--- name: youtube-transcriber description: > Transcribe YouTube videos and playlists by extracting auto-generated captions directly from the browser — no API key, no external service, completely free. Trigger on: "transcribe this video", "transcribe this playlist", "get the transcript", "extract captions", "what does this video say", "תמלל את הסרטון", "תמלל פלייליסט", or any request involving extracting text/captions/subtitles from a YouTube video or playlist URL. Also trigger when the user pastes a YouTube URL and asks about its content. --- # YouTube Transcriber Extract transcripts from YouTube videos and playlists using browser-based caption extraction. Works with any video that has auto-generated or manual captions — no API key required. > **Environment note:** This skill works in both Claude Code and Cowork. It requires the **Claude in Chrome** extension in both environments. The Chrome MCP tools (`navigate`, `javascript_tool`, `get_page_text`, etc.) work identically in both. --- ## Prerequisites This skill requires **Claude in Chrome** (browser automation). If the Chrome MCP tools (`navigate`, `javascript_tool`, `get_page_text`, etc.) are not available, inform the user: - **Cowork**: "Install the Claude in Chrome extension from your browser" - **Claude Code**: "Add the Chrome MCP extension and ensure it's running" --- ## Single Video Transcription ### Step 1: Navigate to the video ``` navigate to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v={VIDEO_ID} ``` Wait for the page to load. If given a short URL (youtu.be/ID) or a URL with extra params, extract the video ID and use the canonical format above. ### Step 2: Expand the description to reveal the transcript button Use `javascript_tool` to click "...more" on the description: ```javascript const expandBtn = document.querySelector('#description-inline-expander #expand') || document.querySelector('tp-yt-paper-button#expand'); if (expandBtn) expandBtn.click(); ``` Wait 1-2 seconds for the description to expand. ### Step 3: Open the transcript panel Use `javascript_tool` to find and click the "Show transcript" button: ```javascript const buttons = document.querySelectorAll('button.yt-spec-button-shape-next'); let clicked = false; buttons.forEach(b => { if (b.innerText.includes('Show transcript') || b.innerText.includes('הצגת תמליל') || b.innerText.includes('להצגת התמליל')) { b.click(); clicked = true; } }); clicked ? 'Transcript panel opened' : 'Show transcript button not found'; ``` Wait 2 seconds for the transcript panel to load. **If the transcript button is not found**, the video may not have captions. Inform the user. ### Step 4: Scroll the transcript panel to load all segments YouTube lazy-loads transcript segments. Scroll the engagement panel to trigger loading: ```javascript (() => { const panel = document.querySelector( 'ytd-engagement-panel-section-list-renderer[visibility="ENGAGEMENT_PANEL_VISIBILITY_EXPANDED"]' ); if (!panel) return 'No transcript panel found'; const scroller = panel.querySelector('#content'); if (!scroller) return 'No scrollable content found'; // Scroll to bottom to trigger lazy-load scroller.scrollTop = scroller.scrollHeight; return 'Scrolled transcript panel'; })(); ``` **Important**: Run this scroll snippet 2-3 times with a short pause between each call to ensure all segments load. For long videos (10+ minutes), scroll more aggressively. ### Step 5: Extract the transcript text Use `javascript_tool` to extract text from the engagement panel and parse it: ```javascript (() => { const panel = document.querySelector( 'ytd-engagement-panel-section-list-renderer[visibility="ENGAGEMENT_PANEL_VISIBILITY_EXPANDED"]' ); if (!panel) return 'ERROR: No transcript panel found'; const raw = panel.innerText; const lines = raw.split('\n').map(l => l.trim()).filter(l => l.length > 0); const timestampRe = /^(\d{1,2}:)?\d{1,2}:\d{2}$/; const hebrewTimeWords = /שני|דקו|שעה/; const result = []; for (let i = 0; i < lines.length; i++) { if (timestampRe.test(lines[i])) { const ts = lines[i]; let text = ''; if (i + 1 < lines.length && !timestampRe.test(lines[i + 1])) { if (hebrewTimeWords.test(lines[i + 1])) { if (i + 2 < lines.length && !timestampRe.test(lines[i + 2])) { text = lines[i + 2]; i += 2; } else { i += 1; continue; } } else { text = lines[i + 1]; i += 1; } } if (text) result.push(ts + ' ' + text); } } return result.length > 0 ? result.join('\n') : 'ERROR: Could not parse transcript lines. Raw line count: ' + lines.length; })(); ``` ### Step 6: Get the video title Use `javascript_tool`: ```javascript document.querySelector('yt-formatted-string.ytd-watch-metadata')?.innerText || document.title; ``` ### Step 7: Format and save Combine the video title, URL, and transcript into a clean document: ``` # {Video Title} Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v={VIDEO_ID} {timestamp} {text} {timestamp} {text} ... ``` Save to the outputs folder as a `.txt` file. --- ## Playlist Transcription When the user provides a playlist URL: ### Step P1: Extract video IDs from the playlist Navigate to the playlist URL, then use `javascript_tool`: ```javascript (() => { const links = document.querySelectorAll('a#video-title'); const videos = []; const seen = new Set(); links.forEach(a => { const href = a.href; const match = href.match(/[?&]v=([a-zA-Z0-9_-]{11})/); if (match && !seen.has(match[1])) { seen.add(match[1]); videos.push({ id: match[1], title: a.innerText.trim() }); } }); return JSON.stringify(videos); })(); ``` If the playlist has many videos, scroll down first to load them all: ```javascript for (let i = 0; i < 10; i++) { window.scrollBy(0, 2000); await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, 500)); } ``` ### Step P2: Transcribe each video Loop through each video ID and follow Steps 1-7 from Single Video Transcription. Store each transcript in a separate variable/file, then compile at the end. **Important**: Between videos, navigate directly to the next URL — do not rely on the playlist's auto-play. ### Step P3: Compile all transcripts Create a compiled file with all transcripts separated by headers: ``` ============================================================ Video 1: {Title} URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v={ID} ============================================================ {transcript} ============================================================ Video 2: {Title} ... ``` Save to outputs as `{playlist-name}-transcripts.txt`. --- ## Error Handling | Problem | Solution | |---------|----------| | "Show transcript" button not found | The video may not have captions. Try checking if captions exist via the CC button in the player controls. | | Transcript panel loads but is empty | Scroll the panel more aggressively (increase scroll iterations to 20+). | | Hebrew/Arabic time descriptions mixed in | The extraction script filters these out using the `hebrewTimeWords` regex. If new patterns appear, add them. | | Wrong language detected by YouTube | YouTube sometimes misdetects the language for songs. Note this in the output but still extract whatever text is available. | | Very short video (<30 seconds) | May not have auto-generated captions. Inform the user and offer to describe the video content instead. | | `navigate` tool not available | This skill requires Claude in Chrome. Suggest installing the Chrome extension. | --- ## Tips - **Quality**: Auto-generated captions vary in quality. Songs and heavily accented speech may produce inaccurate text. Always note when transcripts are auto-generated. - **Languages**: This works with any language that YouTube generates captions for. The extraction is language-agnostic. - **Large playlists**: For playlists with 20+ videos, consider processing in batches and saving intermediate results to avoid losing work. - **Educational use**: After transcription, you can create vocabulary sheets, summaries, study guides, or flashcards from the transcript content. Ask the user what they'd like to do with the transcripts.