# Send Youtube to your agent
Hand the extracted package to your coding agent with a concrete install brief instead of figuring it out manually.
## Fast path
- Download the package from Yavira.
- Extract it into a folder your agent can access.
- Paste one of the prompts below and point your agent at the extracted folder.
## Suggested prompts
### New install

```text
I downloaded a skill package from Yavira. Read SKILL.md from the extracted folder and install it by following the included instructions. Then review README.md for any prerequisites, environment setup, or post-install checks. Tell me what you changed and call out any manual steps you could not complete.
```
### Upgrade existing

```text
I downloaded an updated skill package from Yavira. Read SKILL.md from the extracted folder, compare it with my current installation, and upgrade it while preserving any custom configuration unless the package docs explicitly say otherwise. Then review README.md for any prerequisites, environment setup, or post-install checks. Summarize what changed and any follow-up checks I should run.
```
## Machine-readable fields
```json
{
  "schemaVersion": "1.0",
  "item": {
    "slug": "youtube",
    "name": "Youtube",
    "source": "tencent",
    "type": "skill",
    "category": "开发工具",
    "sourceUrl": "https://clawhub.ai/grpaiva/youtube",
    "canonicalUrl": "https://clawhub.ai/grpaiva/youtube",
    "targetPlatform": "OpenClaw"
  },
  "install": {
    "downloadUrl": "/downloads/youtube",
    "sourceDownloadUrl": "https://wry-manatee-359.convex.site/api/v1/download?slug=youtube",
    "sourcePlatform": "tencent",
    "targetPlatform": "OpenClaw",
    "packageFormat": "ZIP package",
    "primaryDoc": "SKILL.md",
    "includedAssets": [
      "README.md",
      "SKILL.md"
    ],
    "downloadMode": "redirect",
    "sourceHealth": {
      "source": "tencent",
      "slug": "youtube",
      "status": "healthy",
      "reason": "direct_download_ok",
      "recommendedAction": "download",
      "checkedAt": "2026-05-11T09:38:43.636Z",
      "expiresAt": "2026-05-18T09:38:43.636Z",
      "httpStatus": 200,
      "finalUrl": "https://wry-manatee-359.convex.site/api/v1/download?slug=youtube",
      "contentType": "application/zip",
      "probeMethod": "head",
      "details": {
        "probeUrl": "https://wry-manatee-359.convex.site/api/v1/download?slug=youtube",
        "contentDisposition": "attachment; filename=\"youtube-1.0.1.zip\"",
        "redirectLocation": null,
        "bodySnippet": null,
        "slug": "youtube"
      },
      "scope": "item",
      "summary": "Item download looks usable.",
      "detail": "Yavira can redirect you to the upstream package for this item.",
      "primaryActionLabel": "Download for OpenClaw",
      "primaryActionHref": "/downloads/youtube"
    },
    "validation": {
      "installChecklist": [
        "Use the Yavira download entry.",
        "Review SKILL.md after the package is downloaded.",
        "Confirm the extracted package contains the expected setup assets."
      ],
      "postInstallChecks": [
        "Confirm the extracted package includes the expected docs or setup files.",
        "Validate the skill or prompts are available in your target agent workspace.",
        "Capture any manual follow-up steps the agent could not complete."
      ]
    }
  },
  "links": {
    "detailUrl": "https://openagent3.xyz/skills/youtube",
    "downloadUrl": "https://openagent3.xyz/downloads/youtube",
    "agentUrl": "https://openagent3.xyz/skills/youtube/agent",
    "manifestUrl": "https://openagent3.xyz/skills/youtube/agent.json",
    "briefUrl": "https://openagent3.xyz/skills/youtube/agent.md"
  }
}
```
## Documentation

### YouTube Research & Transcription

Search YouTube, get video/channel info, and fetch transcripts using YouTube Data API v3.

### Features

📹 Video details (title, description, stats, publish date)
📝 Transcripts with timestamps
📺 Channel info and recent videos
🔍 Search within YouTube
🎬 Playlist info

### 1. Install dependencies

MCP Server (primary method):

npm install -g zubeid-youtube-mcp-server

Fallback tool (if MCP fails):

# yt-dlp for transcript extraction
pip install yt-dlp

### 2. Get YouTube API Key

Go to Google Cloud Console
Create/select a project (e.g., "YouTube Research")
Enable the API:

Menu → "APIs & Services" → "Library"
Search: "YouTube Data API v3"
Click "Enable"


Create credentials:

"APIs & Services" → "Credentials"
"Create Credentials" → "API Key"
Copy the key


Optional - Restrict:

Click the created key
"API restrictions" → Select only "YouTube Data API v3"
Save

### 3. Configure API Key

Option A: Clawdbot config (recommended)
Add to ~/.clawdbot/clawdbot.json:

{
  "skills": {
    "entries": {
      "youtube": {
        "apiKey": "AIzaSy..."
      }
    }
  }
}

Option B: Environment variable

export YOUTUBE_API_KEY="AIzaSy..."

### 4. Setup MCP Server

The skill will use mcporter to call the YouTube MCP server:

# Build from source (if installed package has issues)
cd /tmp
git clone https://github.com/ZubeidHendricks/youtube-mcp-server
cd youtube-mcp-server
npm install
npm run build

### Search Videos

mcporter call --stdio "node /tmp/youtube-mcp-server/dist/cli.js" \\
  search_videos query="ClawdBot AI" maxResults:5

Returns video IDs, titles, descriptions, channel info.

### Get Channel Info

mcporter call --stdio "node /tmp/youtube-mcp-server/dist/cli.js" \\
  channels_info channelId="UCSHZKyawb77ixDdsGog4iWA"

### List Recent Videos from Channel

mcporter call --stdio "node /tmp/youtube-mcp-server/dist/cli.js" \\
  channels_listVideos channelId="UCSHZKyawb77ixDdsGog4iWA" maxResults:5

### Get Video Details

mcporter call --stdio "node /tmp/youtube-mcp-server/dist/cli.js" \\
  videos_details videoId="Z-FRe5AKmCU"

### Get Transcript (Primary)

mcporter call --stdio "node /tmp/youtube-mcp-server/dist/cli.js" \\
  transcripts_getTranscript videoId="Z-FRe5AKmCU"

### Get Transcript (Fallback with yt-dlp)

If MCP transcript fails (empty or unavailable), use yt-dlp:

yt-dlp --skip-download --write-auto-sub --sub-lang en --sub-format vtt \\
  --output "/tmp/%(id)s.%(ext)s" \\
  "https://youtube.com/watch?v=Z-FRe5AKmCU"

Then read the .vtt file from /tmp/.

Or get transcript directly:

yt-dlp --skip-download --write-auto-sub --sub-lang en --print "%(subtitles)s" \\
  "https://youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID" 2>&1 | grep -A1000 "WEBVTT"

### 1. Find Latest Episode from a Podcast

Example: Lex Fridman Podcast

# Get channel ID (Lex Fridman: UCSHZKyawb77ixDdsGog4iWA)
mcporter call --stdio "node /tmp/youtube-mcp-server/dist/cli.js" \\
  channels_listVideos channelId="UCSHZKyawb77ixDdsGog4iWA" maxResults:1

Returns most recent video with title, ID, publish date.

### 2. Get Transcript for Research

# Step 1: Get video ID from search or channel listing
# Step 2: Try MCP transcript first
mcporter call --stdio "node /tmp/youtube-mcp-server/dist/cli.js" \\
  transcripts_getTranscript videoId="VIDEO_ID"

# Step 3: If empty, fallback to yt-dlp
yt-dlp --skip-download --write-auto-sub --sub-lang en \\
  --output "/tmp/%(id)s.%(ext)s" \\
  "https://youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID"

cat /tmp/VIDEO_ID.en.vtt

### 3. Search for Topics

mcporter call --stdio "node /tmp/youtube-mcp-server/dist/cli.js" \\
  search_videos query="Laravel AI productivity 2025" maxResults:10

Filter results for relevant channels or dates.

### Channel IDs Reference

Keep frequently used channels here for quick access:

Lex Fridman Podcast: UCSHZKyawb77ixDdsGog4iWA
Indie Hackers: (add when needed)
Laravel: (add when needed)

To find a channel ID:

Go to channel page
View page source
Search for "channelId": or "externalId"

Or use search and extract from results.

### API Quota Limits

YouTube Data API v3 has daily quotas:

Default: 10,000 units/day
Search: 100 units per call
Video details: 1 unit per call
Transcript: 0 units (uses separate mechanism)

Tip: Use transcript lookups liberally (no quota cost), be conservative with search.

### MCP Server Not Working

Symptom: Connection closed or YOUTUBE_API_KEY environment variable is required

Fix: Build from source:

cd /tmp
git clone https://github.com/ZubeidHendricks/youtube-mcp-server
cd youtube-mcp-server
npm install
npm run build

# Test
YOUTUBE_API_KEY="your_key" node dist/cli.js

### Empty Transcripts

Symptom: Transcript returned but content is empty

Cause: Video may not have captions, or MCP can't access them

Fix: Use yt-dlp fallback (see above)

### yt-dlp Not Found

pip install --user yt-dlp
# or
pipx install yt-dlp

### Security Note

The YouTube API key is safe to use with this MCP server:

✅ Key only used to authenticate with official YouTube Data API
✅ No third-party servers involved
✅ All network calls go to googleapis.com
✅ Code reviewed (no data exfiltration)

However:

🔒 Keep the key in Clawdbot config (not in code/scripts)
🔒 Restrict API key to YouTube Data API v3 only (in Google Cloud Console)
🔒 Don't commit the key to git repositories

### Research Podcast for LinkedIn Post Ideas

# 1. Find latest Lex Fridman episode
mcporter call --stdio "node /tmp/youtube-mcp-server/dist/cli.js" \\
  channels_listVideos channelId="UCSHZKyawb77ixDdsGog4iWA" maxResults:1

# 2. Get video details
mcporter call --stdio "node /tmp/youtube-mcp-server/dist/cli.js" \\
  videos_details videoId="Z-FRe5AKmCU"

# 3. Get transcript
mcporter call --stdio "node /tmp/youtube-mcp-server/dist/cli.js" \\
  transcripts_getTranscript videoId="Z-FRe5AKmCU"

# If transcript empty, use yt-dlp
yt-dlp --skip-download --write-auto-sub --sub-lang en \\
  --output "/tmp/%(id)s.%(ext)s" \\
  "https://youtube.com/watch?v=Z-FRe5AKmCU"

# 4. Analyze transcript for interesting topics
# (read /tmp/Z-FRe5AKmCU.en.vtt and extract key themes)

### Find Videos About a Trending Topic

# Search for recent videos
mcporter call --stdio "node /tmp/youtube-mcp-server/dist/cli.js" \\
  search_videos query="ClawdBot security concerns" maxResults:10

# Pick relevant ones, get transcripts
# Analyze sentiment and technical claims

### Notes

MCP server path: /tmp/youtube-mcp-server/dist/cli.js
Always pass API key via environment: YOUTUBE_API_KEY="key" node ...
Or set globally in shell/Clawdbot config
Transcripts may be auto-generated (check accuracy for quotes)
yt-dlp can also download audio if you need it (--extract-audio --audio-format mp3)
## Trust
- Source: tencent
- Verification: Indexed source record
- Publisher: grpaiva
- Version: 1.0.1
## Source health
- Status: healthy
- Item download looks usable.
- Yavira can redirect you to the upstream package for this item.
- Health scope: item
- Reason: direct_download_ok
- Checked at: 2026-05-11T09:38:43.636Z
- Expires at: 2026-05-18T09:38:43.636Z
- Recommended action: Download for OpenClaw
## Links
- [Detail page](https://openagent3.xyz/skills/youtube)
- [Send to Agent page](https://openagent3.xyz/skills/youtube/agent)
- [JSON manifest](https://openagent3.xyz/skills/youtube/agent.json)
- [Markdown brief](https://openagent3.xyz/skills/youtube/agent.md)
- [Download page](https://openagent3.xyz/downloads/youtube)