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:
📹 **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