openclaw/youtube-summarizer

YouTube Summarizer Skill

Automatically fetch transcripts from YouTube videos, generate structured summaries, and deliver full transcripts to messaging platforms.

When to Use

Activate this skill when:

• User shares a YouTube URL (youtube.com/watch, youtu.be, youtube.com/shorts)
• User asks to summarize or transcribe a YouTube video
• User requests information about a YouTube video's content

Dependencies

Required: MCP YouTube Transcript server must be installed at: /root/clawd/mcp-server-youtube-transcript

If not present, install it:

cd /root/clawd
git clone https://github.com/kimtaeyoon83/mcp-server-youtube-transcript.git
cd mcp-server-youtube-transcript
npm install && npm run build

Workflow

1. Detect YouTube URL

Extract video ID from these patterns:

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

2. Fetch Transcript

Run this command to get the transcript:

cd /root/clawd/mcp-server-youtube-transcript && node --input-type=module -e "
import { getSubtitles } from './dist/youtube-fetcher.js';
const result = await getSubtitles({ videoID: 'VIDEO_ID', lang: 'en' });
console.log(JSON.stringify(result, null, 2));
" > /tmp/yt-transcript.json

Replace VIDEO_ID with the extracted ID. Read the output from /tmp/yt-transcript.json.

3. Process the Data

Parse the JSON to extract:

• result.metadata.title - Video title
• result.metadata.author - Channel name
• result.metadata.viewCount - Formatted view count
• result.metadata.publishDate - Publication date
• result.actualLang - Language used
• result.lines - Array of transcript segments

Full text: result.lines.map(l => l.text).join(' ')

4. Generate Summary

Create a structured summary using this template:

📹 **Video:** [title]
👤 **Channel:** [author] | 👁️ **Views:** [views] | 📅 **Published:** [date]

**🎯 Main Thesis:**
[1-2 sentence core argument/message]

**💡 Key Insights:**
- [insight 1]
- [insight 2]
- [insight 3]
- [insight 4]
- [insight 5]

**📝 Notable Points:**
- [additional point 1]
- [additional point 2]

**🔑 Takeaway:**
[Practical application or conclusion]

Aim for:

• Main thesis: 1-2 sentences maximum
• Key insights: 3-5 bullets, each 1-2 sentences
• Notable points: 2-4 supporting details
• Takeaway: Actionable conclusion

5. Save Full Transcript

Save the complete transcript to a timestamped file:

/root/clawd/transcripts/YYYY-MM-DD_VIDEO_ID.txt

Include in the file:

• Video metadata header
• Full transcript text
• URL reference

6. Platform-Specific Delivery

If channel is Telegram:

message --action send --channel telegram --target CHAT_ID \
  --filePath /root/clawd/transcripts/YYYY-MM-DD_VIDEO_ID.txt \
  --caption "📄 YouTube Transcript: [title]"

If channel is other/webchat: Just reply with the summary (no file attachment).

7. Reply with Summary

Send the structured summary as your response to the user.

Error Handling

If transcript fetch fails:

• Check if video has captions enabled
• Try with lang: 'en' fallback if requested language unavailable
• Inform user that transcript is not available and suggest alternatives:
  • Manual YouTube transcript feature
  • Video may not have captions
  • Try a different video

If MCP server not installed:

• Provide installation instructions
• Offer to install it automatically if in appropriate context

If video ID extraction fails:

• Ask user to provide the full YouTube URL or video ID

Examples

See examples/ directory for sample outputs.

Quality Guidelines

• Be concise: Summary should be scannable in 30 seconds
• Be accurate: Don't add information not in the transcript
• Be structured: Use consistent formatting for easy reading
• Be contextual: Adjust detail level based on video length
  • Short videos (<5 min): Brief summary
  • Long videos (>30 min): More detailed breakdown

Notes

• MCP server uses Android client emulation to bypass YouTube's cloud IP blocking
• Works reliably from VPS/cloud environments where yt-dlp often fails
• Supports multiple languages with automatic fallback to English
• Transcript quality depends on YouTube's auto-generated captions or manual captions