diff --git a/src/clis/youtube/transcript.ts b/src/clis/youtube/transcript.ts
index 441f9081..107b3ec0 100644
--- a/src/clis/youtube/transcript.ts
+++ b/src/clis/youtube/transcript.ts
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
  *   --mode raw: every caption segment as-is with precise timestamps
  */
 import { cli, Strategy } from '../../registry.js';
-import { parseVideoId } from './utils.js';
+import { parseVideoId, prepareYoutubeApiPage } from './utils.js';
 import {
   groupTranscriptSegments,
   formatGroupedTranscript,
@@ -34,9 +34,7 @@ cli({
   // so we let the renderer auto-detect columns from the data keys.
   func: async (page, kwargs) => {
     const videoId = parseVideoId(kwargs.url);
-    const videoUrl = `https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=${videoId}`;
-    await page.goto(videoUrl);
-    await page.wait(3);
+    await prepareYoutubeApiPage(page);
 
     const lang = kwargs.lang || '';
     const mode = kwargs.mode || 'grouped';
diff --git a/src/clis/youtube/utils.test.ts b/src/clis/youtube/utils.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4189e083
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/clis/youtube/utils.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+import { describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest';
+import { extractJsonAssignmentFromHtml, prepareYoutubeApiPage } from './utils.js';
+
+describe('youtube utils', () => {
+  it('extractJsonAssignmentFromHtml parses bootstrap objects with nested braces in strings', () => {
+    const html = `
+      <script>
+        var ytInitialPlayerResponse = {
+          "title": "brace { inside } string",
+          "nested": { "count": 2, "text": "quote \\"value\\"" }
+        };
+      </script>
+    `;
+
+    expect(extractJsonAssignmentFromHtml(html, 'ytInitialPlayerResponse')).toEqual({
+      title: 'brace { inside } string',
+      nested: { count: 2, text: 'quote "value"' },
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('extractJsonAssignmentFromHtml supports window assignments', () => {
+    const html = `
+      <script>
+        window["ytInitialData"] = {"contents":{"items":[1,2,3]}};
+      </script>
+    `;
+
+    expect(extractJsonAssignmentFromHtml(html, 'ytInitialData')).toEqual({
+      contents: { items: [1, 2, 3] },
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('prepareYoutubeApiPage loads the quiet API bootstrap page', async () => {
+    const page = {
+      goto: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(undefined),
+      wait: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue(undefined),
+    };
+
+    await expect(prepareYoutubeApiPage(page as any)).resolves.toBeUndefined();
+    expect(page.goto).toHaveBeenCalledWith('https://www.youtube.com', { waitUntil: 'none' });
+    expect(page.wait).toHaveBeenCalledWith(2);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/clis/youtube/utils.ts b/src/clis/youtube/utils.ts
index 9ceaf414..caa73050 100644
--- a/src/clis/youtube/utils.ts
+++ b/src/clis/youtube/utils.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 /**
  * Shared YouTube utilities — URL parsing, video ID extraction, etc.
  */
+import type { IPage } from '../../types.js';
 
 /**
  * Extract a YouTube video ID from a URL or bare video ID string.
@@ -26,3 +27,71 @@ export function parseVideoId(input: string): string {
 
   return input;
 }
+
+/**
+ * Extract a JSON object assigned to a known bootstrap variable inside YouTube HTML.
+ */
+export function extractJsonAssignmentFromHtml(html: string, keys: string | string[]): Record<string, unknown> | null {
+  const candidates = Array.isArray(keys) ? keys : [keys];
+  for (const key of candidates) {
+    const markers = [
+      `var ${key} = `,
+      `window["${key}"] = `,
+      `window.${key} = `,
+      `${key} = `,
+    ];
+    for (const marker of markers) {
+      const markerIndex = html.indexOf(marker);
+      if (markerIndex === -1) continue;
+
+      const jsonStart = html.indexOf('{', markerIndex + marker.length);
+      if (jsonStart === -1) continue;
+
+      let depth = 0;
+      let inString = false;
+      let escaping = false;
+      for (let i = jsonStart; i < html.length; i += 1) {
+        const ch = html[i];
+        if (inString) {
+          if (escaping) {
+            escaping = false;
+          } else if (ch === '\\') {
+            escaping = true;
+          } else if (ch === '"') {
+            inString = false;
+          }
+          continue;
+        }
+
+        if (ch === '"') {
+          inString = true;
+          continue;
+        }
+        if (ch === '{') {
+          depth += 1;
+          continue;
+        }
+        if (ch === '}') {
+          depth -= 1;
+          if (depth === 0) {
+            try {
+              return JSON.parse(html.slice(jsonStart, i + 1)) as Record<string, unknown>;
+            } catch {
+              break;
+            }
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  return null;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Prepare a quiet YouTube API-capable page without opening the watch UI.
+ */
+export async function prepareYoutubeApiPage(page: IPage): Promise<void> {
+  await page.goto('https://www.youtube.com', { waitUntil: 'none' });
+  await page.wait(2);
+}
diff --git a/src/clis/youtube/video.ts b/src/clis/youtube/video.ts
index 7ed4aab3..84cf883c 100644
--- a/src/clis/youtube/video.ts
+++ b/src/clis/youtube/video.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 /**
- * YouTube video metadata — read ytInitialPlayerResponse + ytInitialData from video page.
+ * YouTube video metadata — fetch watch HTML and parse bootstrap data without opening the watch UI.
  */
 import { cli, Strategy } from '../../registry.js';
-import { parseVideoId } from './utils.js';
+import { extractJsonAssignmentFromHtml, parseVideoId, prepareYoutubeApiPage } from './utils.js';
 import { CommandExecutionError } from '../../errors.js';
 
 cli({
@@ -17,24 +17,29 @@ cli({
   columns: ['field', 'value'],
   func: async (page, kwargs) => {
     const videoId = parseVideoId(kwargs.url);
-    const videoUrl = `https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=${videoId}`;
-    await page.goto(videoUrl);
-    await page.wait(3);
+    await prepareYoutubeApiPage(page);
 
     const data = await page.evaluate(`
       (async () => {
-        const player = window.ytInitialPlayerResponse;
-        const yt = window.ytInitialData;
-        if (!player) return { error: 'ytInitialPlayerResponse not found' };
+        const extractJsonAssignmentFromHtml = ${extractJsonAssignmentFromHtml.toString()};
+
+        const watchResp = await fetch('/watch?v=' + encodeURIComponent(${JSON.stringify(videoId)}), {
+          credentials: 'include',
+        });
+        if (!watchResp.ok) return { error: 'Watch HTML returned HTTP ' + watchResp.status };
+
+        const html = await watchResp.text();
+        const player = extractJsonAssignmentFromHtml(html, 'ytInitialPlayerResponse');
+        const yt = extractJsonAssignmentFromHtml(html, 'ytInitialData');
+        if (!player) return { error: 'ytInitialPlayerResponse not found in watch HTML' };
 
         const details = player.videoDetails || {};
         const microformat = player.microformat?.playerMicroformatRenderer || {};
+        const contents = yt?.contents?.twoColumnWatchNextResults?.results?.results?.contents || [];
 
-        // Try to get full description from ytInitialData
+        // Try to get full description from watch bootstrap data
         let fullDescription = details.shortDescription || '';
         try {
-          const contents = yt?.contents?.twoColumnWatchNextResults
-            ?.results?.results?.contents;
           if (contents) {
             for (const c of contents) {
               const desc = c.videoSecondaryInfoRenderer?.attributedDescription?.content;
@@ -46,8 +51,6 @@ cli({
         // Get like count if available
         let likes = '';
         try {
-          const contents = yt?.contents?.twoColumnWatchNextResults
-            ?.results?.results?.contents;
           if (contents) {
             for (const c of contents) {
               const buttons = c.videoPrimaryInfoRenderer?.videoActions
@@ -75,8 +78,6 @@ cli({
         // Get channel subscriber count if available
         let subscribers = '';
         try {
-          const contents = yt?.contents?.twoColumnWatchNextResults
-            ?.results?.results?.contents;
           if (contents) {
             for (const c of contents) {
               const owner = c.videoSecondaryInfoRenderer?.owner