AgentSkillsCN

youtube

通过 YouTube Data API v3，借助 MCP 服务器或 yt-dlp 备份方案，搜索 YouTube 视频、获取频道信息、抓取视频详情与字幕。

SKILL.md
--- frontmatter
name: youtube
description: Search YouTube videos, get channel info, fetch video details and transcripts using YouTube Data API v3 via MCP server or yt-dlp fallback.
metadata: {"clawdbot":{"emoji":"📹","requires":{"bins":["yt-dlp"],"npm":["zubeid-youtube-mcp-server"]},"primaryEnv":"YOUTUBE_API_KEY"}}

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

Setup

1. Install dependencies

MCP Server (primary method):

bash
npm install -g zubeid-youtube-mcp-server

Fallback tool (if MCP fails):

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

2. Get YouTube API Key

  1. •Go to Google Cloud Console
  2. •Create/select a project (e.g., "YouTube Research")
  3. •Enable the API:
    • •Menu → "APIs & Services" → "Library"
    • •Search: "YouTube Data API v3"
    • •Click "Enable"
  4. •Create credentials:
    • •"APIs & Services" → "Credentials"
    • •"Create Credentials" → "API Key"
    • •Copy the key
  5. •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:

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

Option B: Environment variable

bash
export YOUTUBE_API_KEY="AIzaSy..."

4. Setup MCP Server

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

bash
# 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

Usage

Search Videos

bash
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

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

List Recent Videos from Channel

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

Get Video Details

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

Get Transcript (Primary)

bash
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:

bash
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:

bash
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"

Common Workflows

1. Find Latest Episode from a Podcast

Example: Lex Fridman Podcast

bash
# 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

bash
# 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

bash
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:

  1. •Go to channel page
  2. •View page source
  3. •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.

Troubleshooting

MCP Server Not Working

Symptom: Connection closed or YOUTUBE_API_KEY environment variable is required

Fix: Build from source:

bash
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

bash
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

Examples

Research Podcast for LinkedIn Post Ideas

bash
# 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

bash
# 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)