YouTube Summarizer

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: cd /root/clawd git clone https://github.com/kimtaeyoon83/mcp-server-youtube-transcript.git cd mcp-server-youtube-transcript npm install && npm run build

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: 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: 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