skillfed

youtube-transcript

YouTube Transcript extracts text content from videos by downloading available captions or auto-generated subtitles via yt-dlp. When subtitles aren't available, it can transcribe audio using Whisper as a fallback option.

YouTube Transcript downloads captions and subtitles from YouTube videos, with Whisper transcription as a backup.

AI-generated summary based on this skill's SKILL.md

502 66 MIT updated by michalparkola

Install

michalparkola/tapestry-skills/youtube-transcript · repository language: Shell

git clone https://github.com/michalparkola/tapestry-skills
cp -r tapestry-skills/youtube-transcript ~/.claude/skills/youtube-transcript
npx skillfed install michalparkola/tapestry-skills/youtube-transcript

Frequently asked questions

AI-generated answers based on this skill's SKILL.md and metadata

How do I download youtube transcript from a video?

YouTube Transcript downloads available captions or auto-generated subtitles directly from videos using yt-dlp. Simply provide the video URL, and the tool extracts the text content, saving it in plain text format for easy access and offline use.

Can YouTube Transcript get captions from youtube video URLs?

Yes, YouTube Transcript retrieves both manual and auto-generated subtitles from YouTube videos. It accesses the video's caption data through yt-dlp and extracts the text, making it available for download or further processing.

What happens when YouTube videos lack subtitles?

YouTube Transcript includes a fallback transcription feature using Whisper. When captions aren't available, it can transcribe the video's audio directly to text, ensuring you can still extract content from videos without existing subtitles.

How do I extract youtube subtitles to a text file?

YouTube Transcript extracts subtitles and saves them as plain text files automatically. The tool downloads the captions from your video and converts them into a readable text format that you can store, edit, or share.

Is YouTube Transcript free to use?

Yes, YouTube Transcript is released under the MIT license, making it free and open-source. You can use, modify, and distribute it freely while respecting the license terms.

SKILL.md

rendered from the published skill — quoted content, verbatim

YouTube Transcript Downloader

This skill helps download transcripts (subtitles/captions) from YouTube videos using yt-dlp.

When to Use This Skill

Activate this skill when the user: - Provides a YouTube URL and wants the transcript - Asks to "download transcript from YouTube" - Wants to "get captions" or "get subtitles" from a video - Asks to "transcribe a YouTube video" - Needs text content from a YouTube video

How It Works

Priority Order:
  1. Check if yt-dlp is installed - install if needed
  2. List available subtitles - see what's actually available
  3. Try manual subtitles first (--write-sub) - highest quality
  4. Fallback to auto-generated (--write-auto-sub) - usually available
  5. Last resort: Whisper transcription - if no subtitles exist (requires user confirmation)
  6. Confirm the download and show the user where the file is saved
  7. **Optionally

(truncated - see the full file via the links below)

Read as markdown · JSON record · Browse the source repository

File tree — 1 file
youtube-transcript/SKILL.md

Related skills

Tags

subtitle-extraction video-to-text caption-download speech-recognition media-processing batch-transcription multilingual-support offline-transcription