YouTube Transcript Local Skill

Use this skill to work with YouTube transcripts in local CLI mode (no MCP server required).

Prerequisites

Install dependency:

python3 -m pip install youtube-transcript-api

Workflow

1. Extract a YouTube URL or 11-character video ID from the user request.
2. Select mode:

• transcript: return transcript entries or plain text
• languages: list available transcript languages
• analyze: return extractive summary, key points, or quotes

3. Run the CLI tool in this folder.
4. Return concise results and preserve errors with remediation hints.

Commands

Get transcript with timestamps:

python3 youtube_transcript_tool.py \
  --mode transcript \
  --url "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID" \
  --lang en \
  --include-timestamps true

Get transcript as plain text:

python3 youtube_transcript_tool.py \
  --mode transcript \
  --url "VIDEO_ID" \
  --include-timestamps false

List available languages:

python3 youtube_transcript_tool.py \
  --mode languages \
  --url "https://youtu.be/VIDEO_ID"

Analyze transcript (summary):

python3 youtube_transcript_tool.py \
  --mode analyze \
  --url "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID" \
  --analysis-type summary \
  --max-items 5

Analyze transcript (key points):

python3 youtube_transcript_tool.py \
  --mode analyze \
  --url "VIDEO_ID" \
  --analysis-type key_points \
  --max-items 7

Analyze transcript (quotes):

python3 youtube_transcript_tool.py \
  --mode analyze \
  --url "VIDEO_ID" \
  --analysis-type quotes \
  --max-items 5

Output Contract

Default output is JSON (--json true):

• Success:
• ok: true
• includes mode, video_id, and mode-specific payload
• Error:
• ok: false
• error.code
• error.message
• error.hint

Use --json false for readable text output.

Error Handling Guidance

When the tool fails, surface the hint directly and suggest one practical next step:

• invalid_video_id: check URL format or use raw 11-char ID
• transcripts_disabled: captions disabled by publisher
• no_transcript: try another language or auto-generated captions
• video_unavailable: video is private/deleted/restricted
• rate_limited: retry later or from a different network
• dependency_missing: install youtube-transcript-api

Defaults

• --lang en
• --include-timestamps true
• --analysis-type summary
• --max-items 5
• --json true