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

Quick Method: Use summarize CLI

The summarize CLI already handles YouTube videos:

summarize "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID" --youtube auto

This is the preferred method for YouTube summarization.

With model selection

summarize "https://youtu.be/VIDEO_ID" --model google/gemini-3-flash-preview --youtube auto

Length options

summarize "URL" --youtube auto --length short   # Brief summary
summarize "URL" --youtube auto --length long    # Detailed summary
summarize "URL" --youtube auto --length xl      # Very detailed

Alternative: MCP YouTube Transcript Server

For more control, use the MCP server directly:

Setup (if not installed)

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

Fetch 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

URL Patterns

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)

Summary Template

When generating summaries manually, use this format:

📹 **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]

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
• Adjust for length:
  • Short videos (<5 min): Brief summary
  • Long videos (>30 min): More detailed breakdown

Error Handling

If transcript fetch fails:

• Check if video has captions enabled
• Try with lang: 'en' fallback
• Inform user that transcript is not available

If video ID extraction fails:

• Ask user to provide the full YouTube URL or video ID

Environment Variables (for MCP server)

If using APIFY fallback:

export APIFY_API_TOKEN="..."  # Optional, for YouTube fallback

Store in 1Password: op://Jarvis/Apify API/credential