "status": "completed", // or "pending", "transcribing", etc.
  "id": "54abe67d-be14-4c78-800b-01d12bcfaaa6",
  "transcript": "https://download-url-for-transcript",
  "downloadUrl": "https://download-url-for-video"
  // ... other fields
}

Step 5: Approve Transcript (If Required)​

If you didn't set autoApprove: true, you'll need to approve the transcript:

See API Reference: Approve Transcript for more details

curl -X POST "https://api.zapcap.ai/videos/YOUR_VIDEO_ID/task/YOUR_TASK_ID/approve-transcript" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY"

Download Results​

Once the task is completed, use the URLs from the task status response to download your results:

# Download the transcript
curl -o transcript.json "TRANSCRIPT_URL_FROM_STATUS"

# Download the final video
curl -o final_video.mp4 "DOWNLOAD_URL_FROM_STATUS"

Tips for Success​

  1. Video Format: Ensure your video is in MP4 or QuickTime format
  2. File Size: For larger files (>100MB), consider using the multipart upload endpoint
  3. TTL: Add ?ttl=30d to upload requests to set a 30-day retention period. Read more here
  4. Error Handling: Always check the response status and error messages
  5. API Limits: Check our limitations page for current API limits

Next Steps​