youtube · diff

git:20260224.ba2317e to git:20260228.c985184

27 added, 178 removed. Audit B to A.

---

name: youtube

- description:

- Fetch transcripts, metadata, and captions from YouTube videos.

- Use when you need to summarize a video, answer questions about its content,

- extract key points, compare videos, or pull quotes with timestamps.

- homepage: https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp

- metadata:

- {

- "cowork":

- {

- "emoji": "📺",

- "category": "Tools",

- "requires": { "anyBins": ["yt-dlp", "python3"] },

- "install":

- [

- {

- "id": "brew-yt-dlp",

- "kind": "brew",

- "formula": "yt-dlp",

- "bins": ["yt-dlp"],

- "label": "Install yt-dlp (brew)",

- "os": ["darwin", "linux"],

- },

- ],

- },

- }

+ description: "Fetch transcripts, metadata, and captions from YouTube videos. Use when you need to summarize a video, answer questions about its content, extract key points, compare videos, or pull quotes with timestamps. Supports auto-generated and manual captions, multiple languages, and translation."

---

- # YouTube 📺

- Fetch transcripts, metadata, chapters, and captions from YouTube videos. Summarize content, answer questions, extract quotes with timestamps, and turn videos into written content.

- ## Overview

- This skill provides two methods for accessing YouTube video content:

- | Tool | Install | Capabilities |

- |------|---------|-------------|

- | **yt-dlp** | `brew install yt-dlp` | Metadata, chapters, thumbnails, subtitles (auto + manual), audio extraction, playlists |

- | **youtube-transcript-api** | `pip install youtube-transcript-api` | Transcripts with timestamps, language selection, translation, multiple export formats |

- Both work without API keys. The skill prefers yt-dlp when available.

- ## Parameters

- |-----------|------|----------|-------------|

- | `url` | string | No | YouTube video URL or video ID |

- ## Install

- ```bash

- # Recommended: yt-dlp via Homebrew

- brew install yt-dlp

- # Alternative: Python transcript API

- pip install youtube-transcript-api

- ```

- ## Video ID Extraction

- The skill handles all standard YouTube URL formats:

- | URL Format | Video ID |

- |------------|----------|

- | `youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ` | `dQw4w9WgXcQ` |

- | `youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ` | `dQw4w9WgXcQ` |

- | `youtube.com/embed/dQw4w9WgXcQ` | `dQw4w9WgXcQ` |

- | `youtube.com/shorts/dQw4w9WgXcQ` | `dQw4w9WgXcQ` |

- ## Capabilities

- ### With yt-dlp

- - **Video metadata** — title, channel, duration, views, upload date, description

- - **Chapters** — creator-defined chapter list with timestamps

- - **Subtitles/captions** — auto-generated and manual, any language

- - **Subtitle formats** — json3, srt, vtt

- - **Thumbnails** — download video thumbnail

- - **Audio extraction** — extract audio as mp3 (for speech analysis)

- - **Playlists** — list and process entire playlists

- ### With youtube-transcript-api

- - **Transcripts** — full text with timestamps

- - **Language selection** — fetch in specific languages, with priority ordering

- - **Translation** — translate captions via YouTube's built-in translation

- - **Transcript types** — filter manual vs auto-generated

- - **Export formats** — JSON, text, SRT, WebVTT, pretty-print

- - **CLI mode** — standalone command-line usage

- ## Common Workflows

- ### Summarize a video

- 1. Fetch metadata (title, channel, duration, chapters)

- 2. Fetch full transcript

- 3. Organize by chapter sections if available

- 4. Summarize each section, then overall summary

- ### Find what they said about X

- 1. Fetch transcript with timestamps

- 2. Search for relevant keywords

- 3. Return matching segments as `[MM:SS] "quote"`

- 4. Include YouTube timestamp links for verification

- ### Compare two videos

- 1. Fetch transcripts for both

- 2. Identify key topics in each

- 3. Compare coverage, positions, and depth

- 4. Note unique points per video

- ### Extract resources/links mentioned

- 1. Fetch transcript + description

- 2. Parse description for URLs

- 3. Scan transcript for mentioned tools, books, sites

- 4. Compile list with timestamps

- ### Turn video into blog post

- 1. Fetch metadata + chapters + transcript

- 2. Use chapters as section headings

- 3. Clean spoken language to written prose

- 4. Add video link as source attribution

+ # YouTube

- ### Pull key quotes with timestamps

+ ## Purpose

- 1. Fetch transcript with timestamps

- 2. Identify notable statements

- 3. Format as: `[MM:SS] "quote"`

- 4. Link format: `https://youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID&t=XXs`

+ Fetch transcripts, metadata, and captions from YouTube videos. Use when you need to summarize a video, answer questions about its content, extract key points, compare videos, or pull quotes with timestamps. Supports auto-generated and manual captions, multiple languages, and translation.

- ## Output Formatting

+ ## Routing

- When presenting video content:

+ - Use when: User shares a YouTube link, asks to summarize a video, wants to know what a video says, asks to extract information from a YouTube video, or needs video transcripts

+ - Do not use when: User wants to upload or stream video, manage a YouTube channel, or edit video files

+ - Outputs: Video transcripts with timestamps, summaries, key quotes, metadata, chapter breakdowns

+ - Success criteria: User receives accurate transcript content with timestamps and clear formatting

- - Show **title, channel, and duration** at the top

- - Include **chapter breakdown** if available

- - Timestamps as **[MM:SS]**, not raw seconds

- - **Quotes in quotation marks** with timestamps

- - Distinguish **manual vs auto-generated** captions

- - For videos **>30 min**, summarize by section

- - **Link to specific moments** with `&t=` parameter

- - Note **transcript quality** — auto-generated may have errors

+ ## Trigger Examples

- ### Example output

+ ### Positive

- ```

- 📺 How to Build a Startup in 2026 — Y Combinator (42:15)

- Channel: Y Combinator | Views: 1.2M | Uploaded: 2026-01-15

+ - Use the youtube skill for this request.

+ - Help me with youtube.

+ - User shares a YouTube link, asks to summarize a video, wants to know what a video says, asks to extract information from a YouTube video, or needs video transcripts

+ - YouTube: provide an actionable result.

- Chapters:

- 00:00 - Introduction

- 03:22 - Finding a co-founder

- 12:45 - Validating your idea

- 24:10 - First 100 users

- 35:30 - Fundraising mistakes

+ ### Negative

- Key points:

- • [03:45] "The best co-founder is someone you've already worked with"

- • [13:20] Talk to 50 potential customers before writing a line of code

- • [25:15] Launch in a community where your first users already hang out

- • [36:00] "Don't raise more than you need — it changes your psychology"

- ```

+ - User wants to upload or stream video, manage a YouTube channel, or edit video files

+ - Do not use youtube for unrelated requests.

+ - This request is outside youtube scope.

+ - This is conceptual discussion only; no tool workflow is needed.

- ## Comparison with ClawHub Version

+ ## Parameters

- | Feature | ClawHub (youtube-watcher) | CoWork OS |

- |---------|--------------------------|-----------|

- | Transcript fetching | Yes | Yes — two methods (yt-dlp + Python API) |

- | Video metadata | Not mentioned | Title, channel, duration, views, upload date, description |

- | Chapter support | Not mentioned | Full chapter extraction and section-based summaries |

- | Language selection | Not mentioned | Any language, priority ordering, translation |

- | Manual vs auto captions | Not mentioned | Explicit filtering and quality notes |

- | Timestamp links | Not mentioned | YouTube `&t=` deep links for every quote |

- | Audio extraction | Not mentioned | mp3 extraction via yt-dlp |

- | Thumbnail download | Not mentioned | Via yt-dlp |

- | Playlist support | Not mentioned | Via yt-dlp `--flat-playlist` |

- | Export formats | Not mentioned | JSON, text, SRT, WebVTT |

- | Common workflows | Basic summarize/Q&A | 6 detailed workflows (summarize, search, compare, extract, blog, quotes) |

- | Output formatting | Not documented | Structured format with example template |

- | Install options | Not documented | brew + pip with eligibility checking |

+ |---|---|---|---|

+ | url | string | No | YouTube video URL or video ID |

- ## Notes

+ ## Runtime Prompt

- - No API key required

- - Auto-generated captions may have errors with names, jargon, and accents

- - Some videos disable captions — fall back to description + chapters

- - Age-restricted videos may need cookies: `yt-dlp --cookies-from-browser chrome`

- - Update yt-dlp regularly: `yt-dlp -U`

- - Subtitle files save to `/tmp` by default — clean up after processing

+ - Current runtime prompt length: 821 characters.

+ - Runtime prompt is defined directly in `../youtube.json`.