YouTube Wisdom Extraction

Overview

Extract meaningful insights, key learnings, and actionable wisdom from YouTube videos. This skill handles the complete workflow: downloading transcripts using yt-dlp (no video files), parsing subtitle data, performing comprehensive analysis, and saving results to organised markdown files.

When to Use This Skill

This skill is useful when users request:

• Analysis or summary of YouTube video content
• Extraction of key insights or learnings from videos
• Identification of notable quotes or important statements
• Structured breakdown of video content
• Actionable takeaways from educational or informational videos

Workflow

Step 1: Download Transcript

Execute the download script to fetch only the transcript (no video file):

bash scripts/download_video.sh <youtube-url>

The script will:

• Auto-detect your environment (Claude Code or OpenClaw) and OS (macOS or Linux)
• Download English subtitles or auto-generated transcripts
• Output the transcript path and next steps

Cookie handling: The script first attempts to download using browser cookies (for access restricted videos). If no browser is found or cookies fail, it automatically falls back to trying cookie-less download.

Step 2: Rename Directory

The script outputs a NEXT_STEP line. Execute the rename command it provides:

mv <OUTPUT_DIR> <OUTPUT_DIR>/../YYYY-MM-DD-<concise-description>

• Keep the description short (1-6 words)
• Use hyphens instead of spaces
• Take the video content and title into consideration

Example:

• Video: "My Interview With Demis Hassabis, CEO of DeepMind"
• Rename to: 2026-02-05-Demis-Hassabis-Interview

Step 3: Read Transcript

Read the transcript file from the path provided by the script (TRANSCRIPT_PATH).

Transcripts are cleaned and formatted as continuous text with minimal whitespace.

Note: The download script uses --restrict-filenames to sanitise special characters in filenames for safer handling.

Step 4: Analyse and Extract Wisdom

IMPORTANT: One of your goals is to avoid signal dilution, context collapse, quality degradation and degraded reasoning for future understanding of the content by ensuring you keep the signal to noise ratio high and that domain insights are preserved while not introducing unnecessary filler or fluff in documentation.

Perform comprehensive analysis on the transcript, extracting:

1. Key Insights & Takeaways

• Identify the main ideas, core concepts, and central arguments
• Extract fundamental learnings and important revelations
• Highlight expert advice, best practices, or recommendations
• Note any surprising or counterintuitive information

2. Notable Quotes

• Extract memorable, impactful, or particularly well-articulated statements
• Include context for each quote when relevant
• Focus on quotes that encapsulate key ideas or provide unique perspectives
• Preserve the original wording exactly as spoken, except correct American spellings to Australian English

3. Structured Summary

• Create hierarchical organisation of content
• Break down into logical sections or themes
• Provide clear section headings that reflect content structure
• Include high-level overview followed by detailed breakdowns
• Note any important examples, case studies, or demonstrations

4. Actionable Takeaways

• List specific, concrete actions viewers can implement
• Frame as clear, executable steps
• Prioritise practical advice over theoretical concepts
• Include any tools, resources, or techniques mentioned
• Distinguish between immediate actions and longer-term strategies

Step 5: Write Analysis to Markdown File

Write the complete analysis to a markdown file in the renamed directory:

File location: <renamed-directory>/<video-title> - analysis.md

Format the analysis using this structure:

# Video Analysis: [Video Title]

**Video URL:** [YouTube URL]
**Analysis Date:** [Current date in YYYY-MM-DD]

## Summary
[Brief 2 sentence overview of the video's main topic and purpose]

### Simplified Explanation
[Explain It Like I'm 10: A simple 1-2 sentence explanation of the core concept in a way a 10-year-old could understand]

### Key Takeaways
- [Concise takeaway 1]
- [Concise takeaway 2]
- [Concise takeaway 3]

## Key Insights
- [Insight 1]
  - [Supporting detail]
- [Insight 2]
  - [Supporting detail]
- [Insight 3]
  - [Supporting detail]
- etc..

## Notable Quotes (Only add this if there are notable quotes / statements)
> "[Quote 1]"

Context: [Brief context if needed]

> "[Quote 2]"

Context: [Brief context if needed]

## Structured Breakdown
### [Section 1 Title]
[Content summary]

### [Section 2 Title]
[Content summary]

## Actionable Takeaways
1. [Specific action item 1]
2. [Specific action item 2]
3. [Specific action item 3]

## Additional Resources
[Any tools, links, or references mentioned in the video]

_Wisdom Extraction Skill Generated: [Current date in YYYY-MM-DD]_

After writing the analysis file, inform the user of the location.

OpenClaw note: When running via OpenClaw (in a chat session), also return the full analysis content to the user in your response — don't just save it to file. Users often want to read the insights immediately without opening a separate file.

Step 6: Critical Self-Review

Conduct a critical self-review of YOUR summarisation and analysis.

Create tasks to track the following (mechanical checks first, then content quality):

• No American English spelling - check and fix (e.g. judgment→judgement, practicing→practising, organize→organise)
• No em-dashes, smart quotes, or non-standard typography
• Proper markdown formatting
• Accuracy & faithfulness to the original content
• Completeness
• Concise, clear content with no fluff, marketing speak, filler, or padding (ensure the content has a high signal to noise ratio)
• Logical organisation & structure

Re-read the analysis file, verify each item, fix any issues found, then mark tasks completed.

Step 7: Send Completion Notification (Claude Code Only & Optional)

Use scripts/send_notification.sh to send a desktop notification:

TITLE="Wisdom Extracted" MESSAGE="<short description>" PLAY_SOUND=true DIR="<renamed-directory>" bash scripts/send_notification.sh

Then stop unless further instructions are given.

Additional Capabilities

Multiple Video Analysis

When analysing multiple videos:

• Process each video sequentially using the workflow above
• Each video gets its own directory by video ID
• Create comparative analysis highlighting common themes or contrasting viewpoints
• Synthesise insights across multiple sources in a separate summary file
• Notify once only at the end of the entire batch process

Time-Stamped Analysis

If timestamps are needed:

• Note that basic transcripts don't preserve timestamps
• Can reference general flow (beginning, middle, end) of content
• For precise timestamps, may need to cross-reference with the actual video

Topic-Specific Focus

When user requests focused analysis on specific topics:

• Search transcript for relevant keywords and themes
• Extract only content related to specified topics
• Provide concentrated analysis on areas of interest

Tips

• Don't add new lines between items in a list
• Avoid marketing speak or fluff
• Always use Australian English spelling
• Do not use em-dashes or smart quotes
• Only use bold where emphasis is truly needed
• Ensure clarity and conciseness in summaries and takeaways
• Consider if the text you're adding actually adds value to the analysis, don't add filler or padding
• If the video mentions a specific tool, resource or website, task a sub-agent to look it up and provide a brief summary, then include it in the Additional Resources section

Resources

scripts/

• download_video.sh: Bash script that downloads YouTube transcripts (no video files) using yt-dlp with optimised settings. Auto-detects environment (Claude Code/OpenClaw) and OS, outputs paths and next steps for the agent.
• send_notification.sh: Sends desktop notifications when analysis is complete (Claude Code only, optional).

Installation Paths

This skill works with both Claude Code and OpenClaw:

• Claude Code: ~/.claude/skills/youtube-wisdom/
• OpenClaw: ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/youtube-wisdom/