YouTube Transcript Downloader
Quick Start
bash
# Download transcript (markdown with timestamps) python scripts/download_transcript.py "https://youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID" # Output: VideoTitle.en.md
Options
| Option | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
--lang LANG | en | Language code |
--format {md,vtt} | md | Output format |
--output-dir DIR | . | Output directory |
--auto-only | - | Auto-generated subs only |
--list | - | List available subtitles |
--check-setup | - | Verify environment |
Examples
bash
# List available subtitles python scripts/download_transcript.py "URL" --list # Download VTT format python scripts/download_transcript.py "URL" --format vtt # Spanish transcript to specific folder python scripts/download_transcript.py "URL" --lang es --output-dir ./transcripts
Output Formats
Markdown (default):
markdown
# Transcript **[00:00:00]** Hello everyone and welcome back. **[00:00:03]** Today we'll be discussing...
VTT:
code
WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.500 Hello everyone and welcome back.
Setup
bash
# Check environment python scripts/download_transcript.py --check-setup # Install yt-dlp brew install yt-dlp # macOS pip install yt-dlp # in venv