EtanHey YouTube Pipeline
Extract knowledge from YouTube videos and store permanently in BrainLayer.
Pipeline
YouTube URL
↓
1. exa web_search (full URL as query)
→ title, transcript, metadata
↓
2. brain_digest (raw transcript + metadata)
→ entities, relations, action items, decisions
↓
3. brain_store (structured conclusions)
→ searchable knowledge forever
Usage
When user shares a YouTube link:
Step 1: Extract via Exa
web_search_exa(query: "https://youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID", num_results: 1)
Exa returns: title, URL, full transcript text, publish date, author.
IMPORTANT: WebFetch does NOT work for YouTube. Always use exa.
Step 2: Digest raw content
brain_digest(content: "<title>\n<author>\n<date>\n\n<full transcript text>")
This extracts: entities (people, tools, companies), relations, sentiment, action items, decisions, questions. Creates a searchable chunk with source='digest'.
Step 3: Store conclusions
brain_store(
content: "Video: '<title>' by <author> (<date>)\nURL: <url>\n\nKey findings:\n1. ...\n2. ...\n3. ...\n\nAction items:\n- ...\n\nRelevant to: <projects>",
tags: ["youtube", "<author-slug>", "<topic-tags>"],
importance: 6-8
)
Step 4: Report to user
Summarize:
- Video title and author
- Top 3-5 key takeaways
- Action items (things to build/try/investigate)
- How it connects to current projects
- BrainLayer chunk IDs for future reference
Batch Mode
For multiple videos (e.g., a playlist or "process these 5 videos"):
- Run exa searches in parallel (up to 5 concurrent)
- Digest each transcript
- Store individual conclusions + one synthesis
- Report all findings in a single summary
Tag Convention
| Tag | When |
|---|---|
youtube |
Always |
<author-slug> |
e.g., theo-browne, matt-pocock, primeagen |
<topic> |
e.g., ai-agents, typescript, rust, career |
<project> |
If directly relevant: golem-terminal, voicelayer, etc. |
Tips
- Exa sometimes returns partial transcripts for very long videos (3h+). Note this in the summary.
- For livestreams/podcasts, extract the segments that matter — don't store 3 hours of chat.
- If exa returns no transcript, try
web_search_exa("<video title> transcript")as fallback. - Cross-reference findings with existing BrainLayer knowledge:
brain_search("<key topic>")before storing to avoid duplicates.