Get YouTube transcripts, search videos, browse channels, and extract playlists — from any AI agent.
YouTube Skills gives your AI agent instant access to YouTube transcripts, video search, channel data, and playlist extraction. No yt-dlp (YouTube blocks all major cloud IPs), no headless browsers, no binaries — just a fast API call that works everywhere. Powered by TranscriptAPI, the same backend behind YouTubeToTranscript.com.
Works with 🦞 OpenClaw (ClawdBot/Moltbot), Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, and any agent that supports the Agent Skills format.
Free tier · No credit card · 100 credits on signup
TranscriptAPI.com · MCP Server · Docs
Most users want youtube-full — it covers transcripts, search, channels, and playlists in one skill.
🦞 OpenClaw (ClawdBot/Moltbot):
npx clawhub@latest install youtube-full
Claude Code / Cursor / Windsurf / Cline / Codex:
npx skills add ZeroPointRepo/youtube-skills --skill youtube-full
All 12 skills at once:
npx skills add ZeroPointRepo/youtube-skills
Manual (git clone):
git clone https://github.com/ZeroPointRepo/youtube-skills.git
cp -r youtube-skills/skills/youtube-full ~/.claude/skills/
Not a developer? Just paste this prompt into 🦞 OpenClaw, Claude, ChatGPT, or any AI agent:
Install the youtube skills from this GitHub repo: https://github.com/ZeroPointRepo/youtube-skills I want to be able to get YouTube transcripts, search YouTube, and browse channel videos from my agent. Set everything up for me.The agent will handle the rest.
Just install and ask. No config, no code — talk to your agent in plain English.
| Task | Example Prompt |
|---|---|
| Get a YouTube transcript | “Summarize this video: [URL]” |
| Search YouTube | “Find videos about machine learning” |
| Browse a channel | “What has TED posted this week?” |
| Get playlist contents | “List all videos in this playlist” |
| Extract video captions | “Get captions from this video in Spanish” |
| Bulk transcripts | “Get transcripts for every video in this channel” |
| Research a topic | “Find and summarize the top 5 videos about quantum computing” |
| Get latest uploads | “Show me NASA’s recent videos” |
| Search within a channel | “Search the TED channel for ‘artificial intelligence'” |
When you install a skill and run your agent for the first time, the agent will set up your free API key automatically. Here’s what happens:
- The agent runs the registration script and asks you for your email address
- You’ll receive an OTP code in your email — the agent will ask you to enter it
- Once verified, the agent saves the API key to your shell and agent config automatically
That’s it. 100 free credits, no credit card required.
Manual setup (if you prefer to do it yourself)
# 1. Register (sends OTP to your email)
node ./scripts/tapi-auth.js register --email you@example.com --password yourpassword
# 2. Check email for OTP, then verify (returns your API key)
node ./scripts/tapi-auth.js verify --email you@example.com --password yourpassword --otp 123456
# 3. Key is saved automatically to your shell and agent config
Or sign up at transcriptapi.com and set the key manually:
export TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY="sk_your_key_here"
Where does the key get saved?
The auth script writes your API key to:
| Location | File |
|---|---|
| OpenClaw/Moltbot | ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json or ~/.clawdbot/moltbot.json |
| macOS shell | ~/.zshenv, ~/.zprofile |
| Linux shell | ~/.profile, ~/.bashrc, ~/.zshenv |
| Fish shell | ~/.config/fish/config.fish |
| Fallback | ~/.transcriptapi (mode 600) |
Your agent picks it up automatically after saving.
youtube-full is the recommended skill for most users. It includes everything: transcripts, search, channels, playlists.
If you prefer smaller, focused skills (smaller context = better agent performance for specific tasks), pick what you need:
| Skill | What It Does | Install |
|---|---|---|
| youtube-full | Everything — transcripts, search, channels, playlists | --skill youtube-full |
| transcript | Get video transcripts with timestamps | --skill transcript |
| youtube-search | Search YouTube for videos and channels | --skill youtube-search |
| youtube-channels | Browse uploads, get latest videos, resolve @handles | --skill youtube-channels |
| youtube-playlist | Extract all videos from a playlist | --skill youtube-playlist |
# Install a specific skill
npx skills add ZeroPointRepo/youtube-skills --skill transcript
# Install multiple specific skills
npx skills add ZeroPointRepo/youtube-skills --skill transcript --skill youtube-search
All 12 skills
We ship 12 skills total. Many are narrower variants or aliases of the core 5 above — so your agent can find the right skill regardless of how you phrase your request.
| Skill | Description |
|---|---|
| youtube-full | Complete YouTube toolkit — transcripts + search + channels + playlists |
| transcript | Extract transcript from any YouTube video with timestamps |
| captions | Get closed captions / CC from YouTube videos |
| subtitles | Extract subtitles from YouTube videos |
| youtube-search | Search YouTube for videos and channels |
| youtube-channels | Browse channel uploads, get latest videos, resolve @handles |
| youtube-playlist | Fetch all videos from a YouTube playlist |
| youtube-data | Get YouTube video and channel data (lightweight alternative to Google’s API) |
| youtube-api | YouTube API access for AI agents — no Google quota hassle |
| transcriptapi | Full TranscriptAPI access with all endpoints |
| video-transcript | Convert YouTube videos to text transcripts |
| yt | Quick YouTube utility for fast lookups |
| Plan | Price | Credits | Rate Limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 100 credits on signup | 300 req/min |
| Starter | $5/month | 1,000 credits/month | 300 req/min |
| Starter Annual | $54/year ($4.50/mo) | 1,000 credits/month | 300 req/min |
Most operations cost 1 credit. Channel resolve and latest are free. No credit card required for the free tier.
Works with any AI agent that supports the Agent Skills format:
| Agent | Install Command |
|---|---|
| 🦞 OpenClaw (ClawdBot/Moltbot) | npx clawhub@latest install youtube-full |
| Claude Code | npx skills add ZeroPointRepo/youtube-skills |
| Cursor | npx skills add ZeroPointRepo/youtube-skills |
| Windsurf | npx skills add ZeroPointRepo/youtube-skills |
| Cline | npx skills add ZeroPointRepo/youtube-skills |
| Codex | npx skills add ZeroPointRepo/youtube-skills |
| Others | Goose, AMP, Kiro, Roo, OpenCode, Gemini, GitHub Copilot… |
Install youtube-full (or transcript) and ask your agent:
“Get the transcript for this video: https://youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID“
The agent fetches the full transcript with timestamps. You can then ask it to summarize, translate, quote, or analyze the content.
Install youtube-full (or youtube-search) and ask:
“Find videos about machine learning”
Returns up to 50 results with titles, thumbnails, view counts, and publish dates.
Install youtube-full (or youtube-channels) and ask:
“List all videos from the TED channel”
The agent resolves the @handle, fetches uploads (paginated, 100/page), and can then get transcripts for any or all of them.
Yes. Install youtube-full and ask:
“Get transcripts for all videos in this playlist: [URL]”
The agent fetches the playlist, iterates through videos, and extracts each transcript.
No. TranscriptAPI replaces the Google YouTube Data API for transcript extraction, search, and channel/playlist operations. No Google Cloud project, no quota limits, no OAuth setup.
Yes, but signup is free and instant — 100 credits, no credit card required. Your agent handles the setup automatically on first run.
- Want everything? →
youtube-full(recommended) - Just transcripts? →
transcript - Just search? →
youtube-search - Just channel data? →
youtube-channels - Just playlists? →
youtube-playlist
TranscriptAPI.com is a REST API and MCP server for YouTube data. It provides transcript extraction, video search, channel browsing, and playlist operations — built for developers and AI agents. Also available as an MCP Server for direct LLM integration (Claude, ChatGPT).
TranscriptAPI.com — 6M+ transcripts/month, 99.9% uptime.
Also available: MCP Server for direct LLM integration with Claude and ChatGPT.
Full API docs: transcriptapi.com/docs
PRs welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md.
MIT © TranscriptAPI