# Watch Video > SLASH-COMMAND-ONLY. Invoke ONLY when the user explicitly types the literal `/watch-video` slash command. Never auto-trigger on phrases like "watch this video," "summarize this video," "take notes on this video," or on a bare YouTube URL. For ad-hoc YouTube questions, fetch the transcript directly (YouTube page or yt-dlp) and skim — do not run this heavyweight pipeline. - Skill: `newuxtreme/watch-video` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 5 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add newuxtreme/watch-video` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/newuxtreme/watch-video/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: DevOps & Infra - Author: Newuxtreme (https://skillmd.com/u/newuxtreme) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/newuxtreme/watch-video --- # Watch Video Claude can't stream video directly. This skill fakes it: a Python pipeline (vendored from [bradautomates/claude-video](https://github.com/bradautomates/claude-video) under `scripts/`) downloads the video, extracts auto-scaled JPEG frames with ffmpeg, pulls a timestamped transcript (native captions first, Whisper API fallback), and prints a markdown report listing every frame path. Claude then `Read`s each frame, aligns it to the spoken text, and writes a structured notes file. ## When to invoke **Slash-command only.** Run this skill ONLY when the user literally types `/watch-video`. That is the sole trigger. Do NOT invoke on: - Casual phrases like "watch this video," "summarize this," "take notes on this YouTube video," "analyze this reel" - A bare YouTube URL pasted with a question ("what useful tips are in this video?" + URL) - Any natural-language ask about a video that lacks the explicit `/watch-video` command **Default for YouTube questions without the slash command:** pull the transcript the fastest way available — fetch the YouTube page / use yt-dlp captions / a transcript site — skim it, and answer from that. The frame-extraction pipeline is overkill unless the user explicitly asks for it via `/watch-video`. > If you'd rather have auto-trigger behavior, edit the `description:` line above to match the keywords you want Claude to fire on (e.g. "Use when the user wants Claude to watch, analyze, or take notes on a video"). Slash-only is the default in this repo because explicit invocation prevents accidental token burn on long videos. ## Dependencies - **ffmpeg + ffprobe** on PATH — for frame and audio extraction - **yt-dlp** on PATH — for downloading and caption fetching - **Python 3.9+** — the bundled scripts use `from __future__ import annotations` so 3.9 works - **Optional:** Whisper API key for videos without native captions. Set `GROQ_API_KEY` (preferred — cheaper/faster, runs `whisper-large-v3`) or `OPENAI_API_KEY` in `~/.config/watch/.env`. Without one, captioned videos work fine; uncaptioned videos return frames-only. Run `python scripts/setup.py --check` to verify dependencies, or `python scripts/setup.py` to scaffold the `.env` and check binaries. On macOS, the installer auto-installs missing binaries via Homebrew. On Linux/Windows, it prints exact install commands. ## Pipeline The work happens in `scripts/watch.py`. It downloads, extracts, transcribes, and prints a markdown report to stdout that lists every frame path. The pipeline auto-scales the frame budget by duration (hard cap 100 frames / 2 fps), so no manual interval tuning. ``` python scripts/watch.py "" [flags] ``` Flags worth knowing: - `--start T` / `--end T` — focus on a section (`SS`, `MM:SS`, or `HH:MM:SS`). Auto-scales fps denser inside the range. Use this for any question about a specific moment, or for any video > 10 min where the user's question is about one part. - `--max-frames N` — lower the cap for tighter token budget (default 80, hard max 100). - `--resolution W` — frame width in px (default 512; bump to 1024 only if on-screen text is unreadable). - `--whisper groq|openai` — force a specific Whisper backend (default: prefer Groq if both keys exist). - `--no-whisper` — skip transcription entirely if no captions. Frames-only output. - `--out-dir DIR` — keep working files somewhere specific (default: an auto-generated tmp dir). Auto-fps budgets (full-video mode): - ≤30s → up to 30 frames - 30s–1min → ~40 frames - 1–3min → ~60 frames - 3–10min → ~80 frames - \>10min → 100 frames sparse (warning printed; consider `--start`/`--end`) ## Step-by-step workflow ### 1. Run the pipeline Default invocation, no flags: ``` python scripts/watch.py "" ``` For long videos where the user asked about a specific moment, pass `--start`/`--end`: ``` python scripts/watch.py "" --start 2:15 --end 2:45 ``` The script writes everything to a tmp working directory and prints a markdown report to stdout. Capture the stdout — it contains: - Header (Title, Uploader, Duration, Transcript source: `captions` / `whisper (groq)` / `whisper (openai)` / `none available`) - `## Frames` section with `- \`\` (t=MM:SS)` lines - `## Transcript` section with `[MM:SS] text...` lines - Footer with `Work dir: ` ### 2. Read every frame Read all the listed frame paths in a single message (parallel `Read` tool calls). The Read tool renders JPEGs as images. Each frame's filename + `t=MM:SS` from the report tells you when it occurred — pair each frame with the matching transcript line at that timestamp. For very long videos (>10 min, sparse mode): the budget already capped at 100 frames, so reading all of them is fine. ### 3. Write the summary Output file: `/-notes.md` by default. If the user said "save notes somewhere permanent," ask where. Structure the markdown like this: ```markdown # **Source:** <URL or local path> **Duration:** <mm:ss> **Uploader:** <if from YouTube> **Transcript source:** <captions / whisper (groq) / whisper (openai) / none> ## One-line summary <≤20 words — the core claim or hook of the video> ## TL;DR <3–5 bullet points capturing the main arguments, moments, or beats> ## Timeline - **[00:00]** <what's happening visually + the key line being said> - **[00:15]** ... <one row per meaningful beat, not per frame> ## Key quotes > "<verbatim quote>" — [mm:ss] ## Visual notes <what the video shows that the transcript alone would miss — setting, B-roll, on-screen text, graphics, transitions, subject's emotion> ## Takeaways (optional) <Only include if the content is directly relevant to the user's domain or goals. Omit otherwise.> ``` ### 4. Clean up After the `.md` is written, delete the work dir (it contains the full downloaded video + frames, which is large). The script prints `Work dir: <path>` in the footer of its report; pass that path to `rm -rf`. If the user specified a non-tmp `--out-dir`, ask before deleting. ## Common gotchas - **YouTube Shorts / age-gated / members-only** — yt-dlp may fail. Surface its stderr verbatim; don't retry silently. - **No captions + no Whisper key** — the report says `Transcript: none available` and points at `setup.py`. Tell the user they can add a Groq key to `~/.config/watch/.env` for Whisper, or use `--no-whisper` for frames-only. - **Local file with no audio track** — Whisper extraction errors out cleanly. Use `--no-whisper` for frames-only. - **Very long videos (>30 min)** — confirm with the user before running. The pipeline caps at 100 frames so the budget is bounded, but a sparse 100-frame scan of a 60-min video isn't very useful. Almost always better to run focused on the specific section. - **Cloudflare 403 on Groq** — `whisper.py` already sets a custom User-Agent to clear Cloudflare's default-Python-UA block. If you ever see a 403, that's the failure mode. - **No automatic Groq → OpenAI fallback** — the script picks one Whisper backend at the start of each run (Groq if its key is set, else OpenAI) and stays on it. If Groq rate-limits, the script retries Groq twice then errors out. To use OpenAI instead, pass `--whisper openai`. ## What NOT to do - Don't attempt to "watch" a video by inventing content based on title or thumbnail. If the pipeline fails, say so. - Don't write the summary before actually reading frames. The transcript alone misses visual context (B-roll, on-screen text, emotion, graphics, transitions). - Don't skip cleanup. Frame dumps + downloaded videos are large. - Don't auto-fire on a video URL. Slash-command-only — see "When to invoke" above. ## Engine attribution The pipeline scripts under `scripts/` are vendored from [bradautomates/claude-video](https://github.com/bradautomates/claude-video) (MIT). See [THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md](THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md) for the full upstream license.