YouTube Tools MCP Server

# YouTube Tools MCP Server - Usage Examples ## Setup Instructions ### 1. Install and Build ```bash pnpm install pnpm run build ``` ### 2. Configure Claude Desktop Add the following to your Claude Desktop configuration file: **macOS**: `~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json` **Windows**: `%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json` ```json { "mcpServers": { "youtube-tools": { "command": "node", "args": [ "/absolute/path/to/youtube-tools-mcp/build/index.js" ] } } } ``` **Important**: Replace `/absolute/path/to/youtube-tools-mcp` with the actual absolute path to your project directory. ### 3. Restart Claude Desktop After updating the configuration, restart Claude Desktop completely. ## Usage Examples Once configured, you can use the following prompts in Claude Desktop: ### Basic Transcript Extraction ``` Get the transcript for this YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ ``` ### Using Video ID ``` Extract the transcript from YouTube video ID: dQw4w9WgXcQ ``` ### Specifying Language ``` Get the Spanish transcript for this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ ``` ### Different URL Formats The tool supports various YouTube URL formats: - Full URL: `https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ` - Short URL: `https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ` - Embed URL: `https://www.youtube.com/embed/dQw4w9WgXcQ` - Video ID only: `dQw4w9WgXcQ` ## Expected Output Format The tool returns a formatted transcript with: ``` YouTube Transcript for Video ID: dQw4w9WgXcQ Language: en Total Segments: 45 Duration: 3:33 --- TRANSCRIPT --- [0:00] We're no strangers to love [0:07] You know the rules and so do I [0:15] A full commitment's what I'm thinking of ... ``` ## Common Issues and Solutions ### "No transcript available" This can happen when: - The video has transcripts disabled by the creator - The video is private or unavailable - The requested language is not available ### "Transcript is disabled" The video creator has disabled automatic transcripts for this video. ### "Video unavailable" The video might be: - Private - Deleted - Region-restricted - Age-restricted ## Testing You can test the functionality using the included test scripts: ```bash # Test the YouTube transcript library directly pnpm run test # Test the MCP server functionality pnpm run test-mcp ``` ## Troubleshooting ### Server Not Showing Up in Claude 1. Check that the path in your configuration is absolute and correct 2. Ensure the server builds without errors: `pnpm run build` 3. Restart Claude Desktop completely 4. Check Claude's logs for errors (see MCP documentation) ### Tool Calls Failing 1. Verify the server is running: `pnpm start` (should show "YouTube Tools MCP server running on stdio") 2. Check that the video ID or URL is valid 3. Try with a different video that you know has transcripts ## Advanced Usage ### Custom Language Codes Common language codes you can use: - `en` - English - `es` - Spanish - `fr` - French - `de` - German - `it` - Italian - `pt` - Portuguese - `ru` - Russian - `ja` - Japanese - `ko` - Korean - `zh` - Chinese Example: ``` Get the French transcript for this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=example ```