# youtube-summarize
MCP server that fetches YouTube video transcripts and optionally summarizes them.
## Features
- **Fetch transcripts** in multiple formats (text, JSON, SRT, WebVTT, pretty-print)
- **Summarize videos** — returns transcript with instructions for the LLM to produce a summary
- **List available languages** for any video's transcripts
- **Flexible URL parsing** — accepts full YouTube URLs (`youtube.com/watch?v=`, `youtu.be/`, `youtube.com/embed/`, `youtube.com/shorts/`) or bare video IDs
- **Multi-language support** — request transcripts in specific languages with fallback priority
## Tools
### `get_transcript`
Fetch a YouTube video's transcript.
| Parameter | Type | Default | Description |
|-----------|------|---------|-------------|
| `url` | string | *required* | YouTube video URL or video ID |
| `languages` | string[] | `["en"]` | Preferred languages in priority order |
| `format` | string | `"text"` | Output format: `text`, `json`, `pretty`, `webvtt`, `srt` |
| `preserve_formatting` | boolean | `false` | Keep HTML formatting tags in the transcript |
### `summarize_transcript`
Fetch a transcript and return it with summarization instructions for the LLM client.
| Parameter | Type | Default | Description |
|-----------|------|---------|-------------|
| `url` | string | *required* | YouTube video URL or video ID |
| `prompt` | string | *(default prompt)* | Custom summarization instructions |
| `languages` | string[] | `["en"]` | Preferred languages in priority order |
### `list_transcripts`
List available transcript languages for a video.
| Parameter | Type | Default | Description |
|-----------|------|---------|-------------|
| `url` | string | *required* | YouTube video URL or video ID |
## Installation
### Quick start (recommended)
```bash
uvx youtube-summarize
```
### Claude Desktop
Add to your `claude_desktop_config.json`:
- macOS: `~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`
- Windows: `%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json`
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"youtube-summarize": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": ["youtube-summarize"]
}
}
}
```
### Claude Code
```bash
claude mcp add youtube-summarize -- uvx youtube-summarize
```
### Other MCP clients
Run the server over stdio:
```bash
uvx youtube-summarize
```
## Prerequisites
- Python 3.13+
- [uv](https://docs.astral.sh/uv/) package manager
## Development
```bash
# Install dependencies
uv sync
# Launch the MCP inspector (web UI for testing tools)
uv run mcp dev main.py
```
## License
MIT
---
mcp-name: io.github.zlatkoc/youtube-summarize
