Extract Videos from YouTube Channel

Why? Manually tracking YouTube videos is tedious and error-prone. This skill automates extracting video metadata (titles, durations, URLs) into a CSV for systematic transcript downloading and analysis.

Quick Start

bash

# Recurring channel (adds to channels.yaml for future syncs)
ytscriber extract https://www.youtube.com/@ChannelName/videos \
  --count 50 \
  --folder <channel-name> \
  --register-channel

# One-time extraction (conferences, playlists)
ytscriber extract <youtube_url> --count 100 --folder <name>

Workflow

1. Determine Extraction Type

Scenario	Use `--register-channel`?	Typical Count
New channel for ongoing tracking	Yes	50-200 initial, then 20-50 for syncs
Conference talks (one-time)	No	50-500
Specific playlist/topic	No	As needed
Testing/exploration	No	5-10

[!TIP] Use --register-channel only for channels you want to sync regularly. It adds the channel to channels.yaml for the sync-all-channels skill.

2. Run Extraction Command

bash

ytscriber extract <channel_url> \
  --count <N> \
  --folder <channel-name> \
  [--register-channel]

Parameters:

Option	Description	Default	When to Use
`--count, -n`	Number of latest videos	10	Always specify explicitly
`--folder`	Folder name for this channel	Required	Always use for tracking
`--register-channel`	Add to `channels.yaml`	False	Recurring channels only
`--verbose, -v`	Enable verbose output	False	Debugging

[!CAUTION] The --count in the command sets the INITIAL extraction count. The count in channels.yaml (set by --register-channel) controls FUTURE sync counts. These are independent values.

3. Verify Extraction

bash

# Check CSV was created with expected columns
head -3 ~/Documents/YTScriber/<channel-name>/videos.csv

# Count extracted videos
wc -l ~/Documents/YTScriber/<channel-name>/videos.csv

Expected CSV columns:

•url - Full YouTube video URL
•title - Video title
•duration_minutes - Video length
•view_count - Number of views
•description - Video description (truncated to 500 chars)
•published_date - Video publish date
•transcript_downloaded - Tracking field (initially empty)
•summary_done - Tracking field (initially empty)

Examples

Adding a New Channel for Regular Syncing

bash

ytscriber extract https://www.youtube.com/@veritasium/videos \
  --count 100 \
  --folder veritasium \
  --register-channel

# Result: 100 videos extracted, channel added to channels.yaml with count: 100

One-Time Conference Extraction

bash

# Extract AWS re:Invent talks (won't be synced later)
ytscriber extract https://www.youtube.com/@AWSEventsChannel/videos \
  --count 200 \
  --folder aws-reinvent-2025

# No --register-channel = not added to channels.yaml

Re-running on Existing CSV (Incremental Update)

bash

# Running again only adds NEW videos (duplicates auto-skipped)
ytscriber extract https://www.youtube.com/@veritasium/videos \
  --count 20 \
  --folder veritasium

# Safe to run multiple times - existing videos preserved

Troubleshooting

Problem	Cause	Solution
"No videos found"	Wrong URL format	Use `https://www.youtube.com/@ChannelName/videos` (include `/videos`)
CSV not created	Folder doesn't exist	The CLI creates the folder automatically
Duplicate videos appearing	Running with different URL variants	Always use canonical `@handle/videos` format
Channel not in `channels.yaml`	Forgot `--register-channel`	Re-run with flag, or manually add to YAML
Wrong video count in `channels.yaml`	Flag uses command's `--count` value	Edit `channels.yaml` manually to adjust future sync count

Common Mistakes

•
Forgetting /videos in URL
- •Wrong: https://www.youtube.com/@veritasium
- •Right: https://www.youtube.com/@veritasium/videos
•
Using --register-channel for one-time extractions
- •This pollutes channels.yaml with channels you won't sync
- •Only use for channels you want in the regular sync rotation
•
Expecting transcripts to download
- •This skill ONLY extracts video metadata to CSV
- •Use download-transcripts skill to actually fetch transcripts
•
Confusing command --count with channels.yaml count
- •Command --count: How many videos to extract NOW
- •channels.yaml count: How many videos for FUTURE syncs
- •Initial extraction might be 200, but sync count might be 30

Quality Checklist

Before considering extraction complete:

• CSV exists with expected video count
• CSV has all required columns (url, title, duration_minutes, etc.)
• If recurring channel: entry exists in channels.yaml
• If recurring channel: channels.yaml count is set appropriately for future syncs

Next Steps

After extracting videos:

•Download transcripts: Use the download-transcripts skill
•Sync channels later: Use sync-all-channels for registered channels
•Add summaries: Use summarize-transcripts after downloading