YouTube Transcript (Captions-Only)

This skill extracts transcripts from existing YouTube captions.

Primary behavior

Prefer manual subtitles when available.
Fall back to auto-generated captions.
Output either:
- JSON segments (default) or
- plain text (
```
--text
```
  )
Cache results locally in SQLite for speed.

Reliability behavior

If YouTube blocks anonymous access (bot-check), provide cookies.txt.
If
```
yt-dlp
```
reports no captions for a video, the script tries a fallback:
1. YouTube’s transcript panel (youtubei
```
get_transcript
```
  ) when accessible

This published version intentionally does not call third-party transcript providers.

Privacy note: This published version only contacts YouTube directly (via

yt-dlp

and the transcript panel fallback). It does not send video IDs/URLs to third-party transcript providers.

Cookies: Cookies are treated as secrets.

The script supports
```
--cookies
```
/
```
YT_TRANSCRIPT_COOKIES
```
, but does not auto-load cookies from inside the skill directory.
Store cookies under
```
~/.config/yt-transcript/
```
.

Path safety: This skill restricts

--cookies

and

--cache

paths to approved directories.

cookies allowed under:
```
~/.config/yt-transcript/
```

cache allowed under:

{baseDir}/cache/

and

~/.config/yt-transcript/

How to run

Script path:

```
{baseDir}/scripts/yt_transcript.py
```

Typical usage:

python3 {baseDir}/scripts/yt_transcript.py <youtube_url_or_id>

python3 {baseDir}/scripts/yt_transcript.py <url> --lang en

python3 {baseDir}/scripts/yt_transcript.py <url> --text

python3 {baseDir}/scripts/yt_transcript.py <url> --no-ts

Cookies (optional, but often required on VPS IPs):

python3 {baseDir}/scripts/yt_transcript.py <url> --cookies /path/to/youtube-cookies.txt

or set env var:

YT_TRANSCRIPT_COOKIES=/path/to/youtube-cookies.txt

Publishing safety note: Cookies are optional, so

YT_TRANSCRIPT_COOKIES

is intentionally not required by skill metadata. Only set it if you need authenticated access.

Best practice: store cookies outside the skill folder (so you never accidentally publish them), e.g.

~/.config/yt-transcript/youtube-cookies.txt

, and point to it via

--cookies

YT_TRANSCRIPT_COOKIES

What the script returns

JSON mode (default)

A JSON object:

```
video_id
```
: 11-char id
```
lang
```
: chosen language
```
source
```
:
```
manual
```
|
```
auto
```
|
```
panel
```

segments

: list of

{ start, duration, text }

(or text-only when

--no-ts

)

Text mode (

--text

)

A newline-separated transcript.

By default timestamps are included as
```
[12.34s]
```
.
Use
```
--no-ts
```
to output only the text lines.

Caching

Default cache DB:

```
{baseDir}/cache/transcripts.sqlite
```

Cache key includes:

video_id

lang

source

include_timestamp

format

Cookie handling (important)

Cookies must be in Netscape cookies.txt format.
Treat cookies as secrets.
Never commit / publish cookies to ClawHub.

Recommended local path (ignored by git/publish):

```
{baseDir}/cache/youtube-cookies.txt
```
(chmod 600)

Notes (safety + reliability)

Only accept a YouTube URL or an 11-character video ID.
Do not forward arbitrary user-provided flags into the command.
If
```
yt-dlp
```
is missing, instruct the user to install it (recommended):
- install pipx
- ```
pipx install yt-dlp
```
- ensure
```
yt-dlp
```
  is on PATH

YouTube Transcript (yt-dlp captions)

AI Skill Market Insights

Be Part of the 0+ Developer Community

YouTube Transcript (Captions-Only)

How to run

What the script returns

JSON mode (default)

Text mode (
`--text`
)

Caching

Cookie handling (important)

Notes (safety + reliability)

Quick Start

Manual Installation

TEAR & SHARE

Tags

Skills of A-share market data released by ft.tech.

AI Data Analysis

Options Strategy Advisor

Analytics Platform Base

Simul8or Trader

Channels

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YouTube Transcript (yt-dlp captions)

AI Skill Market Insights

Be Part of the 0+ Developer Community

YouTube Transcript (Captions-Only)

How to run

What the script returns

JSON mode (default)

Text mode (--text)

Caching

Cookie handling (important)

Notes (safety + reliability)

Quick Start

Manual Installation

TEAR & SHARE

Tags

Channels

Learn

Compare

Company

Text mode (
`--text`
)