youtube-live-chat

name	youtube-live-chat
description	Download live chat transcripts from YouTube videos. Use when the user asks for live chat, chat messages, or chat replay from a YouTube video and provides a YouTube URL (youtube.com/watch?v=, youtu.be/, or similar). Works with live streams and past streams that have chat replay enabled.

YouTube Live Chat Downloader

Download live chat messages from YouTube videos using yt-dlp.

Usage

Run the script with a YouTube URL or video ID:

uv run get_live_chat.py "VIDEO_URL_OR_ID"

With timestamps:

uv run get_live_chat.py "VIDEO_URL_OR_ID" --timestamps

Output to a specific file:

uv run get_live_chat.py "VIDEO_URL_OR_ID" --output chat.txt

Supported URL Formats

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID
• https://www.youtube.com/live/VIDEO_ID
• https://youtu.be/VIDEO_ID
• https://youtube.com/embed/VIDEO_ID
• Raw video ID (11 characters)

Output Format

• Without timestamps (default): [author]: message format
• With timestamps: [HH:MM:SS] [author]: message format

Output

• If you were asked to save the chat to a specific file, save it to the requested file.
• If no output file was specified, use the YouTube video ID with a -livechat.txt suffix.

Notes

• Works with live streams currently in progress
• Works with past streams that have chat replay enabled
• Some videos may not have live chat available
• Super chats and memberships are included with their message text