File contents CLI Reference
Load this when you need full flag details or pipeline composition patterns beyond what
--help provides.
Global Flags
These flags work on any subcommand:
Flag
Purpose
-f json/textOutput format (default: json for search/metadata/channel, text for transcript)
-t <topic>Topic subdirectory for saved files (default: general)
-d <path>Override base dir (default: ~/youtube-research, env: YT_RESEARCH_DIR)
--cookies <browser>Browser cookie auth for age-restricted/private content (chrome, firefox, safari, brave, edge)
-qSuppress progress messages on stderr
--dry-runShow yt-dlp command without executing
-b <file> / --batch <file>Read URLs from file, one per line. Use - for stdin. Not available on search.
--no-colorDisable colored output (also auto-disabled when NO_COLOR is set or stdout is not a TTY)
Environment Variables
Variable
Equivalent flag
YT_RESEARCH_DIR--dir
YT_RESEARCH_TOPIC--topic
YT_RESEARCH_COOKIES--cookies
NO_COLOR--no-color
Precedence: flags > env vars > defaults.
Exit Codes
Code
Meaning
0
Success
1
Usage error (invalid args, unknown subcommand)
2
yt-dlp not found or incompatible version
3
Network/download error (yt-dlp failed, URL unreachable, private video)
4
No results (search empty, no subtitles available, channel has no videos)
On batch operations: exit 0 if at least one URL succeeded. Exit 3 only if every URL failed.
Pipeline Patterns
Chain subcommands with standard Unix tools for multi-step workflows:
# Search, filter with jq, extract transcripts
python3 ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/youtube-research/scripts/yt_research.py search "topic" --count 20 \
| jq -r '.[].url' \
| python3 ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/youtube-research/scripts/yt_research.py transcript --batch - --save -t topic
# Filter search results by duration before processing
python3 ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/youtube-research/scripts/yt_research.py search "topic" --count 20 \
| jq '[.[] | select(.duration > 300)]' \
| jq -r '.[].url' \
| python3 ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/youtube-research/scripts/yt_research.py transcript --batch - --save -t topic
# Channel audit: get all videos, then deep metadata for each
python3 ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/youtube-research/scripts/yt_research.py channel "@someone" --limit 100 \
| jq -r '.[].url' \
| python3 ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/youtube-research/scripts/yt_research.py metadata --batch - > channel_metadata.json
1 --- 2 name: 416-cli-reference-ef10a01a 3 description: CLI Reference 4 --- 5 # CLI Reference 6 7 Load this when you need full flag details or pipeline composition patterns beyond what 8 `--help` provides. 9 10 ## Global Flags 11 12 These flags work on any subcommand: 13 14 | Flag | Purpose | 15 |------|---------| 16 | `-f json/text` | Output format (default: json for search/metadata/channel, text for transcript) | 17 | `-t <topic>` | Topic subdirectory for saved files (default: general) | 18 | `-d <path>` | Override base dir (default: ~/youtube-research, env: `YT_RESEARCH_DIR`) | 19 | `--cookies <browser>` | Browser cookie auth for age-restricted/private content (chrome, firefox, safari, brave, edge) | 20 | `-q` | Suppress progress messages on stderr | 21 | `--dry-run` | Show yt-dlp command without executing | 22 | `-b <file>` / `--batch <file>` | Read URLs from file, one per line. Use `-` for stdin. Not available on `search`. | 23 | `--no-color` | Disable colored output (also auto-disabled when `NO_COLOR` is set or stdout is not a TTY) | 24 25 ## Environment Variables 26 27 | Variable | Equivalent flag | 28 |----------|-----------------| 29 | `YT_RESEARCH_DIR` | `--dir` | 30 | `YT_RESEARCH_TOPIC` | `--topic` | 31 | `YT_RESEARCH_COOKIES` | `--cookies` | 32 | `NO_COLOR` | `--no-color` | 33 34 Precedence: flags > env vars > defaults. 35 36 ## Exit Codes 37 38 | Code | Meaning | 39 |------|---------| 40 | 0 | Success | 41 | 1 | Usage error (invalid args, unknown subcommand) | 42 | 2 | yt-dlp not found or incompatible version | 43 | 3 | Network/download error (yt-dlp failed, URL unreachable, private video) | 44 | 4 | No results (search empty, no subtitles available, channel has no videos) | 45 46 On batch operations: exit 0 if at least one URL succeeded. Exit 3 only if every URL failed. 47 48 ## Pipeline Patterns 49 50 Chain subcommands with standard Unix tools for multi-step workflows: 51 52 ```bash 53 # Search, filter with jq, extract transcripts 54 python3 ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/youtube-research/scripts/yt_research.py search "topic" --count 20 \ 55 | jq -r '.[].url' \ 56 | python3 ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/youtube-research/scripts/yt_research.py transcript --batch - --save -t topic 57 58 # Filter search results by duration before processing 59 python3 ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/youtube-research/scripts/yt_research.py search "topic" --count 20 \ 60 | jq '[.[] | select(.duration > 300)]' \ 61 | jq -r '.[].url' \ 62 | python3 ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/youtube-research/scripts/yt_research.py transcript --batch - --save -t topic 63 64 # Channel audit: get all videos, then deep metadata for each 65 python3 ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/youtube-research/scripts/yt_research.py channel "@someone" --limit 100 \ 66 | jq -r '.[].url' \ 67 | python3 ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/youtube-research/scripts/yt_research.py metadata --batch - > channel_metadata.json 68 ```
commit db5f35e16a
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