YouTube Transcript Skill

Use this skill to fetch transcripts and transcript languages with a standalone Python CLI tool (no MCP server).

Prerequisites

Install dependency:

python3 -m pip install youtube-transcript-api

Package Knowledge: `youtube-transcript-api`

Teach and apply these package facts when reasoning about failures or writing code:

Package role:
fetch transcript text for a YouTube video
list available transcript languages
detect generated vs manual captions
Common API patterns across versions:
static-style: YouTubeTranscriptApi.get_transcript(video_id, languages=[...])
class list: YouTubeTranscriptApi.list_transcripts(video_id)
instance-style (newer variants): api = YouTubeTranscriptApi(); api.list(video_id); api.fetch(video_id, languages=[...])
Typical transcript item fields:
text
start
duration
Typical language fields:
language_code
language
is_generated
Common exception names you should expect and map:
InvalidVideoId
TranscriptsDisabled
NoTranscriptFound
VideoUnavailable
TooManyRequests
CouldNotRetrieveTranscript
Reliability guidance:
try requested language first, then fallback to first available language
for AI summary workflows, prefer transcript retrieval with --include-timestamps false
keep tool output structured JSON so downstream AI agents can parse reliably

Core Contract

This skill provides transcript retrieval. Summary and analysis must be done by AI.

Use the CLI for data retrieval (transcript, languages).
Do summary/key points/quotes using an AI agent.
Prefer sub-agent summarization when available to preserve main-context space.

Workflow

Extract a YouTube URL or 11-character video ID.
Decide output type:

Full transcript requested: fetch transcript and return it.
Summary requested: fetch transcript first, then summarize with AI.

Context-saving rule for summary:

If sub-agents are available, run transcript retrieval + summarization in a sub-agent.
If sub-agents are unavailable, summarize in the current agent after retrieval.

For long videos, prefer transcript fetch with --include-timestamps false unless timestamps are explicitly requested.

Sub-Agent Guidance

When available, use this flow:

Sub-agent runs transcript fetch command.
Sub-agent summarizes transcript based on user intent.
Sub-agent returns concise summary (and optional key quotes).
Main agent returns the synthesized result without dumping full raw transcript unless the user asks.

Commands

Get transcript with timestamps:

python3 youtube_transcript_tool.py \
  --mode transcript \
  --url "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID" \
  --lang en \
  --include-timestamps true

Get transcript as plain text (recommended for summarization):

python3 youtube_transcript_tool.py \
  --mode transcript \
  --url "VIDEO_ID" \
  --include-timestamps false

List available transcript languages:

python3 youtube_transcript_tool.py \
  --mode languages \
  --url "https://youtu.be/VIDEO_ID"

Output Contract

Default output is JSON (--json true).

Success payload:

ok: true
includes mode, video_id, and mode-specific payload

Error payload:

ok: false
error.code
error.message
error.hint

Use --json false for readable text output.

Error Handling Guidance

When the tool fails, surface the hint directly and suggest one practical next step:

invalid_video_id: check URL format or use raw 11-char ID
transcripts_disabled: captions disabled by publisher
no_transcript: try another language or auto-generated captions
video_unavailable: video is private/deleted/restricted
rate_limited: retry later or from a different network
dependency_missing: install youtube-transcript-api

Defaults

--lang en
--include-timestamps true
--json true

youtube-transcript