youtube-to-obsidian-raw

name	youtube-to-obsidian-raw
description	Extract a YouTube video into a structured Markdown source note in an Obsidian vault `_Wiki/raw` folder using `yt-dlp`. Use when the user wants the video content captured as structured source material, not as a raw transcript dump and not as a direct wiki note.

YouTube To Obsidian

Use this skill to turn a YouTube video into a structured source note inside _Wiki/raw. Do not default to saving a transcript dump, and do not create a note directly in _Wiki/wiki.

Workflow

1. Confirm yt-dlp is available.
2. Create a temp directory and run bash scripts/youtube_to_obsidian_bundle.sh "<youtube-url>" "<temp-dir>".
3. Read manifest.json and transcript.txt from that temp directory.
4. Inspect the vault structure and confirm _Wiki/raw exists.
5. Write one structured Markdown source note into _Wiki/raw, using the transcript as working material rather than as note content.
6. Do not create or update files in _Wiki/wiki unless the user explicitly asks for a wiki promotion step.
7. Only write a raw transcript file if the user explicitly asks for archival raw content.

Output Rules

• Default to a structured raw note in _Wiki/raw.
• Do not put the transcript into the raw note.
• Do not add transcript links or transcript file references to the raw note unless the user explicitly asks for that.
• Preserve the source URL, channel, and publication date in the raw note.
• Include the video description when it adds context.
• Prefer subtitles in this order: Italian, English, then the first available language.
• Prefer manual subtitles over automatic captions when both exist.
• If no subtitles are available, still create the structured raw note from metadata and description.
• Match the destination note to the vault's existing raw/source conventions.
• The default structure should be a source-style note with:
  • opening summary
  • source section
  • main ideas
  • core argument or takeaways
  • useful concepts / links
  • limits and caveats
• The note should aim to preserve the substance of the full video in structured form, but without embedding the transcript itself.

Command

tmp_dir="$(mktemp -d)"
bash ./scripts/youtube_to_obsidian_bundle.sh "https://youtu.be/VIDEO_ID" "$tmp_dir"

Notes

• Use bash scripts/youtube_to_obsidian_raw.sh only when the user explicitly asks to preserve the raw transcript/source file.
• The bundle script is the default extraction path because it avoids cluttering the vault with intermediate transcript dumps.
• Auto-generated subtitles can be noisy or end abruptly. Treat them as evidence for structuring the raw note, not as note content to preserve.