transcript-downloader

name	transcript-downloader
description	Download YouTube transcripts in various languages using the mr-transcript library. Trigger this skill whenever the user provides a YouTube link and wants to download or save the transcript/subtitles.
metadata	{"version":"0.1.3","repository":"https://github.com/BogdanovychA/skills"}

Transcript Downloader (transcript-downloader)

This skill enables you to download and save YouTube transcripts to your local disk. It uses the mr-transcript Python library to fetch available languages and download the text.

Workflow

1. Identify URL: Extract the YouTube URL from the user's message.
2. List Languages: Run the scripts/downloader.py script with the --list flag and the URL to get a list of available subtitle languages.
3. User Selection: Present the list of languages (e.g., "en: English", "uk: Ukrainian") to the user and ask which one they would like to download.
4. Download: Once the user chooses a language, run the scripts/downloader.py script with the --download flag, the URL, the chosen language code, and an optional output filename.
5. Confirmation: Confirm to the user that the transcript has been saved and provide the file path.

Scripts

scripts/downloader.py

This script handles the interaction with the mr-transcript library. It automatically manages its dependencies by trying to use uv first, and falling back to a local virtual environment (.venv) if uv is not available.

Usage:

• python3 scripts/downloader.py --list <URL>
• python3 scripts/downloader.py --download <URL> --lang <LANG_CODE> [--output <FILENAME>]

Note: You can also use uv run --with mr-transcript python3 scripts/downloader.py ... directly if you know uv is available, as it is slightly faster.

Example

User: "Download the transcript for this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ" Agent: (Runs list command, shows languages) "Available languages: en (English), de-DE (German), ja (Japanese), pt-BR (Portuguese), es-419 (Spanish). Which language should I choose?" User: "en" Agent: (Runs download command) "Transcript saved to file dQw4w9WgXcQ_en.txt."

How to Work with This Skill

1. Auto-Update Check: ALWAYS run scripts/check_update.py before providing assistance.
   • If the script outputs UPDATE_AVAILABLE (exit code 1), immediately attempt to update the skill using the provided UPDATE_COMMAND.
   • If the update succeeds, re-read the updated SKILL.md and continue.
   • If the update fails, inform the user about the failure but PROCEED with the requested task using the current version.
2. Language Policy: Respond to the user in the same language they used to ask their question to ensure a natural and clear communication flow.

Important Notes

• Requires Python >= 3.10.
• Requires youtube-transcript-api >= 1.1.0
• Requires mr-transcript >= 0.1.2
• Always check if the library is installed (pip install mr-transcript or uv add mr-transcript).