YouTube Transcript

When To Activate

Instructions

Step 1: Check yt-dlp

<check_dep> yt-dlp must exist at /tmp/yt-dlp or on PATH.

If missing, install it:

curl -L https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp_macos -o /tmp/yt-dlp && chmod +x /tmp/yt-dlp

</check_dep>

Step 2: Extract Transcript

Run the extraction script:

node <skill-path>/scripts/fetch-transcript.mjs "<youtube-url>"

The script outputs JSON with:

title, channel, url, duration, uploadDate, description
segments — individual timestamped lines
paragraphs — segments merged into ~30-second blocks for readability

Step 3: Save Output

<output_format> Create a folder and markdown file:

Folder: transcripts/ in the current working directory (create if needed) Filename: YYYY-MM-DD-kebab-case-title.md

---
type: transcript
source: youtube
video_id: <id>
channel: <channel>
duration: <duration>
date_published: <upload-date>
date_extracted: <today>
url: <url>
---

# <Title>

**Channel:** <channel>
**Duration:** <duration>
**Published:** <upload-date>
**URL:** <url>

---

## Summary

<2-3 sentence overview of what this video covers and why it matters>

---

## Key Takeaways

### 1. <First key theme>
- Bullet points summarising the core argument
- Include specific claims, frameworks, or advice given
- Attribute to the speaker where relevant

### 2. <Second key theme>
...repeat for each major theme (typically 3-7 themes for a 30-60 min video)

---

## Full Transcript

[0:00] <Brief topic label>. First paragraph of merged text...

[4:30] <Brief topic label>. Second paragraph continues...

The transcript section should be the full paragraph-merged output from the script, with each timestamp block prefixed by a short topic label (2-5 words) for scannability. </output_format>

Step 4: Summarise

Summary — 2-3 sentences on what the video covers
Key Takeaways — grouped by theme, with specific claims and quotes
Full Transcript — paragraph-merged with topic labels (kept as reference/source)

The summary and takeaways should be written in clean, scannable prose. Extract the actual insights — not just "they discussed X" but what they specifically said about X. If the video is relevant to a specific context (e.g., interview prep), add a relevance table mapping insights to actions.

Integration with Boulot Vault

When used inside the Boulot vault for job research:

Save to {user}/active/{company}/research/transcripts/ if the video relates to an active application
Add a link to the transcript in the company's research.md
Tag with relevant company/role context in frontmatter

NEVER

Download the video itself — subtitles only
Fabricate or hallucinate transcript content
Skip saving to file — always persist the transcript
Run without checking yt-dlp exists first

ALWAYS

Use kebab-case lowercase filenames
Include full YAML frontmatter
Use the paragraph-merged format for readability (not raw segments)
Include timestamps at paragraph boundaries
Provide a content summary after extraction

youtube-transcript