youtube-summarizer

Original source / Raw SKILL.md

---
name: youtube-summarizer
description: Automatically fetch YouTube video transcripts, generate structured summaries, and send full transcripts to messaging platforms. Detects YouTube URLs and provides metadata, key insights, and downloadable transcripts.
version: 1.0.0
author: abe238
tags: [youtube, transcription, summarization, video, telegram]
---

# YouTube Summarizer Skill

Automatically fetch transcripts from YouTube videos, generate structured summaries, and deliver full transcripts to messaging platforms.

## When to Use

Activate this skill when:
- User shares a YouTube URL (youtube.com/watch, youtu.be, youtube.com/shorts)
- User asks to summarize or transcribe a YouTube video
- User requests information about a YouTube video's content

## Dependencies

**Required:** MCP YouTube Transcript server must be installed at:
`/root/clawd/mcp-server-youtube-transcript`

If not present, install it:
```bash
cd /root/clawd
git clone https://github.com/kimtaeyoon83/mcp-server-youtube-transcript.git
cd mcp-server-youtube-transcript
npm install && npm run build
```

## Workflow

### 1. Detect YouTube URL
Extract video ID from these patterns:
- `https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID`
- `https://youtu.be/VIDEO_ID`
- `https://www.youtube.com/shorts/VIDEO_ID`
- Direct video ID: `VIDEO_ID` (11 characters)

### 2. Fetch Transcript
Run this command to get the transcript:
```bash
cd /root/clawd/mcp-server-youtube-transcript && node --input-type=module -e "
import { getSubtitles } from './dist/youtube-fetcher.js';
const result = await getSubtitles({ videoID: 'VIDEO_ID', lang: 'en' });
console.log(JSON.stringify(result, null, 2));
" > /tmp/yt-transcript.json
```

Replace `VIDEO_ID` with the extracted ID. Read the output from `/tmp/yt-transcript.json`.

### 3. Process the Data

Parse the JSON to extract:
- `result.metadata.title` - Video title
- `result.metadata.author` - Channel name
- `result.metadata.viewCount` - Formatted view count
- `result.metadata.publishDate` - Publication date
- `result.actualLang` - Language used
- `result.lines` - Array of transcript segments

Full text: `result.lines.map(l => l.text).join(' ')`

### 4. Generate Summary

Create a structured summary using this template:

```markdown
📹 **Video:** [title]
👤 **Channel:** [author] | 👁️ **Views:** [views] | 📅 **Published:** [date]

**🎯 Main Thesis:**
[1-2 sentence core argument/message]

**💡 Key Insights:**
- [insight 1]
- [insight 2]
- [insight 3]
- [insight 4]
- [insight 5]

**📝 Notable Points:**
- [additional point 1]
- [additional point 2]

**🔑 Takeaway:**
[Practical application or conclusion]
```

Aim for:
- Main thesis: 1-2 sentences maximum
- Key insights: 3-5 bullets, each 1-2 sentences
- Notable points: 2-4 supporting details
- Takeaway: Actionable conclusion

### 5. Save Full Transcript

Save the complete transcript to a timestamped file:
```
/root/clawd/transcripts/YYYY-MM-DD_VIDEO_ID.txt
```

Include in the file:
- Video metadata header
- Full transcript text
- URL reference

### 6. Platform-Specific Delivery

**If channel is Telegram:**
```bash
message --action send --channel telegram --target CHAT_ID \
  --filePath /root/clawd/transcripts/YYYY-MM-DD_VIDEO_ID.txt \
  --caption "📄 YouTube Transcript: [title]"
```

**If channel is other/webchat:**
Just reply with the summary (no file attachment).

### 7. Reply with Summary

Send the structured summary as your response to the user.

## Error Handling

**If transcript fetch fails:**
- Check if video has captions enabled
- Try with `lang: 'en'` fallback if requested language unavailable
- Inform user that transcript is not available and suggest alternatives:
  - Manual YouTube transcript feature
  - Video may not have captions
  - Try a different video

**If MCP server not installed:**
- Provide installation instructions
- Offer to install it automatically if in appropriate context

**If video ID extraction fails:**
- Ask user to provide the full YouTube URL or video ID

## Examples

See `examples/` directory for sample outputs.

## Quality Guidelines

- **Be concise:** Summary should be scannable in 30 seconds
- **Be accurate:** Don't add information not in the transcript
- **Be structured:** Use consistent formatting for easy reading
- **Be contextual:** Adjust detail level based on video length
  - Short videos (<5 min): Brief summary
  - Long videos (>30 min): More detailed breakdown

## Notes

- MCP server uses Android client emulation to bypass YouTube's cloud IP blocking
- Works reliably from VPS/cloud environments where yt-dlp often fails
- Supports multiple languages with automatic fallback to English
- Transcript quality depends on YouTube's auto-generated captions or manual captions


---

## Skill Companion Files

> Additional files collected from the skill directory layout.

### README.md

```markdown
# YouTube Summarizer

Automatically fetch YouTube video transcripts, generate structured summaries, and deliver full transcripts to messaging platforms.

## Features

✅ **Automatic detection** - Recognizes YouTube URLs in messages  
✅ **Cloud-friendly** - Works from VPS/cloud IPs where yt-dlp fails  
✅ **Structured summaries** - Main thesis, key insights, and takeaways  
✅ **Full transcripts** - Downloadable text file with complete video content  
✅ **Platform-aware** - Auto-sends files to Telegram, text-only elsewhere  
✅ **Multi-language** - Supports multiple languages with English fallback  

## Installation

### Prerequisites

1. **Node.js 18+** installed
2. **Clawdbot** running

### Install via ClawdHub

```bash
clawdhub install youtube-summarizer
```

### Manual Installation

```bash
# 1. Clone the skill
cd /root/clawd/skills
git clone <this-repo-url> youtube-summarizer

# 2. Install MCP YouTube Transcript dependency
cd /root/clawd
git clone https://github.com/kimtaeyoon83/mcp-server-youtube-transcript.git
cd mcp-server-youtube-transcript
npm install && npm run build
```

## Usage

Simply share a YouTube URL in chat:

```
You: https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ

Agent: 📹 **Video:** Never Gonna Give You Up
       👤 **Channel:** Rick Astley | 👁️ **Views:** 1.4B | 📅 **Published:** 2009-10-25
       
       **🎯 Main Thesis:**
       A declaration of unwavering commitment and loyalty in a relationship...
       
       [structured summary follows]
       
       📄 Full transcript attached (Telegram) or saved to transcripts/
```

## How It Works

1. **Detects** YouTube URLs automatically
2. **Fetches** transcript using MCP server (bypasses cloud IP blocks)
3. **Generates** structured summary with metadata
4. **Saves** full transcript to `transcripts/YYYY-MM-DD_VIDEO_ID.txt`
5. **Sends** file to Telegram (if in Telegram context)
6. **Replies** with formatted summary

## Supported URL Formats

- `https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID`
- `https://youtu.be/VIDEO_ID`
- `https://www.youtube.com/shorts/VIDEO_ID`
- Direct video ID: `VIDEO_ID`

## Output Format

### Summary Structure

```markdown
📹 **Video:** [Title]
👤 **Channel:** [Author] | 👁️ **Views:** [Count] | 📅 **Published:** [Date]

**🎯 Main Thesis:**
Core message in 1-2 sentences

**💡 Key Insights:**
- Insight 1
- Insight 2
- Insight 3

**📝 Notable Points:**
- Supporting detail 1
- Supporting detail 2

**🔑 Takeaway:**
Practical conclusion
```

### Transcript File

Saved to `/root/clawd/transcripts/YYYY-MM-DD_VIDEO_ID.txt` with:
- Video metadata header
- Full transcript text
- URL reference

## Configuration

No configuration needed! The skill automatically:
- Detects your messaging platform
- Chooses appropriate delivery method
- Handles language fallback
- Creates transcript directory if needed

## Troubleshooting

### "Transcript not available"
- Video may not have captions enabled
- Try a different video
- Use YouTube's manual transcript feature

### "MCP server not found"
Install the dependency:
```bash
cd /root/clawd
git clone https://github.com/kimtaeyoon83/mcp-server-youtube-transcript.git
cd mcp-server-youtube-transcript
npm install && npm run build
```

### "Language not available"
The skill automatically falls back to English if requested language isn't available.

## Why This Skill?

### Problem
- yt-dlp blocked on cloud/VPS IPs
- YouTube aggressive with bot detection
- Manual transcript extraction tedious
- Need structured summaries, not raw text

### Solution
- Uses MCP server with Android client emulation
- Bypasses cloud IP restrictions
- Auto-generates structured summaries
- Platform-aware file delivery

## Dependencies

- [MCP YouTube Transcript](https://github.com/kimtaeyoon83/mcp-server-youtube-transcript) - Fetches transcripts via Android client emulation
- Node.js 18+ - Runtime environment
- Clawdbot - AI agent framework

## Credits

- Built by **abe238**
- Uses [mcp-server-youtube-transcript](https://github.com/kimtaeyoon83/mcp-server-youtube-transcript) by kimtaeyoon83
- Inspired by the need for reliable YouTube transcription on cloud servers

## License

MIT

## Contributing

Improvements welcome! Consider:
- Additional summary templates
- Multi-language summary generation
- Timestamp-based chapter extraction
- Video metadata enrichment

## Changelog

### v1.0.0 (2026-01-26)
- Initial release
- Auto-detect YouTube URLs
- Generate structured summaries
- Save full transcripts
- Telegram file delivery
- Cloud IP bypass via MCP server

```

### _meta.json

```json
{
  "owner": "abe238",
  "slug": "youtube-summarizer",
  "displayName": "YouTube Summarizer",
  "latest": {
    "version": "1.0.0",
    "publishedAt": 1769398410293,
    "commit": "https://github.com/clawdbot/skills/commit/dbea5414faa08c97deaceeafc4d4aebfb35b9061"
  },
  "history": []
}

```