summarize

name	summarize
description	Summarize or extract text/transcripts from URLs, podcasts, YouTube videos, and local files using the summarize CLI. Use when asked to summarize a link, article, video, or file, or to transcribe a YouTube video.
metadata	{"openclaw":{"emoji":"🧾","requires":{"bins":["summarize"]},"install":[{"id":"brew","kind":"brew","formula":"steipete/tap/summarize","bins":["summarize"],"label":"Install summarize (brew)"}]}}

Summarize

Fast CLI to summarize URLs, local files, and YouTube links.

Quick Start

summarize "https://example.com" --model google/gemini-3-flash-preview
summarize "/path/to/file.pdf" --model google/gemini-3-flash-preview
summarize "https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ" --youtube auto

YouTube: Summary vs Transcript

Best-effort transcript extraction (URLs only):

summarize "https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ" --youtube auto --extract-only

If the user asked for a transcript but it's very long, return a tight summary first, then ask which section or time range to expand.

Model + Keys

Set the API key for your chosen provider:

• OpenAI: OPENAI_API_KEY
• Anthropic: ANTHROPIC_API_KEY
• xAI: XAI_API_KEY
• Google: GEMINI_API_KEY (aliases: GOOGLE_GENERATIVE_AI_API_KEY, GOOGLE_API_KEY)

Default model is google/gemini-3-flash-preview if none is set.

Useful Flags

• --length short|medium|long|xl|xxl|<chars> — control summary length
• --max-output-tokens <count> — hard token limit
• --extract-only — extract raw text without summarizing (URLs only)
• --json — machine-readable output
• --firecrawl auto|off|always — fallback extraction for blocked sites
• --youtube auto — Apify fallback if APIFY_API_TOKEN is set

Config

Optional config file: ~/.summarize/config.json

{ "model": "openai/gpt-5.2" }

Optional services:

• FIRECRAWL_API_KEY for blocked sites
• APIFY_API_TOKEN for YouTube fallback