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# YouTube for AI Agents

### Claude watches YouTube so you don't have to

Ask *"what's the best video on…?"* and Claude finds it, watches it, and reports back. Drop a long podcast in chat — get the highlights in seconds. Cut clips, build reels, pull transcripts — all without opening a YouTube tab.

[![Discord](https://img.shields.io/badge/Join_the_community-Discord-5865F2?style=for-the-badge&logo=discord&logoColor=white)](https://discord.gg/babcVNJBet)

[Quick Start](#quick-start) · [Try it](#try-it) · [Discord](https://discord.gg/babcVNJBet) · [Demo](#demo)

</div>

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## Demo

[![Watch the demo](https://img.youtube.com/vi/KbCC7vaeAHY/maxresdefault.jpg)](https://youtu.be/KbCC7vaeAHY)

> Click the image to watch the 1-minute walkthrough.

## Quick Start

**1. Install the plugin** — inside Claude Code, run:

```
/plugin marketplace add JCodesMore/jcodesmore-plugins
/plugin install youtube@jcodesmore-plugins
```

Then fully **restart Claude Code** (quit the app and reopen).

**2. That's it.** No API key, no signup. Just start asking.

> *Optional:* run `/youtube:setup` to sign in with your own YouTube cookies for personalized search and recommendations.

## Try it

Talk to Claude like a friend:

- *"Watch this video and give me the recipe — I don't want to scroll the comments."*
- *"Find me five highly-rated videos on Roman history."*
- *"What are this channel's best uploads? Watch the top three and summarize."*
- *"Pull the actionable takeaways from this 90-minute interview."*
- *"Cut a 30-second clip starting at 2:15 from this video."*
- *"Combine these three cooking videos into a single highlight reel."*

The agent searches, watches, and reports back — no scrubbing, no scrolling.

## What's inside

**Nine smart tools** wrapped in **two skills** and **one agent** — search, watch, clip, and reel without leaving the chat.

| Capability | Try saying |
|---|---|
| Search videos, channels, playlists | *"find me the top videos on…"* |
| Watch and summarize | *"watch this and tell me what matters"* |
| Browse a channel or playlist | *"what's worth watching from this YouTuber?"* |
| Pull a transcript | *"grab the transcript around the 5-minute mark"* |
| Download video or audio | *"save the audio of this video"* |
| Cut a clip | *"clip 2:15 to 2:45 from this video"* |
| Build a highlight reel | *"combine these clips into one reel"* |

## Community

[**Discord**](https://discord.gg/babcVNJBet) — chat, help, show-and-tell · [**Issues**](https://github.com/JCodesMore/youtube-for-ai-agents/issues) — bugs & feature requests · [**Contribute**](CONTRIBUTING.md) · [**More plugins**](https://github.com/JCodesMore/jcodesmore-plugins)

<details>
<summary><b>Personalized results (optional)</b></summary>

By default, search runs anonymously — no login required. If you want personalized recommendations and search results, run `/youtube:setup` and follow the cookie-extraction wizard. Cookies stay on your machine in the plugin data directory; nothing is uploaded anywhere.

</details>

<details>
<summary><b>Use it in Cursor, Codex, OpenCode, or Gemini CLI</b></summary>

The MCP server is portable. Per-platform setup guides:

- [Cursor](docs/README.cursor.md)
- [Codex](docs/README.codex.md)
- [OpenCode](docs/README.opencode.md)
- [Gemini CLI](docs/README.gemini-cli.md)

</details>

<details>
<summary><b>Advanced install (without the marketplace)</b></summary>

Clone and build it yourself:

```bash
git clone https://github.com/JCodesMore/youtube-for-ai-agents.git
cd youtube-for-ai-agents
npm install
npm run build
```

Or wire the published npm package directly into any MCP-compatible client:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@jcodesmore/youtube-for-ai-agents"]
    }
  }
}
```

**Requirements:** Node.js ≥ 18.

</details>

<details>
<summary><b>Built on</b></summary>

- [Model Context Protocol SDK](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/) — tool exposure to Claude
- [youtubei.js](https://github.com/LuanRT/YouTube.js) — YouTube InnerTube client (no API key needed)
- [youtube-transcript-plus](https://www.npmjs.com/package/youtube-transcript-plus) — transcript fetching
- [ytdlp-nodejs](https://www.npmjs.com/package/ytdlp-nodejs) — video and audio downloads
- [Zod](https://zod.dev/) — schema validation

</details>

## License

[Apache License 2.0](LICENSE) — © 2026 JCodesMore

> Uses [youtubei.js](https://github.com/LuanRT/YouTube.js), an unofficial YouTube client. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or associated with YouTube or Google.

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*Part of [jcodesmore-plugins](https://github.com/JCodesMore/jcodesmore-plugins).*