youtube

# YouTube Research Pro **The most comprehensive YouTube skill for AI agents.** We analyzed 15+ YouTube MCP servers and found each does one thing well, but none does everything. So we built the skill we wished existed. ## Why This Skill? | What Others Do | What We Do | |----------------|------------| | Transcripts OR search OR downloads | **All three, unified** | | Burn API quota on transcripts | **FREE transcripts** (zero quota) | | Single video at a time | **Batch operations** (50 videos) | | Basic search | **Filtered search** (date, duration, order) | | Text output only | **JSON export** for pipelines | ### The Killer Feature: FREE Transcripts Most tools use the YouTube Data API for transcripts = **100 quota units per request**. Daily limit is 10,000 units = only ~100 transcripts/day. **We use `youtube-transcript-api`** — extracts directly from YouTube's frontend. **Zero API quota. Unlimited transcripts.** ## Quick Reference | Command | Quota | What it does | |---------|-------|--------------| | `transcript VIDEO` | **FREE** | Get video transcript | | `transcript-list VIDEO` | **FREE** | List available languages | | `download VIDEO` | **FREE** | Download video (yt-dlp) | | `download-audio VIDEO` | **FREE** | Extract audio only | | `search QUERY` | 100 | Search videos | | `video ID [ID...]` | 1/video | Get details (batch!) | | `comments VIDEO` | 1 | Get comments + replies | | `channel [ID]` | 1-3 | Channel statistics | ## Setup (One Time) ```bash # 1. Get credentials from Google Cloud Console # - Create OAuth 2.0 Client ID (Desktop app) # - Download JSON # 2. Save credentials mkdir -p ~/.config/youtube-skill mv ~/Downloads/client_secret*.json ~/.config/youtube-skill/credentials.json # 3. Authenticate uv run {baseDir}/scripts/youtube.py auth ``` ## Transcripts (FREE!) ```bash # Plain text transcript uv run {baseDir}/scripts/youtube.py transcript VIDEO_ID # With timestamps uv run {baseDir}/scripts/youtube.py transcript VIDEO_ID --timestamps # Specific language (falls back to available) uv run {baseDir}/scripts/youtube.py transcript VIDEO_ID -l es # List what's available uv run {baseDir}/scripts/youtube.py transcript-list VIDEO_ID # JSON output uv run {baseDir}/scripts/youtube.py transcript VIDEO_ID --json ``` Works with URLs too: ```bash uv run {baseDir}/scripts/youtube.py transcript "https://youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ" ``` ## Search ```bash # Basic search uv run {baseDir}/scripts/youtube.py search "AI news 2026" # With filters uv run {baseDir}/scripts/youtube.py search "tutorial" -l 20 --order date uv run {baseDir}/scripts/youtube.py search "lecture" --duration long uv run {baseDir}/scripts/youtube.py search "news" --published-after 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z ``` ## Video Details (Batch Supported) ```bash # Single video uv run {baseDir}/scripts/youtube.py video dQw4w9WgXcQ # Multiple videos at once (up to 50) uv run {baseDir}/scripts/youtube.py video id1 id2 id3 id4 id5 # JSON output for processing uv run {baseDir}/scripts/youtube.py video id1 id2 --json ``` ## Comments ```bash # Top comments uv run {baseDir}/scripts/youtube.py comments VIDEO_ID # With replies uv run {baseDir}/scripts/youtube.py comments VIDEO_ID --replies # Recent comments uv run {baseDir}/scripts/youtube.py comments VIDEO_ID --order time -l 50 ``` ## Downloads (requires yt-dlp) ```bash # Video (best quality) uv run {baseDir}/scripts/youtube.py download VIDEO_ID # Specific resolution uv run {baseDir}/scripts/youtube.py download VIDEO_ID -r 720p # With subtitles uv run {baseDir}/scripts/youtube.py download VIDEO_ID -s en # Audio only (MP3) uv run {baseDir}/scripts/youtube.py download-audio VIDEO_ID # Audio as M4A uv run {baseDir}/scripts/youtube.py download-audio VIDEO_ID -f m4a ``` ## User Data ```bash uv run {baseDir}/scripts/youtube.py subscriptions uv run {baseDir}/scripts/youtube.py playlists uv run {baseDir}/scripts/youtube.py playlist-items PLAYLIST_ID uv run {baseDir}/scripts/youtube.py liked uv run {baseDir}/scripts/youtube.py channel ``` ## Command Aliases | Full | Alias | |------|-------| | `transcript` | `tr` | | `search` | `s` | | `video` | `v` | | `comments` | `c` | | `download` | `dl` | | `download-audio` | `dla` | ## Use Cases **Research:** Fetch transcript → analyze with LLM → extract insights **Learning:** Batch transcripts from playlist → create study notes **Monitoring:** Search recent videos → extract transcripts → track trends **Podcasts:** Download audio for offline listening **Analysis:** Get channel stats → compare competitors ## Multi-Account ```bash uv run {baseDir}/scripts/youtube.py -a work subscriptions uv run {baseDir}/scripts/youtube.py -a personal liked ``` ## Why We Built This We surveyed the landscape: - **kimtaeyoon83/mcp-server-youtube-transcript** (463⭐) — Great transcripts, no search - **kevinwatt/yt-dlp-mcp** (211⭐) — Great downloads, no transcripts - **dannySubsense/youtube-mcp-server** (9⭐) — Most functions, but uses paid API for transcripts - **kirbah/mcp-youtube** (9⭐) — Batch ops, but no free transcripts **None combined free transcripts + search + downloads + batch ops.** Now one does.