youtube-summarizer – OpenClaw Skill

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name: youtube-summarizer description: Automatically fetch YouTube video transcripts, generate structured summaries, and send full transcripts to messaging platforms. Detects YouTube URLs and provides metadata, key insights, and downloadable transcripts. version: 1.0.0 author: abe238 tags: [youtube, transcription, summarization, video, telegram]

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

YouTube Summarizer

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

Features

✅ Automatic detection - Recognizes YouTube URLs in messages
✅ Cloud-friendly - Works from VPS/cloud IPs where yt-dlp fails
✅ Structured summaries - Main thesis, key insights, and takeaways
✅ Full transcripts - Downloadable text file with complete video content
✅ Platform-aware - Auto-sends files to Telegram, text-only elsewhere
✅ Multi-language - Supports multiple languages with English fallback

Installation

Prerequisites

1. Node.js 18+ installed
2. Clawdbot running

Install via ClawdHub

clawdhub install youtube-summarizer

Manual Installation

# 1. Clone the skill
cd /root/clawd/skills
git clone <this-repo-url> youtube-summarizer

# 2. Install MCP YouTube Transcript dependency
cd /root/clawd
git clone https://github.com/kimtaeyoon83/mcp-server-youtube-transcript.git
cd mcp-server-youtube-transcript
npm install && npm run build

Usage

Simply share a YouTube URL in chat:

You: https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ

Agent: 📹 **Video:** Never Gonna Give You Up
       👤 **Channel:** Rick Astley | 👁️ **Views:** 1.4B | 📅 **Published:** 2009-10-25
       
       **🎯 Main Thesis:**
       A declaration of unwavering commitment and loyalty in a relationship...
       
       [structured summary follows]
       
       📄 Full transcript attached (Telegram) or saved to transcripts/

How It Works

1. Detects YouTube URLs automatically
2. Fetches transcript using MCP server (bypasses cloud IP blocks)
3. Generates structured summary with metadata
4. Saves full transcript to transcripts/YYYY-MM-DD_VIDEO_ID.txt
5. Sends file to Telegram (if in Telegram context)
6. Replies with formatted summary

Supported URL Formats

• 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

Output Format

Summary Structure

📹 **Video:** [Title]
👤 **Channel:** [Author] | 👁️ **Views:** [Count] | 📅 **Published:** [Date]

**🎯 Main Thesis:**
Core message in 1-2 sentences

**💡 Key Insights:**
- Insight 1
- Insight 2
- Insight 3

**📝 Notable Points:**
- Supporting detail 1
- Supporting detail 2

**🔑 Takeaway:**
Practical conclusion

Transcript File

Saved to /root/clawd/transcripts/YYYY-MM-DD_VIDEO_ID.txt with:

• Video metadata header
• Full transcript text
• URL reference

Configuration

No configuration needed! The skill automatically:

• Detects your messaging platform
• Chooses appropriate delivery method
• Handles language fallback
• Creates transcript directory if needed

Troubleshooting

"Transcript not available"

• Video may not have captions enabled
• Try a different video
• Use YouTube's manual transcript feature

"MCP server not found"

Install the dependency:

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

"Language not available"

The skill automatically falls back to English if requested language isn't available.

Why This Skill?

Problem

• yt-dlp blocked on cloud/VPS IPs
• YouTube aggressive with bot detection
• Manual transcript extraction tedious
• Need structured summaries, not raw text

Solution

• Uses MCP server with Android client emulation
• Bypasses cloud IP restrictions
• Auto-generates structured summaries
• Platform-aware file delivery

Dependencies

• MCP YouTube Transcript - Fetches transcripts via Android client emulation
• Node.js 18+ - Runtime environment
• Clawdbot - AI agent framework

Credits

• Built by abe238
• Uses mcp-server-youtube-transcript by kimtaeyoon83
• Inspired by the need for reliable YouTube transcription on cloud servers

License

MIT

Contributing

Improvements welcome! Consider:

• Additional summary templates
• Multi-language summary generation
• Timestamp-based chapter extraction
• Video metadata enrichment

Changelog

v1.0.0 (2026-01-26)

• Initial release
• Auto-detect YouTube URLs
• Generate structured summaries
• Save full transcripts
• Telegram file delivery
• Cloud IP bypass via MCP server