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:
bash
summarize "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID" --youtube auto
This is the preferred method for YouTube summarization.
With model selection
bash
summarize "https://youtu.be/VIDEO_ID" --model google/gemini-3-flash-preview --youtube auto
Length options
bash
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)
bash
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
bash
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:
markdown
📹 **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:
bash
export APIFY_API_TOKEN="..." # Optional, for YouTube fallback
Store in 1Password: op://Jarvis/Apify API/credential