How does it handle duplicate lines in auto-generated captions?

It uses a specialized Python post-processing script to filter out overlapping timestamps and redundant phrases common in YouTube's auto-captioning system.

What output file formats does the skill provide?

The skill generates standard .vtt files (with timestamps) and automatically creates a cleaned .txt file with deduplicated lines for easy reading and analysis.

Do I need to install yt-dlp or Whisper myself?

No, the skill includes built-in installation checks and can automatically install required dependencies like yt-dlp or Whisper with your permission.

Does this work for videos without any captions?

Yes. If no manual or auto-generated captions are found on YouTube, the skill can download the audio and use OpenAI's Whisper model to transcribe the video from scratch.

YouTube Transcript Downloader

Name: YouTube Transcript Downloader
Author: xiaoqiuaming

byxiaoqiuaming

0•

Content Management

Downloads and processes YouTube video transcripts, captions, and subtitles into clean, deduplicated text files.

This skill enables Claude to extract text content from any YouTube video by intelligently leveraging yt-dlp for existing subtitles and OpenAI Whisper for AI-powered transcription when captions are unavailable. It manages the entire workflow from environment checks and tool installation to advanced post-processing, which includes removing duplicate lines from auto-generated captions to produce highly readable text documents. It is an essential utility for researchers, content creators, and developers who need to analyze or repurpose video content efficiently.

Key Features

01Automatic downloading of manual and auto-generated YouTube subtitles via yt-dlp

02Automated tool installation and environment setup for macOS, Linux, and Windows

03AI-powered transcription fallback using Whisper for videos lacking native captions

04Metadata extraction for sanitized and descriptive file naming based on video titles

05Intelligent VTT-to-TXT conversion with automated line deduplication

060 GitHub stars

Use Cases

01Creating searchable text archives and documentation from video libraries

02Extracting specific quotes or code snippets from technical video demonstrations

03Summarizing educational tutorials, lectures, or long-form video interviews

What are Skills?·How to Install

Install with 🐟 Skill.Fish

npx skillfish add xiaoqiuaming/mt_tenant youtube-transcript

For use in Claude.ai and ChatGPT

Download Skill