YouTube MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for interacting with YouTube videos. This server provides tools for extracting video metadata, captions, and converting them to markdown format with various templates.

Features

• Video Metadata: Fetch comprehensive video information

• Caption Extraction: Support for auto-generated and manual captions

• Multiple Languages: Built-in support for English and French

• Template System: Three built-in markdown templates:

  • Basic: Simple transcript format

  • Detailed: Full metadata with timestamps

  • Search: Results highlighting with context

• Search Functionality: Search within video captions

• Flexible Authentication: Supports both API key and OAuth2 authentication

Related MCP server: YouTube Video Summarizer MCP Server

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v16 or higher)

• npm or yarn

• A YouTube Data API key and/or OAuth2 credentials

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

git clone [repository-url]
cd youtube-mcp

2. Install dependencies:

npm install

3. Build the project:

npm run build

Configuration

Create a .env file in the root directory with your YouTube credentials:

YOUTUBE_API_KEY=your_api_key
YOUTUBE_CLIENT_ID=your_client_id
YOUTUBE_CLIENT_SECRET=your_client_secret
YOUTUBE_REFRESH_TOKEN=your_refresh_token  # Optional, for OAuth2

MCP Configuration

Add the server to your MCP settings file (usually at ~/.config/Code/User/globalStorage/rooveterinaryinc.roo-cline/settings/cline_mcp_settings.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["path/to/youtube-mcp/build/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "YOUTUBE_API_KEY": "your_api_key",
        "YOUTUBE_CLIENT_ID": "your_client_id",
        "YOUTUBE_CLIENT_SECRET": "your_client_secret"
      },
      "disabled": false,
      "alwaysAllow": []
    }
  }
}

Usage

The server provides the following tools:

1. Get Video Info

use_mcp_tool youtube get_video_info {
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID"
}

2. Get Captions

use_mcp_tool youtube get_captions {
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID",
  "language": "en"  // Optional, defaults to "en"
}

3. Convert to Markdown

use_mcp_tool youtube convert_to_markdown {
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID",
  "template_name": "detailed",  // Optional, "basic", "detailed", or "search"
  "language": "en",            // Optional
  "options": {                 // Optional
    "include_chapters": true,
    "search_term": "keyword"   // Only for search template
  }
}

4. List Templates

use_mcp_tool youtube list_templates

Dependencies

{
  "dependencies": {
    "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk": "latest",
    "googleapis": "^146.0.0",
    "google-auth-library": "^9.0.0",
    "youtube-captions-scraper": "^2.0.0",
    "express": "^4.18.2",
    "open": "^9.1.0"
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "@types/node": "^20.0.0",
    "typescript": "^5.0.0",
    "tsx": "^4.0.0"
  }
}

OAuth2 Setup

For OAuth2 authentication (required for private video access):

1. Create a project in the Google Cloud Console

2. Enable the YouTube Data API v3

3. Create OAuth2 credentials (Web application type)

4. Run the authentication script:

node src/get-api-key.js

5. Follow the browser prompts to authorize the application

6. Copy the refresh token to your configuration

Customizing Templates

You can add custom templates by modifying the DEFAULT_TEMPLATES array in src/index.ts. Templates follow this structure:

interface MarkdownTemplate {
  name: string;
  description: string;
  format: {
    header?: string;
    chapter_format?: string;
    caption_block: string;
    timestamp_format?: string;
    search_result_format?: string;
  }
}

License

MIT

Contributing

1. Fork the repository

2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)

3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some amazing feature')

4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)

5. Open a Pull Request