youtube-transcript · badlogic — Claude Code skill: what it does, how to install
Fetches timestamped transcripts from YouTube videos for summarization and quick analysis. Useful when extracting key insights directly in your coding assistant.
npx skills add badlogic/pi-skills --skill youtube-transcript -a claude-codeWhat youtube-transcript does
This skill retrieves text transcripts from YouTube videos directly into your agent session. It accepts either a video ID like EBw7gsDPAYQ or a direct video address. The output provides timestamped lines in the [0:00] format, ready for parsing or summarization.
Under the hood, it runs the transcript.js script. Initial setup requires navigating into the skill folder and running npm install. The tool relies on Node.js.
The video must have captions available. It works with auto-generated transcripts and manually uploaded captions. If the creator disabled captions entirely, the script fails, making caption availability the first thing to check.
What it helps with
- fetch timestamped captions from a YouTube video
- extract video content for summaries without manual watching
- find exact quotes using video timestamps
- supply video transcript context directly to the coding agent
Example prompts for the agent
- Fetch the transcript for video
EBw7gsDPAYQand summarize key points. - Run
transcript.jsonEBw7gsDPAYQand extract the step-by-step instructions.
How to install youtube-transcript
1Skills CLI (Vercel)
npx skills add badlogic/pi-skills --skill youtube-transcript -a claude-code2Manually: put the files in place
~/.claude/skills/youtube-transcript/SKILL.mdCopy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/youtube-transcript/
1Skills CLI (Vercel)
npx skills add badlogic/pi-skills --skill youtube-transcript -a codex2Manually: put the files in place
.agents/skills/youtube-transcript/SKILL.mdFor all projects use ~/.agents/skills/
1Skills CLI (Vercel)
npx skills add badlogic/pi-skills --skill youtube-transcript -a cursor2Manually: put the files in place
.cursor/skills/youtube-transcript/SKILL.mdCursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/
1GitHub CLI
gh skill install badlogic/pi-skills youtube-transcript2Manually: put the files in place
.github/skills/youtube-transcript/SKILL.md1Skills CLI (Vercel)
npx skills add badlogic/pi-skills --skill youtube-transcript -a gemini-cli2Platform CLI
gemini skills install https://github.com/badlogic/pi-skills --path youtube-transcriptManually: put the files in place
.devin/skills/youtube-transcript/SKILL.mdThe legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works
Skills CLI (Vercel)
npx skills add badlogic/pi-skills --skill youtube-transcript -a opencodeClaude.ai
Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills
Step by step, with commands for each platform: How to install skills in Claude Code: five ways
Questions about youtube-transcript
How do I install youtube-transcript in Claude Code?
Run npx skills add badlogic/pi-skills --skill youtube-transcript -a claude-code. After that, change to the skill directory and run npm install.
What does youtube-transcript do?
It executes transcript.js against a target YouTube video to pull captions with timestamps. You can then summarize or query that text within your coding agent.
Does youtube-transcript work with auto-generated subtitles?
Yes, it handles both manual captions and YouTube auto-generated transcripts. The script will only fail if captions are completely unavailable for the video.
Source text
SKILL.md · MIT
---
name: youtube-transcript
description: Fetch transcripts from YouTube videos for summarization and analysis.
---
# YouTube Transcript
Fetch transcripts from YouTube videos.
## Setup
```bash
cd {baseDir}
npm install
```
## Usage
```bash
{baseDir}/transcript.js <video-id-or-url>
```
Accepts video ID or full URL:
- `EBw7gsDPAYQ`
- `https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBw7gsDPAYQ`
- `https://youtu.be/EBw7gsDPAYQ`
## Output
Timestamped transcript entries:
```
[0:00] All right. So, I got this UniFi Theta
[0:15] I took the camera out, painted it
[1:23] And here's the final result
```
## Notes
- Requires the video to have captions/transcripts available
- Works with auto-generated and manual transcripts
© badlogic · MIT · badlogic/pi-skills
Similar skills
All skills for Agent setup: memory, context, orchestration →youtube-transcript by other authors comes first.
