About zlatkoc/youtube-summarize
zlatkoc/youtube-summarize is an MCP server published by zlatkoc in the AI category: mCP server that fetches YouTube video transcripts and optionally summarizes them.
The repository has 6 stars and 2 forks, with the last commit 20 days ago. Recent commit activity is the strongest signal that reported issues will get attention.
Install
git clone https://github.com/zlatkoc/youtube-summarizeThis server has no ConduID identity, so agent calls to it are not receipted. Pin the version you install and review the source before granting it credentials.
Ask AI
Ask AI about zlatkoc/youtube-summarize
Powered by Claude · Grounded in docs
Security checks
Static checks derived from the repository 4 days ago. Heuristics on the source, not an audit.
- ✓README presentThe repository ships documentation.
- ✓License declaredUsable under a stated license.
- ✓Tests presentA test suite exists in the repository.
- ✓Dependencies pinnedA lockfile pins dependency versions.
- ✓No dynamic code executionSource scan found no eval, dynamic Function, or shell execution.
- !Scoped permissionsDoesn't declare a permission scope. Assume it can do anything its process can.
Releases
README
youtube-summarize
MCP server that fetches YouTube video transcripts and optionally summarizes them.
Features
- Fetch transcripts in multiple formats (text, JSON, SRT, WebVTT, pretty-print)
- Video metadata — title, description, channel, upload date, duration, views, chapters (via yt-dlp)
- Optional timestamps in plain-text transcripts
- Summarize videos — returns transcript with the prompt clearly broken out for human review before the LLM acts on it
- List playlist videos — fast enumeration of any public playlist with optional sorting
- Search videos — clean ranked results with sort and filter options, without the ads, Shorts shelves, and personalized recommendations of the YouTube website
- List available languages for any video's transcripts
- Flexible URL parsing — accepts full YouTube URLs (
youtube.com/watch?v=,youtu.be/,youtube.com/embed/,youtube.com/shorts/) or bare video IDs - Multi-language support — request transcripts in specific languages with fallback priority
Tools
get_transcript
Fetch a YouTube video's transcript. By default the response is prefixed with a [METADATA] block (title, channel, published, duration, views, description); pass include_metadata=false for transcript-only output.
| Parameter | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
url |
string | required | YouTube video URL or video ID |
languages |
string[] | ["en"] |
Preferred languages in priority order |
format |
string | "text" |
Output format: text, json, pretty, webvtt, srt |
preserve_formatting |
boolean | false |
Keep HTML formatting tags in the transcript |
include_timestamps |
boolean | false |
When true with format="text", prefix each line with [HH:MM:SS]. Ignored for other formats (they already include timestamps). |
include_metadata |
boolean | true |
Prepend a [METADATA] block before the transcript. Pass false for transcript-only output. |
summarize_transcript
Fetch a transcript and return it with summarization instructions. The response is structured into clearly-labeled sections ([INSTRUCTIONS], [PROMPT_SOURCE], [VIDEO], [METADATA], [TRANSCRIPT]) so a human can review the prompt before letting the LLM act on it.
| Parameter | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
url |
string | required | YouTube video URL or video ID |
prompt |
string | (default prompt) | Custom summarization instructions |
languages |
string[] | ["en"] |
Preferred languages in priority order |
include_timestamps |
boolean | false |
Prefix each transcript line with [HH:MM:SS]. |
include_metadata |
boolean | true |
Include a [VIDEO] block with title, channel, published, duration, views, and description. |
get_video_metadata
Fetch metadata (title, description, channel, upload date, duration, views, tags, chapters, etc.) for a YouTube video. Backed by yt-dlp.
| Parameter | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
url |
string | required | YouTube video URL or video ID |
list_playlist_videos
List the videos in a YouTube playlist (title, ID, channel, duration, views, URL). Per-video metadata is intentionally lean so the call stays fast even for large playlists; call get_video_metadata with a specific video ID for full detail.
| Parameter | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
url |
string | required | YouTube playlist URL (with ?list=...) or bare playlist ID |
limit |
integer | 500 |
Maximum videos to return |
sort_by |
string | "index" |
One of: index (playlist order), title, duration, views. upload_date is not supported. |
order |
string | "asc" |
asc or desc |
search_videos
Search YouTube for videos and return a clean ranked list (title, ID, channel, duration, views, URL) — only actual videos, with no ads, recommendation shelves, or personalization. Relevance ordering still comes from YouTube's backend. Pair with get_transcript or summarize_transcript on a result's ID or URL.
| Parameter | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
query |
string | required | Search terms |
limit |
integer | 10 |
Maximum results to return |
sort_by |
string | "relevance" |
One of: relevance, date (newest first), views, rating |
uploaded |
string | "any" |
Filter by upload time: any, hour, today, week, month, year |
duration |
string | "any" |
Filter by length: any, short (<4 min), medium (4–20 min), long (>20 min) |
list_transcripts
List available transcript languages for a video.
| Parameter | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
url |
string | required | YouTube video URL or video ID |
Installation
Quick start (recommended)
uvx youtube-summarize
Claude Desktop
Add to your claude_desktop_config.json:
- macOS:
~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json - Windows:
%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
{
"mcpServers": {
"youtube-summarize": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": ["youtube-summarize"]
}
}
}
Claude Code
claude mcp add youtube-summarize -- uvx youtube-summarize
Other MCP clients
Run the server over stdio:
uvx youtube-summarize
Prerequisites
- Python 3.13+
- uv package manager
Development
# Install dependencies
uv sync
# Launch the MCP inspector (web UI for testing tools)
uv run mcp dev main.py
License
MIT
mcp-name: io.github.zlatkoc/youtube-summarize
README fetched from the repository 4 days ago. The original is authoritative.