Introduction
# YouTube Research & Transcription
Search YouTube, get video/channel info, and fetch transcripts using YouTube Data API v3.
## Features
- 📹 Video details (title, description, stats, publish date) - 📝 Transcripts with timestamps - 📺 Channel info and recent videos - 🔍 Search within YouTube - 🎬 Playlist info
## Setup
### 1. Install dependencies
**MCP Server (primary method):** ```bash npm install -g zubeid-youtube-mcp-server ```
**Fallback tool (if MCP fails):** ```bash # yt-dlp for transcript extraction pip install yt-dlp ```
### 2. Get YouTube API Key
1. Go to [Google Cloud Console](https://console.cloud.google.com) 2. Create/select a project (e.g., "YouTube Research") 3. Enable the API: - Menu → "APIs & Services" → "Library" - Search: "YouTube Data API v3" - Click "Enable" 4. Create credentials: - "APIs & Services" → "Credentials" - "Create Credentials" → "API Key" - Copy the key 5. Optional - Restrict: - Click the created key - "API restrictions" → Select only "YouTube Data API v3" - Save
### 3. Configure API Key
**Option A: Clawdbot config** (recommended) Add to `~/.clawdbot/clawdbot.json`: ```json { "skills": { "entries": { "youtube": { "apiKey": "AIzaSy..." } } } } ```
**Option B: Environment variable** ```bash export YOUTUBE_API_KEY="AIzaSy..." ```
### 4. Setup MCP Server
The skill will use `mcporter` to call the YouTube MCP server:
```bash # Build from source (if installed package has issues) cd /tmp git clone https://github.com/ZubeidHendricks/youtube-mcp-server cd youtube-mcp-server npm install npm run build ```
## Usage
### Search Videos
```bash mcporter call --stdio "node /tmp/youtube-mcp-server/dist/cli.js" \ search_videos query="ClawdBot AI" maxResults:5 ```
Returns video IDs, titles, descriptions, channel info.
### Get Channel Info
```bash mcporter call --stdio "node /tmp/youtube-mcp-server/dist/cli.js" \ channels_info channelId="UCSHZKyawb77ixDdsGog4iWA" ```
### List Recent Videos from Channel
```bash mcporter call --stdio "node /tmp/youtube-mcp-server/dist/cli.js" \ channels_listVideos channelId="UCSHZKyawb77ixDdsGog4iWA" maxResults:5 ```
### Get Video Details
```bash mcporter call --stdio "node /tmp/youtube-mcp-server/dist/cli.js" \ videos_details videoId="Z-FRe5AKmCU" ```
### Get Transcript (Primary)
```bash mcporter call --stdio "node /tmp/youtube-mcp-server/dist/cli.js" \ transcripts_getTranscript videoId="Z-FRe5AKmCU" ```
### Get Transcript (Fallback with yt-dlp)
If MCP transcript fails (empty or unavailable), use `yt-dlp`:
```bash yt-dlp --skip-download --write-auto-sub --sub-lang en --sub-format vtt \ --output "/tmp/%(id)s.%(ext)s" \ "https://youtube.com/watch?v=Z-FRe5AKmCU" ```
Then read the `.vtt` file from `/tmp/`.
**Or get transcript directly:** ```bash yt-dlp --skip-download --write-auto-sub --sub-lang en --print "%(subtitles)s" \ "https://youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID" 2>&1 | grep -A1000 "WEBVTT" ```
## Common Workflows
### 1. Find Latest Episode from a Podcast
**Example: Lex Fridman Podcast**
```bash # Get channel ID (Lex Fridman: UCSHZKyawb77ixDdsGog4iWA) mcporter call --stdio "node /tmp/youtube-mcp-server/dist/cli.js" \ channels_listVideos channelId="UCSHZKyawb77ixDdsGog4iWA" maxResults:1 ```
Returns most recent video with title, ID, publish date.
### 2. Get Transcript for Research
```bash # Step 1: Get video ID from search or channel listing # Step 2: Try MCP transcript first mcporter call --stdio "node /tmp/youtube-mcp-server/dist/cli.js" \ transcripts_getTranscript videoId="VIDEO_ID"
# Step 3: If empty, fallback to yt-dlp yt-dlp --skip-download --write-auto-sub --sub-lang en \ --output "/tmp/%(id)s.%(ext)s" \ "https://youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID"
cat /tmp/VIDEO_ID.en.vtt ```
### 3. Search for Topics
```bash mcporter call --stdio "node /tmp/youtube-mcp-server/dist/cli.js" \ search_videos query="Laravel AI productivity 2025" maxResults:10 ```
Filter results for relevant channels or dates.
## Channel IDs Reference
Keep frequently used channels here for quick access:
- **Lex Fridman Podcast:** `UCSHZKyawb77ixDdsGog4iWA` - **Indie Hackers:** (add when needed) - **Laravel:** (add when needed)
To find a channel ID: 1. Go to channel page 2. View page source 3. Search for `"channelId":` or `"externalId"`
Or use search and extract from results.
## API Quota Limits
YouTube Data API v3 has daily quotas: - Default: 10,000 units/day - Search: 100 units per call - Video details: 1 unit per call - Transcript: 0 units (uses separate mechanism)
**Tip:** Use transcript lookups liberally (no quota cost), be conservative with search.
## Troubleshooting
### MCP Server Not Working
**Symptom:** `Connection closed` or `YOUTUBE_API_KEY environment variable is required`
**Fix:** Build from source: ```bash cd /tmp git clone https://github.com/ZubeidHendricks/youtube-mcp-server cd youtube-mcp-server npm install npm run build
# Test YOUTUBE_API_KEY="your_key" node dist/cli.js ```
### Empty Transcripts
**Symptom:** Transcript returned but content is empty
**Cause:** Video may not have captions, or MCP can't access them
**Fix:** Use yt-dlp fallback (see above)
### yt-dlp Not Found
```bash pip install --user yt-dlp # or pipx install yt-dlp ```
## Security Note
The YouTube API key is safe to use with this MCP server: - ✅ Key only used to authenticate with official YouTube Data API - ✅ No third-party servers involved - ✅ All network calls go to `googleapis.com` - ✅ Code reviewed (no data exfiltration)
However: - 🔒 Keep the key in Clawdbot config (not in code/scripts) - 🔒 Restrict API key to YouTube Data API v3 only (in Google Cloud Console) - 🔒 Don't commit the key to git repositories
## Examples
### Research Podcast for LinkedIn Post Ideas
```bash # 1. Find latest Lex Fridman episode mcporter call --stdio "node /tmp/youtube-mcp-server/dist/cli.js" \ channels_listVideos channelId="UCSHZKyawb77ixDdsGog4iWA" maxResults:1
# 2. Get video details mcporter call --stdio "node /tmp/youtube-mcp-server/dist/cli.js" \ videos_details videoId="Z-FRe5AKmCU"
# 3. Get transcript mcporter call --stdio "node /tmp/youtube-mcp-server/dist/cli.js" \ transcripts_getTranscript videoId="Z-FRe5AKmCU"
# If transcript empty, use yt-dlp yt-dlp --skip-download --write-auto-sub --sub-lang en \ --output "/tmp/%(id)s.%(ext)s" \ "https://youtube.com/watch?v=Z-FRe5AKmCU"
# 4. Analyze transcript for interesting topics # (read /tmp/Z-FRe5AKmCU.en.vtt and extract key themes) ```
### Find Videos About a Trending Topic
```bash # Search for recent videos mcporter call --stdio "node /tmp/youtube-mcp-server/dist/cli.js" \ search_videos query="ClawdBot security concerns" maxResults:10
# Pick relevant ones, get transcripts # Analyze sentiment and technical claims ```
## Notes
- MCP server path: `/tmp/youtube-mcp-server/dist/cli.js` - Always pass API key via environment: `YOUTUBE_API_KEY="key" node ...` - Or set globally in shell/Clawdbot config - Transcripts may be auto-generated (check accuracy for quotes) - yt-dlp can also download audio if you need it (`--extract-audio --audio-format mp3`)