Video Summarize

Summarize a single YouTube video and create a note in my-vault.

Usage

/video-summarize <youtube-url> [folder]

• youtube-url: Full YouTube URL or video ID
• folder (optional): Subfolder under Videos/ (e.g., "Atlassian", "Ali Abdaal"). If not specified, uses channel name.

Workflow

1. Extract video ID from URL (supports youtube.com/watch?v=, youtu.be/, and bare IDs)

2. Fetch video metadata using the youtube-catchup helper script:

   python3 .claude/skills/youtube-catchup/scripts/youtube_helper.py full <video_id>
   

3. Review the transcript and create a summary with:

   • Bullet point summary of key concepts
   • "Why Watch?" section with recommendation

4. Determine folder:

   • Use provided folder if specified
   • Otherwise use channel name from metadata
   • Create folder if it doesn't exist

5. Create note at my-vault/06 Knowledge Base/Capture/Videos/<folder>/<title>.md

6. Assign tags:

   • Check youtube-catchup/references/channels.json for channel's default tags
   • If channel not in config, infer tags from the canonical list in my-vault/09 System/Tag Index.md

Tagging

Use tags from the canonical list in my-vault/09 System/Tag Index.md.

Common channel → tag mappings are in .claude/skills/youtube-catchup/references/channels.json. If the channel exists there, use its tags array. Otherwise, infer appropriate tags based on content.

Format tags as: tags: ["tag1", "tag2"]

Video Note Format

Use the exact template format:

---
class: Video
media: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID
publishDate: YYYY-MM-DD
status: Summarized
duration: Xm or Xh Ym
reviewFrequency:
lastReviewedDate:
review:
aliases:
tags: ["tag1", "tag2"]
cssclasses:
archived:
---
Related:

## Summary

- **Key point** - Details
- **Key point** - Details

## Why Watch?

<Brief recommendation on whether/why to watch, target audience, length note>

Summary Guidelines

• Use bullet points with bold key concepts
• Adjust detail level based on video length:
  • < 5 min: 3-5 bullets
  • 5-15 min: 5-8 bullets
  • 15-30 min: 8-12 bullets
  • 30+ min: Use sections/headers, 12+ bullets
• Focus on actionable takeaways, not timestamps
• "Why Watch?" should help user decide if they need to actually watch it

Duration Formatting

• Under 60 min: Xm (e.g., 23m)
• 60+ min: Xh Ym (e.g., 1h 15m)

Title Sanitization

Remove or replace these characters for filenames:

• : → -
• / → -
• | → -
• ? → (remove)
• " → (remove)
• < > → (remove)

Examples

/video-summarize https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abc123
/video-summarize abc123 "Tech Talks"
/video-summarize https://youtu.be/xyz789 Atlassian

Path Handling

CRITICAL - Never escape spaces with backslashes:

• Use paths exactly as shown: my-vault/06 Knowledge Base/... (with literal spaces)
• The Write tool handles spaces correctly - backslash escaping creates literal \ characters in directory names
• When using Bash commands, wrap paths in double quotes: "my-vault/06 Knowledge Base/..."

Notes

• Reuses youtube_helper.py from youtube-catchup skill (no duplicate code)
• If transcript unavailable, note this in the summary and summarize from description/title only
• Check if note already exists before creating (search by video ID in media field)