YouTube Transcript MCP Server

This project implements a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides a tool for fetching YouTube video transcripts in various formats. Leveraging the youtube-transcript-api, the server allows Large Language Models (LLMs) to access YouTube transcripts securely and efficiently.

Overview

The server exposes a tool, fetch_youtube_transcript, which retrieves transcripts for YouTube videos based on the provided video ID, language code, and desired format. This functionality enables LLMs to access and process YouTube video transcripts seamlessly.

Features

• YouTube Transcript Retrieval: Fetch transcripts for YouTube videos in multiple languages.

• Flexible Output Formats: Obtain transcripts in either plain text or JSON format.

• MCP Integration: Designed to work seamlessly with MCP-compatible clients and tools.

Configuration with MCP Client

"mcpServers": {
  "youtube-transcripts": {
    "command": "uv",
    "args": [
      "--directory",
      "/ABSOLUTE/PATH/TO/PARENT/FOLDER/mcp-transcripts/src",
      "run",
      "server.py"
    ]
  }
}

Setup

This project uses uv for package/project management. To run this project, follow the below setup instructions.

1. Install uv if you haven't already. Here's the installation instructions.

2. Clone the repo.

   git clone https://github.com/PraveenKishore/mcp-server-youtube.git
   cd mcp-server-youtube

3. Create virtual env and install dependencies.

   uv sync

4. Activate the virtual env.

   source .venv/bin/activate  # Activate the virtual environment (Linux/MacOS)
   # OR
   .\.venv\Scripts\activate  # Activate the virtual environment (Windows)

5. You're all set!

Testing the MCP Server

1. Testing Only the MCP Server

To launch the MCP inspector, run the following command:

mcp dev src/server.py

This will start the server, allowing you to view the list of exposed tools in the Tools tab. You can also invoke any of these tools with the appropriate input.

2. Testing with Claude Desktop

To test with Claude Desktop, add the MCP configuration to the claude_desktop_config.json file.
For more details, refer to this link. Once configured, you should be able to invoke the tool directly within the Claude Desktop interface.

3. Testing with mcp-client-cli

The mcp-client-cli is a simple command-line tool for running LLM prompts and implementing the Model Context Protocol (MCP) client.
To use this tool, add the MCP configuration to ~/.llm/config.json. For further setup instructions, check out the official setup guide. After configuration, you’ll be able to invoke the tool within mcp-client-cli.