get_transcript
Extract text transcripts from YouTube videos to access video content in written form.
Instructions
Get the transcript of a YouTube video
Input Schema
TableJSON Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| url | Yes |
Implementation Reference
- The main handler function for the 'get_transcript' MCP tool. It takes a YouTube URL, uses helper functions to process the video and fetch the transcript from the external API, handles errors, and returns the transcript text.@mcp_server.tool(name="get_transcript", description="Get the transcript of a YouTube video") async def get_transcript(url: str) -> str: """Get the transcript of a YouTube video. This tool processes a video and retrieves its transcript. It can efficiently handle YouTube URLs by extracting the video ID and checking if it's already been processed before submitting a new request. Args: url: The YouTube video URL Returns: The video transcript as text """ logger.info(f"Getting transcript for URL: {url}") # Process the video to ensure it's ready success, video_id, error_message = await process_video(url) if not success: logger.error(f"Failed to process video: {error_message}") return f"Error: {error_message}" # Get the transcript from the API transcript_response = await make_yt_api_request(f"/api/videos/{video_id}/transcript") if not transcript_response: error_msg = "Failed to retrieve transcript." logger.error(error_msg) return f"Error: {error_msg}" # Check if the response is a string or a JSON object if isinstance(transcript_response, str): return transcript_response elif isinstance(transcript_response, dict) and "transcript" in transcript_response: return transcript_response["transcript"]["text"] else: error_msg = "Unexpected response format from API." logger.error(error_msg) return f"Error: {error_msg}"
- Critical helper function called by get_transcript to handle video processing: extracts YouTube ID, checks existing status, submits if needed, and polls until completed or error.async def process_video(url: str) -> tuple[bool, str, str]: """Helper function to submit a video for processing and wait for completion. This function now tries to optimize API calls by: 1. Extracting YouTube ID from URL when possible 2. Checking if video is already processed using YouTube ID directly 3. Only submitting for processing if needed Args: url: The YouTube video URL Returns: A tuple of (success, video_id, error_message) """ try: # Step 1: Try to extract YouTube ID from URL youtube_id = extract_youtube_id(url) video_id = "" if youtube_id: logger.info(f"Extracted YouTube ID: {youtube_id} from URL: {url}") # Step 2: Check if video has already been processed using YouTube ID directly status_response = await make_yt_api_request(f"/api/videos/{youtube_id}") if status_response and "status" in status_response: video_id = youtube_id logger.info(f"Found existing video with YouTube ID: {youtube_id}, status: {status_response.get('status')}") # If video is already processed or processing, we can use this ID if status_response.get("status") == "completed": logger.info(f"Video already processed, using YouTube ID: {youtube_id}") return True, youtube_id, "" elif status_response.get("status") == "processing": # Need to wait for processing to complete logger.info(f"Video already processing, waiting for completion: {youtube_id}") # Continue to polling step below with the YouTube ID video_id = youtube_id elif status_response.get("status") == "error": error_message = status_response.get("message", "Unknown error occurred") logger.error(f"Error with video: {error_message}") return False, youtube_id, f"Error processing video: {error_message}" # Step 3: Submit video for processing if needed (if we don't have a video_id yet) if not video_id: logger.info(f"Submitting video for processing: {url}") submit_response = await make_yt_api_request("/api/videos", method="POST", json_data={"url": url}) if not submit_response or "id" not in submit_response: logger.error("Failed to submit video for processing") return False, "", "Failed to submit video for processing." video_id = submit_response["id"] logger.info(f"Video submitted, received ID: {video_id}") await asyncio.sleep(1) # wait for 1 second before polling # Step 4: Poll for video processing status until it's complete max_attempts = 10 attempts = 0 while attempts < max_attempts: logger.info(f"Checking video status, attempt {attempts+1}/{max_attempts}") status_response = await make_yt_api_request(f"/api/videos/{video_id}") if not status_response: logger.error("Failed to retrieve video status") return False, video_id, "Failed to retrieve video status." status = status_response.get("status") logger.info(f"Video status: {status}") if status == "completed": logger.info(f"Video processing completed for ID: {video_id}") return True, video_id, "" if status == "error": error_message = status_response.get("message", "Unknown error occurred") logger.error(f"Error processing video: {error_message}") return False, video_id, f"Error processing video: {error_message}" # Calculate backoff delay delay = await calculate_backoff_delay(attempts) logger.info(f"Waiting {delay:.1f}s before checking video status again, attempt {attempts+1}/{max_attempts}") await asyncio.sleep(delay) attempts += 1 logger.error("Video processing timeout - too many attempts") return False, video_id, "Video processing timed out. Please try again later." except Exception as e: logger.error(f"Exception during video processing: {str(e)}") return False, "", f"An error occurred: {str(e)}"
- Helper function used by get_transcript and process_video to make HTTP requests to the YouTube Translate API, handling GET/POST, errors, and special cases like subtitles.async def make_yt_api_request(endpoint: str, method: str = "GET", params: dict = None, json_data: dict = None) -> dict[str, Any] | str | None: """Make a request to the YouTube Translate API with proper error handling.""" headers = { "X-API-Key": YOUTUBE_TRANSLATE_API_KEY, "Content-Type": "application/json" } url = f"{YT_TRANSLATE_API_BASE}{endpoint}" logger.info(f"Making API request: {method} {url}") if params: logger.info(f"Request params: {params}") if json_data: logger.info(f"Request data: {json_data}") async with httpx.AsyncClient() as client: try: if method.upper() == "GET": response = await client.get(url, headers=headers, params=params, timeout=30.0) elif method.upper() == "POST": response = await client.post(url, headers=headers, params=params, json=json_data, timeout=30.0) else: logger.error(f"ERROR: Invalid HTTP method: {method}") return None response.raise_for_status() logger.info(f"API response status: {response.status_code}") # If the endpoint is for subtitles, directly return the text content if "/subtitles" in endpoint: return response.text # For all other endpoints, return the JSON response return response.json() except Exception as e: logger.error(f"API request error: {str(e)}") return None
- src/youtube_translate_mcp/server.py:221-221 (registration)Decorator that registers the get_transcript function as an MCP tool with the specified name and description.@mcp_server.tool(name="get_transcript", description="Get the transcript of a YouTube video")