fast-transcript ยท diff
git:20260616.48a2481 to git:20260616.a452dce
31 added, 27 removed. Audit A to A.
---
name: fast-transcript
- description: Use this skill when the user wants to transcribe or inspect audio or video with fast-transcript via `fscript`, including local files and remote URLs such as social media links. Prefer text output for facts, summaries, and notes. Use diarization only when speaker attribution matters.
+ description: Use this skill when the user wants to transcribe or inspect audio or video with fast-transcript via `fscript`, including local files and remote URLs such as social media links. It can also do diarization.
---
# fast-transcript
Use the local `fscript` CLI for transcript-first analysis of media.
- ## Onboarding
- Install with Homebrew:
+ ## Default workflow
+ 1. For questions, summaries, note-taking, quote-finding, and general information extraction, use text output:
+
```bash
- brew tap brenorb/tap
- brew install fast-transcript
+ fscript "<media-or-url>" --stdout --text
+ fscript "<media-or-url>" "/tmp/transcript.txt" --text
```
- Run without installing:
+ Use `--stdout` when you want printed output and a file path when you want a saved transcript. `--text` keeps timestamps but removes speaker labels. In current upstream `fscript`, text modes do not run diarization.
+ 2. If you want to remove timestamps, switch to plain text:
+
```bash
- uvx fscript --help
+ fscript "<media-or-url>" --stdout --text=plain
```
- Or install the Python entrypoint with `uv`:
+ 3. If you need speaker attribution, use diarization:
```bash
- uv tool install fscript
+ fscript "<media-or-url>" --stdout
```
- First use downloads the ASR model automatically. Remote URLs also rely on `yt-dlp`, so make sure `yt-dlp` is on `PATH` or available via `uvx yt-dlp`.
-
- ## Default workflow
+ 4. Read the transcript, answer the user, and only keep the transcript on disk when it helps with follow-up work.
- 1. For questions, summaries, note-taking, quote-finding, and general information extraction, use text output:
+ 5. Only check availability or open help when there is a real reason:
```bash
- fscript "<media-or-url>" --stdout --text
- fscript "<media-or-url>" "/tmp/transcript.txt" --text
+ command -v fscript
+ fscript --version
```
- Use `--stdout` when you want printed output and a file path when you want a saved transcript. `--text` keeps timestamps but removes speaker labels. In current upstream `fscript`, text modes do not run diarization.
+ Use these checks on first-session failures, when `fscript` is missing from `PATH`, or when you need to confirm flags. Do not run them mechanically before every transcription.
- 2. If you want to remove timestamps, switch to plain text:
+ 5.1 Installation
+ Install with Homebrew:
+
```bash
- fscript "<media-or-url>" --stdout --text=plain
+ brew tap brenorb/tap
+ brew install fast-transcript
```
- 3. Read the transcript, answer the user, and only keep the transcript on disk when it helps with follow-up work.
-
- 4. Only check availability or open help when there is a real reason:
+ Run without installing:
```bash
- command -v fscript
- fscript --version
+ uvx fscript --help
```
- Use these checks on first-session failures, when `fscript` is missing from `PATH`, or when you need to confirm flags. Do not run them mechanically before every transcription.
+ Or install the Python entrypoint with `uv`:
- If your installed release supports it, `--text=compact` is the single-string text variant.
+ ```bash
+ uv tool install fscript
+ ```
+ First use downloads the ASR model automatically. Remote URLs also rely on `yt-dlp`, so make sure `yt-dlp` is on `PATH` or available via `uvx yt-dlp`.
+
## When to use diarization
Only opt in to diarization when the task depends on speaker identity, turn-taking, or quotes attributed to different people.
```bash
fscript "<media-or-url>" --stdout
```
Examples:
- Interviews where the user asks who said a quote
- Podcasts with multiple recurring speakers
- Panels or debates where attribution matters
## Defaults
- - Prefer `--text` for information retrieval.
+ - Prefer `--text` for faster general information retrieval.
- Prefer stdout for quick one-off analysis and a file path for longer transcripts you will revisit.
- Use `--text=plain` if timestamps are noise.
- - Use `-D` only when you explicitly want a faster no-diarization run outside text mode.
- Diarization is slower; only enable it when speaker attribution matters.
## Remote media notes
- `fscript` accepts remote URLs directly, including YouTube links and other social media URLs that `yt-dlp` supports.
- For remote URLs, `fscript` prefers platform-provided manual subtitles when they exist.
- If you want to override that and transcribe locally anyway, rerun with `-l` / `--local`.
- If only auto-captions or no captions exist, `fscript` falls back to downloading the media and transcribing locally.
## Gotchas
- The default speaker-aware mode enables diarization when available, but `--text` avoids that path.
- `--speakers` is useful for attribution, but it adds clutter when the user only wants facts or answers.
- `--clean` is on by default and compresses pathological repetition such as `we we we we` into `we... we`. Use `--raw` to disable that cleanup for a run.
- If stdout is too large for the current task, write to a temporary file and search or summarize from there.