Youtube Transcript

YouTube Transcript extracts text transcripts from YouTube videos using the youtube-transcript-api library, serving users who need written versions of video content. It accepts YouTube URLs or video IDs and returns transcripts with optional timestamps, supporting multiple URL formats and automatically falling back to auto-generated captions when manual ones aren't available. The skill solves the problem of accessing video content in text form for accessibility, searchability, and reference purposes.

skills.sh installs: 3.4K
GitHub stars: 301
last updated: Aug 21, 2026

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Install

$ npx -y skills add intellectronica/agent-skills --skill youtube-transcript --agent claude-code

Installs into .claude/skills of the current project.

Files

YouTube Transcript

Extract transcripts from YouTube videos using the youtube-transcript-api.

Usage

Run the script with a YouTube URL or video ID:

uv run scripts/get_transcript.py "VIDEO_URL_OR_ID"

With timestamps:

uv run scripts/get_transcript.py "VIDEO_URL_OR_ID" --timestamps

Defaults

Without timestamps (default): Plain text, one line per caption segment
With timestamps: [MM:SS] text format (or [HH:MM:SS] for longer videos)

Supported URL Formats

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID
https://youtu.be/VIDEO_ID
https://youtube.com/embed/VIDEO_ID
Raw video ID (11 characters)

Output

CRITICAL: YOU MUST NEVER MODIFY THE RETURNED TRANSCRIPT
If the transcript is without timestamps, you SHOULD clean it up so that it is arranged by complete paragraphs and the lines don't cut in the middle of sentences.
If you were asked to save the transcript to a specific file, save it to the requested file.
If no output file was specified, use the YouTube video ID with a -transcript.txt suffix.