fast-transcript ยท diff
git:20260616.2ee1be2 to git:20260616.48a2481
49 added, 18 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 YouTube links. Prefer the no-diarization workflow (`-D`) for extracting facts, answers, summaries, and notes. Only enable diarization when speaker attribution is part of the task.
+ 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.
---
# fast-transcript
Use the local `fscript` CLI for transcript-first analysis of media.
+ ## Onboarding
+
+ Install with Homebrew:
+
+ ```bash
+ brew tap brenorb/tap
+ brew install fast-transcript
+ ```
+
+ Run without installing:
+
+ ```bash
+ uvx fscript --help
+ ```
+
+ Or install the Python entrypoint with `uv`:
+
+ ```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`.
+
## Default workflow
- 1. Confirm the tool is available:
+ 1. For questions, summaries, note-taking, quote-finding, and general information extraction, use text output:
```bash
- command -v fscript
- fscript --help
+ fscript "<media-or-url>" --stdout --text
+ fscript "<media-or-url>" "/tmp/transcript.txt" --text
```
- 2. For questions, summaries, note-taking, quote-finding, and general information extraction, call `fscript` directly with no diarization:
+ 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
- fscript "<media-or-url>" --stdout --text=plain -D
- fscript "<media-or-url>" "/tmp/transcript.txt" --text=plain -D
+ fscript "<media-or-url>" --stdout --text=plain
```
- Use `--stdout` when you want printed output and a file path when you want a saved transcript. Keep `-D` because `--text` changes the output format, while `-D` disables the default diarization path.
+ 3. Read the transcript, answer the user, and only keep the transcript on disk when it helps with follow-up work.
- 3. If you need timestamps while still staying in the no-diarization workflow, call `fscript` directly:
+ 4. Only check availability or open help when there is a real reason:
```bash
- fscript "<media-or-url>" --stdout --text=timestamps -D
+ command -v fscript
+ fscript --version
```
- 4. Read the transcript, answer the user, and only keep the transcript on disk when it helps with follow-up work.
+ 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.
+ If your installed release supports it, `--text=compact` is the single-string text variant.
+
## 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 --speakers=timestamps -d
+ 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=plain -D` for information retrieval.
+ - Prefer `--text` for information retrieval.
- Prefer stdout for quick one-off analysis and a file path for longer transcripts you will revisit.
- - Prefer `--text=timestamps -D` before trying diarization if the user only needs rough navigation.
- - Treat diarization as slower and noisier; do not enable it by default.
+ - 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.
- - If a remote source is flaky or you expect repeated follow-ups, rerun with `-l` to force a local download before transcription.
+ - `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 `fscript` default behavior enables diarization when available. Override that with `-D` for content-only tasks.
+ - 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.