How do I install the Youtube Transcriber skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add edisonchenai/youtube-transcriber 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 Youtube Transcriber safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Youtube Transcriber?

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 Youtube Transcriber free to use?

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

Who published Youtube Transcriber?

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

Youtube Transcriber by edisonchenai

Name: Youtube Transcriber
Author: edisonchenai

Youtube Transcriber

One-command YouTube video transcription. Automatically downloads audio and transcribes using OpenAI Whisper API — works even when YouTube subtitles are disabled. Use when asked to "transcribe this video", "get transcript", "what does this video say", or when YouTube captions are unavailable.

edisonchenai 0fb0a7b 3 files · 6.4 KB Updated Sep 17, 2026

File contents

YouTube Transcriber

One-command transcription for any YouTube video — even when subtitles are disabled.

How it works:

Tries to fetch existing YouTube subtitles first (free, instant)
If subtitles are disabled/unavailable → downloads audio → transcribes via OpenAI Whisper API

Prerequisites

yt-dlp — brew install yt-dlp or pip install yt-dlp
ffmpeg — brew install ffmpeg
OPENAI_API_KEY environment variable set

Usage

# Basic — auto-detect best method
{baseDir}/scripts/transcribe.sh "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID"

# Specify language (improves accuracy for non-English)
{baseDir}/scripts/transcribe.sh "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID" --lang zh

# Custom output path
{baseDir}/scripts/transcribe.sh "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID" --out /tmp/transcript.txt

# Force Whisper (skip subtitle check)
{baseDir}/scripts/transcribe.sh "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID" --force-whisper

# Keep downloaded audio file
{baseDir}/scripts/transcribe.sh "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID" --keep-audio

Options

Option	Description	Default
`--lang <code>`	Language hint (ISO 639-1: en, zh, ja, ko, etc.)	auto-detect
`--out <path>`	Output transcript file path	`/tmp/yt_transcript_<VIDEO_ID>.txt`
`--force-whisper`	Skip subtitle check, always use Whisper API	off
`--keep-audio`	Keep the downloaded audio file after transcription	off (deletes audio)
`--audio-bitrate <kbps>`	Audio compression bitrate	64

How It Works

YouTube URL
    │
    ├─► Try yt-dlp subtitles (free, instant)
    │       │
    │       ├─ Found → Clean & output transcript ✓
    │       │
    │       └─ Not found / disabled
    │               │
    │               ▼
    └─► Download audio (yt-dlp + ffmpeg)
            │
            ├─ Compress to mono, low bitrate (fit 25MB API limit)
            │
            ▼
        OpenAI Whisper API → transcript ✓

Cost

With subtitles available: Free (uses existing captions)
Whisper API: ~$0.006/minute of audio → 23-min video ≈ $0.14

Supported

Any YouTube video URL (full URL, youtu.be short link, or video ID)
All languages supported by Whisper (99+ languages)
Videos up to ~4 hours (audio compressed to fit 25MB API limit)

Troubleshooting

403 from YouTube: Update yt-dlp (pip install -U yt-dlp)
File too large for Whisper: Lower bitrate with --audio-bitrate 32
Missing API key: Set OPENAI_API_KEY environment variable

---name: youtube-transcriberdescription: One-command YouTube video transcription. Automatically downloads audio and transcribes using OpenAI Whisper API — works even when YouTube subtitles are disabled. Use when asked to "transcribe this video", "get transcript", "what does this video say", or when YouTube captions are unavailable.---# YouTube TranscriberOne-command transcription for any YouTube video — even when subtitles are disabled.**How it works:**1. Tries to fetch existing YouTube subtitles first (free, instant)2. If subtitles are disabled/unavailable → downloads audio → transcribes via OpenAI Whisper API## Prerequisites- `yt-dlp` — `brew install yt-dlp` or `pip install yt-dlp`- `ffmpeg` — `brew install ffmpeg`- `OPENAI_API_KEY` environment variable set## Usage```bash# Basic — auto-detect best method{baseDir}/scripts/transcribe.sh "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID"# Specify language (improves accuracy for non-English){baseDir}/scripts/transcribe.sh "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID" --lang zh# Custom output path{baseDir}/scripts/transcribe.sh "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID" --out /tmp/transcript.txt# Force Whisper (skip subtitle check){baseDir}/scripts/transcribe.sh "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID" --force-whisper# Keep downloaded audio file{baseDir}/scripts/transcribe.sh "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID" --keep-audio```## Options| Option | Description | Default ||--------|-------------|---------|| `--lang <code>` | Language hint (ISO 639-1: en, zh, ja, ko, etc.) | auto-detect || `--out <path>` | Output transcript file path | `/tmp/yt_transcript_<VIDEO_ID>.txt` || `--force-whisper` | Skip subtitle check, always use Whisper API | off || `--keep-audio` | Keep the downloaded audio file after transcription | off (deletes audio) || `--audio-bitrate <kbps>` | Audio compression bitrate | 64 |## How It Works```YouTube URL │ ├─► Try yt-dlp subtitles (free, instant) │ │ │ ├─ Found → Clean & output transcript ✓ │ │ │ └─ Not found / disabled │ │ │ ▼ └─► Download audio (yt-dlp + ffmpeg) │ ├─ Compress to mono, low bitrate (fit 25MB API limit) │ ▼ OpenAI Whisper API → transcript ✓```## Cost- **With subtitles available**: Free (uses existing captions)- **Whisper API**: ~$0.006/minute of audio → 23-min video ≈ $0.14## Supported- Any YouTube video URL (full URL, youtu.be short link, or video ID)- All languages supported by Whisper (99+ languages)- Videos up to ~4 hours (audio compressed to fit 25MB API limit)## Troubleshooting- **403 from YouTube**: Update yt-dlp (`pip install -U yt-dlp`)- **File too large for Whisper**: Lower bitrate with `--audio-bitrate 32`- **Missing API key**: Set `OPENAI_API_KEY` environment variable

Frequently asked questions