Does this skill require external software?

Yes, it utilizes yt-dlp for downloading and optionally OpenAI's Whisper for videos that do not have native subtitles.

What is the quality of the plain text output?

The skill includes a Python-based post-processing step that removes duplicate lines and VTT timestamps, resulting in clean, readable text.

Will it work on macOS and Linux?

Yes, it includes automated installation logic for Homebrew (macOS), apt (Linux), and pip (Universal).

Can it handle videos without any subtitles?

Yes, the skill includes a fallback workflow that downloads the audio and transcribes it using Whisper AI after seeking user confirmation.

Can I choose between different subtitle languages?

The skill automatically checks for available subtitles and prioritizes manual captions, but it can be directed to list and fetch specific languages.

YouTube Transcript Downloader

Name: YouTube Transcript Downloader
Author: kivilaid

bykivilaid

•

Web Scraping & Data Collection

Extracts and converts YouTube video transcripts into clean, readable text files directly within the terminal.

About

This skill empowers Claude to fetch subtitles and captions from any YouTube video by leveraging yt-dlp and OpenAI's Whisper. It manages the entire workflow—from checking availability and installing dependencies to post-processing VTT files into deduplicated plain text—making it an essential tool for summarizing videos or extracting documentation without leaving the CLI environment.

Key Features

Automated yt-dlp installation and dependency management
Priority-based fetching for manual and auto-generated captions
6 GitHub stars
Whisper AI fallback for videos lacking native subtitles
VTT-to-Text conversion with intelligent line deduplication
Sanitized filename generation based on YouTube video titles

Use Cases

Extracting text content from videos for documentation and blogs
Analyzing video content using AI without manual transcription
Summarizing technical video tutorials or conference talks

About

Key Features

Automated yt-dlp installation and dependency management
Priority-based fetching for manual and auto-generated captions
6 GitHub stars
Whisper AI fallback for videos lacking native subtitles
VTT-to-Text conversion with intelligent line deduplication
Sanitized filename generation based on YouTube video titles

Use Cases

Extracting text content from videos for documentation and blogs
Analyzing video content using AI without manual transcription
Summarizing technical video tutorials or conference talks