youtube-transcript

name	youtube-transcript
description	Ingest YouTube transcripts from a single video or an entire playlist and produce a detailed, structured summary of what was said. Use when the user shares a YouTube URL (video or playlist) and wants a transcript, notes, key takeaways, or a summary. Triggers include 'summarize this YouTube video', 'transcribe this playlist', 'what does this video say', or any youtube.com / youtu.be link.
metadata	{"author":"olivomarco","version":"1.0.0","argument-hint":"<youtube-video-or-playlist-url>"}

YouTube Transcript Ingestion & Summary

Mission

Turn a YouTube video or playlist into (1) clean, physically-downloaded transcripts and (2) a detailed, well-structured summary of everything that was said. Transcript retrieval is fully deterministic — it runs a bundled script that drives yt-dlp, never guesswork or fabricated content. Summarization is your job, performed strictly from the downloaded text.

Never invent or infer content that is not in the transcript. If captions are unavailable, say so plainly rather than guessing what the video contains.

Scope & Preconditions

• Works on anything yt-dlp accepts: single video, playlist, or channel URL.
• Requires yt-dlp and Python 3. If yt-dlp is missing, install it first:
  • pip install -U yt-dlp (cross-platform), or
  • winget install yt-dlp.yt-dlp (Windows) / brew install yt-dlp (macOS).
• Prefers human-written ("manual") captions; falls back to auto-generated captions.
• Some videos (age-restricted, members-only) need browser cookies — pass --cookies-from-browser <chrome|edge|firefox|...> to the script.
• This skill downloads subtitles only, never the audio/video itself.

Workflow

1. Ensure yt-dlp is installed (do this first). The download step depends on it. Check for it and install it if missing:

   # Check (either of these should print a version):
   yt-dlp --version || python -m yt_dlp --version
   

   If neither prints a version, install it before continuing:

   pip install -U yt-dlp                 # cross-platform (recommended)
   # or:
   winget install yt-dlp.yt-dlp         # Windows
   brew install yt-dlp                  # macOS
   

   The bundled script also auto-falls back to python -m yt_dlp, so a pip install -U yt-dlp is enough even when there's no standalone yt-dlp binary on PATH. Do not proceed to the download step until a version prints successfully.

2. Identify the URL. Take the video or playlist URL from the user's request (the skill argument). Ask only if no URL is present.

3. Download transcripts deterministically. Run the bundled script from the skill directory:

   python scripts/fetch_transcript.py "<URL>" --out transcripts
   

   Useful options:

   • --langs "en,en-US,en-GB,en.*" — subtitle language priority (default shown).
   • --cookies-from-browser edge — for restricted videos.
   • --keep-raw — keep the raw .vtt / .info.json files for debugging.

   The script writes, under the output directory:

   • manifest.json — index of every video (id, title, uploader, duration, url, caption source: manual / auto / none, and output file names).
   • <NNN>-<id>.txt — clean, de-duplicated plain-text transcript per video.
   • <NNN>-<id>.md — the same transcript with [mm:ss] timestamps per caption cue.
   • all.md — every transcript concatenated with per-video headers (handy for playlists).

4. Read the results. Open manifest.json first to learn what was captured, then read the .txt (or .md if you need timestamps) for each video. For playlists, all.md gives you everything in one pass.

5. Handle gaps honestly. For any video whose transcript_source is none or empty, report that no captions were available and exclude it from the content summary (don't fabricate). Suggest --cookies-from-browser if access seems to be the cause.

6. Summarize. Produce a detailed summary grounded only in the transcript text (see below).

Output Expectations

Deliver a summary tailored to the input:

Single video

• Title & link, channel, and duration.
• TL;DR — 2–4 sentences capturing the core message.
• Detailed summary — the main points in the order presented, with enough depth that a reader gets the substance without watching. Cite timestamps [mm:ss] for key moments (available in the .md transcript).
• Key takeaways / action items — bulleted.
• Notable quotes — only if genuinely present, quoted verbatim.

Playlist

• Overview — playlist title/source, number of videos, and how many had captions.
• Per-video sections — for each video: title, link, and a focused summary of its content.
• Cross-cutting themes — threads, progressions, or recurring ideas spanning the playlist.
• Clearly flag any videos that had no captions.

Keep it information-dense and skimmable: headings, bullets, and timestamps over prose walls.

Quality Assurance

• Every claim in the summary must be traceable to the downloaded transcript text.
• Verify transcript_source per video; never present an auto caption summary as if it were an authoritative manual transcript without noting captions may contain recognition errors.
• The transcript download is deterministic: the same URL and --langs yield the same files. Re-run the script rather than hand-editing transcripts.
• If yt-dlp errors (private video, removed content, region lock, rate limiting), surface the actual error to the user instead of guessing the content.