How do I install the Extract Youtube Transcript skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add dvcrn/extract-youtube-transcript in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Extract Youtube Transcript safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. Independent scanners report: SkillSpector: PASS, Skill Scanner: PASS. Capability flags: executes scripts, makes network calls. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Extract Youtube Transcript?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Extract Youtube Transcript free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Extract Youtube Transcript?

dvcrn (@dvcrn) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Extract Youtube Transcript by dvcrn

Name: Extract Youtube Transcript
Rating: 4.2 (5 reviews)
Author: dvcrn

Extract Youtube Transcript

Extract plain-text transcripts from YouTube videos using a local Python script. Use when the user wants to fetch, extract, or get a transcript from a YouTube video URL, analyze YouTube video content as text, or needs subtitles/captions from a video.

dvcrn Updated Sep 8, 2026 32 repo stars

File contents

Extract YouTube Transcript

Fetches plain-text transcripts from YouTube videos using extract_youtube_transcript.py in this skill folder.

Dependency

pip show youtube-transcript-api &>/dev/null || pip install youtube-transcript-api

Quick Start

python extract_youtube_transcript.py "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID"

Supported URL formats: youtube.com/watch?v=, youtu.be/, /embed/, /live/, /shorts/, or a raw 11-char video ID.

Common Patterns

Fetch with preferred language(s)

python extract_youtube_transcript.py "URL" --lang zh-Hant en

Pass languages in priority order. Falls back to any available transcript if none match.

Save transcript to file

python extract_youtube_transcript.py "URL" --output transcript.txt

Text is printed to stdout and also written to the file.

List available languages first

python extract_youtube_transcript.py "URL" --list-langs

Use this to discover what language codes are available before fetching.

Language Codes

Code	Language
`en`	English
`zh-Hant`	Traditional Chinese
`zh-Hans`	Simplified Chinese
`ja`	Japanese
`ko`	Korean
`es`	Spanish

Error Handling

Error	Cause	Recovery
`TranscriptsDisabled`	Owner disabled captions	No transcript available
`NoTranscriptFound`	Requested lang not found	Run `--list-langs`, pick an available code
`VideoUnavailable`	Video is private/deleted	Verify the URL
`AgeRestricted`	Age-gated video	Auth not supported; no workaround
`InvalidVideoId`	Malformed URL or ID	Check the URL format

Workflow

Try a direct fetch first
If NoTranscriptFound, run --list-langs to see available codes, then re-fetch with --lang <code>
Save long transcripts to a file with --output for easier downstream processing

---name: extract-youtube-transcriptdescription: Extract plain-text transcripts from YouTube videos using a local Python script. Use when the user wants to fetch, extract, or get a transcript from a YouTube video URL, analyze YouTube video content as text, or needs subtitles/captions from a video.---# Extract YouTube TranscriptFetches plain-text transcripts from YouTube videos using `extract_youtube_transcript.py` in this skill folder.## Dependency```bashpip show youtube-transcript-api &>/dev/null || pip install youtube-transcript-api```## Quick Start```bashpython extract_youtube_transcript.py "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID"```Supported URL formats: `youtube.com/watch?v=`, `youtu.be/`, `/embed/`, `/live/`, `/shorts/`, or a raw 11-char video ID.## Common Patterns### Fetch with preferred language(s)```bashpython extract_youtube_transcript.py "URL" --lang zh-Hant en```Pass languages in priority order. Falls back to any available transcript if none match.### Save transcript to file```bashpython extract_youtube_transcript.py "URL" --output transcript.txt```Text is printed to stdout and also written to the file.### List available languages first```bashpython extract_youtube_transcript.py "URL" --list-langs```Use this to discover what language codes are available before fetching.## Language Codes| Code | Language ||------|----------|| `en` | English || `zh-Hant` | Traditional Chinese || `zh-Hans` | Simplified Chinese || `ja` | Japanese || `ko` | Korean || `es` | Spanish |## Error Handling| Error | Cause | Recovery ||-------|-------|----------|| `TranscriptsDisabled` | Owner disabled captions | No transcript available || `NoTranscriptFound` | Requested lang not found | Run `--list-langs`, pick an available code || `VideoUnavailable` | Video is private/deleted | Verify the URL || `AgeRestricted` | Age-gated video | Auth not supported; no workaround || `InvalidVideoId` | Malformed URL or ID | Check the URL format |## Workflow1. Try a direct fetch first2. If `NoTranscriptFound`, run `--list-langs` to see available codes, then re-fetch with `--lang <code>`3. Save long transcripts to a file with `--output` for easier downstream processing

Frequently asked questions