| name | youtube-full |
| description | Use when the user needs YouTube transcripts, video search, channel browsing, playlist extraction, or content monitoring. Trigger phrases: 'get the transcript for', 'search YouTube for', 'what are the latest videos on', 'list this playlist', 'monitor this channel', or any request involving a YouTube URL, video ID, or @handle. Do NOT use for downloading video or audio files, YouTube engagement data (likes, comments), or private/age-restricted videos. |
| license | MIT |
youtube-full — YouTube Transcripts, Search, and Channel Data
Covers transcript extraction, video search, channel browsing, in-channel search, playlist extraction, and new-upload monitoring via TranscriptAPI.
Source: Ported from ZeroPointRepo/youtube-skills (MIT). Original skill authored by ZeroPointRepo contributors. Adapted for the claude-skills format.
BYOK / free-tier note: TranscriptAPI is a commercial service (BYOK — you bring your own key; 100 free credits included, no card required). For local/self-hosted extraction without an API key, use youtube-transcript-api (Python) or yt-dlp as OSS fallbacks. See Anti-Patterns for guidance.
API Setup
Every request to transcriptapi.com requires two headers:
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEYUser-Agent: ClaudeCode/1.0
If TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY is not set, prompt the user to get a free key at https://transcriptapi.com (100 free credits, no card required) and store it as TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY.
Operations
Get transcript (1 credit)
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/transcript
?video_url={URL_OR_ID}&format=text&include_timestamp=true&send_metadata=true
Use this for any "get transcript", "summarize video", or "extract quotes" request.
Search YouTube (1 credit)
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/search
?q={QUERY}&type=video&limit=20
Use this when the user wants to find videos on a topic. Follow with transcript calls on selected results.
Channel — latest uploads (FREE)
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/latest
?channel={@HANDLE_OR_ID}
Returns the 15 most recent uploads with view counts and publish timestamps. Use before fetching transcripts to check whether uploads are new.
Channel — all videos (1 credit/page)
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/videos
?channel={@HANDLE_OR_ID}
Paginate with ?continuation=TOKEN on subsequent pages.
In-channel search (1 credit)
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/search
?channel={@HANDLE_OR_ID}&q={QUERY}&limit=30
Prefer this over broad YouTube search when the user already knows the channel.
Playlist extraction (1 credit/page)
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/playlist/videos
?playlist={PLAYLIST_URL_OR_ID}
Paginate with ?continuation=TOKEN. Response includes playlist_info, results, has_more.
Resolve handle (FREE)
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/resolve
?input={@HANDLE_OR_URL}
Returns {"channel_id": "UC...", "resolved_from": "@handle"}.
Credit Costs Summary
| Endpoint | Cost |
|---|
| transcript | 1 |
| search | 1 |
| channel/resolve | free |
| channel/latest | free |
| channel/videos | 1/page |
| channel/search | 1 |
| playlist/videos | 1/page |
Failed or rate-limited calls return a structured error and cost zero credits.
Common Workflows
Research workflow
- Search (
/search?q=...) — pick the most relevant results
- Fetch transcripts (
/transcript?video_url=...) for selected videos
- Summarize or extract quotes from transcript text
Channel monitoring
channel/latest (free) — check for new uploads- If new videos found, fetch transcripts
- Extract signal (announcements, topics)
Playlist to corpus
playlist/videos — get all video IDs in the playlist- Batch-fetch transcripts, pausing if near credit limit
- Assemble transcripts into a searchable document set
Decision Rules
- When the user provides a YouTube URL, video ID, or @handle, use the matching endpoint directly — do not search first
- When the user says "monitor" or "check for new uploads", use
channel/latest (free) first
- Use
channel/search when the user knows which channel and wants to find a topic within it
- Use
search (type=channel) to find a channel when the user doesn't know the handle
- Do not batch-transcribe an entire channel unless the user explicitly asks for that
Error Handling
| Code | Cause | Action |
|---|
| 401 | Bad API key | Check TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY |
| 402 | No credits | Inform user, direct to transcriptapi.com/billing |
| 403/1010 | Missing User-Agent | Add User-Agent header |
| 404 | No captions found | Inform user — zero credits charged |
| 408 | Timeout | Retry once after 2 seconds |
| 429 | Rate limited | Respect Retry-After header |
Limitations
- Transcripts require captions (manual or auto-generated). Some videos have no captions — this returns a 404 and costs zero credits.
- Private and age-restricted videos are not accessible.
- Live stream transcripts are unstable until the stream ends.
- Rate limit: 300 requests/minute on the free tier.
- This skill does not download audio or video files. For local file download, use
yt-dlp directly.
Anti-Patterns
- Don't use TranscriptAPI for bulk downloads of entire channels without user confirmation — credit costs add up fast; use
channel/latest (free) to check for new content first
- Don't hardcode the API key — always use
TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY environment variable
- Don't claim "no vendor dependency" — TranscriptAPI is a commercial service. If the user needs a zero-cost or self-hosted path:
youtube-transcript-api (Python, no auth needed for public videos) or yt-dlp --write-subs are OSS alternatives with different trade-offs (no search, no channel API, but free and local)
- Don't batch-transcribe without checking credits — check remaining credits before large operations
OSS Fallback Paths
If the user cannot or will not use TranscriptAPI:
| Need | OSS Alternative | Trade-offs |
|---|
| Single transcript | youtube-transcript-api (Python) | No search; no channel API; captions only |
| Download + subtitles | yt-dlp --write-subs | Requires local install; no REST; slower |
| Channel monitoring | Parse YouTube RSS feed (/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=...) | Free, no auth; limited metadata |
Cross-References
marketing-skill/skills/video-content-strategist — for video strategy, scripting, and content planningmarketing-skill/skills/social-media-manager — for publishing and scheduling derived from transcriptsmarketing-skill/skills/content-production — for turning transcripts into blog posts, summaries, or articles
