Youtube Summarizer

youtube-summarizer

Purpose

This skill extracts transcripts from YouTube videos and generates comprehensive, verbose summaries using the STAR + R-I-S-E framework. It validates video availability, extracts transcripts using the youtube-transcript-api Python library, and produces detailed documentation capturing all insights, arguments, and key points.

The skill is designed for users who need thorough content analysis and reference documentation from educational videos, lectures, tutorials, or informational content.

When to Use This Skill

This skill should be used when:

• User provides a YouTube video URL and wants a detailed summary
• User needs to document video content for reference without rewatching
• User wants to extract insights, key points, and arguments from educational content
• User needs transcripts from YouTube videos for analysis
• User asks to "summarize", "resume", or "extract content" from YouTube videos
• User wants comprehensive documentation prioritizing completeness over brevity

Step 0: Discovery & Setup

Before processing videos, validate the environment and dependencies:

# Check if youtube-transcript-api is installed
python3 -c "import youtube_transcript_api" 2>/dev/null
if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
    echo "⚠️  youtube-transcript-api not found"
    # Offer to install
fi

# Check Python availability
if ! command -v python3 &>/dev/null; then
    echo "❌ Python 3 is required but not installed"
    exit 1
fi

Ask the user if dependency is missing:

youtube-transcript-api is required but not installed.

Would you like to install it now?
- [ ] Yes - Install with pip (pip install youtube-transcript-api)
- [ ] No - I'll install it manually

If user selects "Yes":

pip install youtube-transcript-api

Verify installation:

python3 -c "import youtube_transcript_api; print('✅ youtube-transcript-api installed successfully')"

Main Workflow

Progress Tracking Guidelines

Throughout the workflow, display a visual progress gauge before each step to keep the user informed. The gauge format is:

echo "[████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░] 20% - Step 1/5: Validating URL"

Format specifications:

• 20 characters wide (use █ for filled, ░ for empty)
• Percentage increments: Step 1=20%, Step 2=40%, Step 3=60%, Step 4=80%, Step 5=100%
• Step counter showing current/total (e.g., "Step 3/5")
• Brief description of current phase

Display the initial status box before Step 1:

╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║     📹  YOUTUBE SUMMARIZER - Processing Video                ║
╠══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ → Step 1: Validating URL                 [IN PROGRESS]       ║
║ ○ Step 2: Checking Availability                              ║
║ ○ Step 3: Extracting Transcript                              ║
║ ○ Step 4: Generating Summary                                 ║
║ ○ Step 5: Formatting Output                                  ║
╠══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ Progress: ██████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░  20%               ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

Step 1: Validate YouTube URL

Objective: Extract video ID and validate URL format.

Supported URL Formats:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID
• https://youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID
• https://youtu.be/VIDEO_ID
• https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID

Actions:

# Extract video ID using regex or URL parsing
URL="$USER_PROVIDED_URL"

# Pattern 1: youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID
if echo "$URL" | grep -qE 'youtube\.com/watch\?v='; then
    VIDEO_ID=$(echo "$URL" | sed -E 's/.*[?&]v=([^&]+).*/\1/')
# Pattern 2: youtu.be/VIDEO_ID  
elif echo "$URL" | grep -qE 'youtu\.be/'; then
    VIDEO_ID=$(echo "$URL" | sed -E 's/.*youtu\.be\/([^?]+).*/\1/')
else
    echo "❌ Invalid YouTube URL format"
    exit 1
fi

echo "📹 Video ID extracted: $VIDEO_ID"

If URL is invalid:

❌ Invalid YouTube URL

Please provide a valid YouTube URL in one of these formats:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID
- https://youtu.be/VIDEO_ID

Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ

Step 2: Check Video & Transcript Availability

Progress:

echo "[████████░░░░░░░░░░░░] 40% - Step 2/5: Checking Availability"

Objective: Verify video exists and transcript is accessible.

Actions:

from youtube_transcript_api import YouTubeTranscriptApi, TranscriptsDisabled, NoTranscriptFound
import sys

video_id = sys.argv[1]

try:
    # Get list of available transcripts
    transcript_list = YouTubeTranscriptApi.list_transcripts(video_id)
    
    print(f"✅ Video accessible: {video_id}")
    print("📝 Available transcripts:")
    
    for transcript in transcript_list:
        print(f"  - {transcript.language} ({transcript.language_code})")
        if transcript.is_generated:
            print("    [Auto-generated]")
    
except TranscriptsDisabled:
    print(f"❌ Transcripts are disabled for video {video_id}")
    sys.exit(1)
    
except NoTranscriptFound:
    print(f"❌ No transcript found for video {video_id}")
    sys.exit(1)
    
except Exception as e:
    print(f"❌ Error accessing video: {e}")
    sys.exit(1)

Error Handling:

Step 3: Extract Transcript

Progress:

echo "[████████████░░░░░░░░] 60% - Step 3/5: Extracting Transcript"

Objective: Retrieve transcript in preferred language.

Actions:

from youtube_transcript_api import YouTubeTranscriptApi

video_id = "VIDEO_ID"

try:
    # Try to get transcript in user's preferred language first
    # Fall back to English if not available
    transcript = YouTubeTranscriptApi.get_transcript(
        video_id, 
        languages=['pt', 'en']  # Prefer Portuguese, fallback to English
    )
    
    # Combine transcript segments into full text
    full_text = " ".join([entry['text'] for entry in transcript])
    
    # Get video metadata
    from youtube_transcript_api import YouTubeTranscriptApi
    transcript_list = YouTubeTranscriptApi.list_transcripts(video_id)
    
    print("✅ Transcript extracted successfully")
    print(f"📊 Transcript length: {len(full_text)} characters")
    
    # Save to temporary file for processing
    with open(f"/tmp/transcript_{video_id}.txt", "w") as f:
        f.write(full_text)
    
except Exception as e:
    print(f"❌ Error extracting transcript: {e}")
    exit(1)

Transcript Processing:

• Combine all transcript segments into coherent text
• Preserve punctuation and formatting where available
• Remove duplicate or overlapping segments (if auto-generated artifacts)
• Store in temporary file for analysis

Step 4: Generate Comprehensive Summary

Progress:

echo "[████████████████░░░░] 80% - Step 4/5: Generating Summary"

Objective: Apply enhanced STAR + R-I-S-E prompt to create detailed summary.

Prompt Applied:

Use the enhanced prompt from Phase 2 (STAR + R-I-S-E framework) with the extracted transcript as input.

Actions:

1. Load the full transcript text 2. Apply the comprehensive summarization prompt 3. Use AI model (Claude/GPT) to generate structured summary 4. Ensure output follows the defined structure:

• Header with video metadata
• Executive synthesis
• Detailed section-by-section breakdown
• Key insights and conclusions
• Concepts and terminology
• Resources and references

Implementation:

# Use the transcript file as input to the AI prompt
TRANSCRIPT_FILE="/tmp/transcript_${VIDEO_ID}.txt"

# The AI agent will:
# 1. Read the transcript
# 2. Apply the STAR + R-I-S-E summarization framework
# 3. Generate comprehensive Markdown output
# 4. Structure with headers, lists, and highlights

Read "$TRANSCRIPT_FILE"  # Read transcript into context

Then apply the full summarization prompt (from enhanced version in Phase 2).

Step 5: Format and Present Output

Progress:

echo "[████████████████████] 100% - Step 5/5: Formatting Output"

Objective: Deliver the summary in clean, well-structured Markdown.

Output Structure:

# [Video Title]

**Canal:** [Channel Name]  
**Duração:** [Duration]  
**URL:** [https://youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID]  
**Data de Publicação:** [Date if available]


## 📝 Detailed Summary

### [Topic 1]

[Comprehensive explanation with examples, data, quotes...]

#### [Subtopic 1.1]

[Detailed breakdown...]

### [Topic 2]

[Continued detailed analysis...]


## 📚 Concepts and Terminology

- **[Term 1]:** [Definition and context]
- **[Term 2]:** [Definition and context]


## 📌 Conclusion

[Final synthesis and takeaways]

Example 2: Missing Dependency

User Input:

claude> summarize this youtube video https://youtu.be/abc123

Skill Response:

⚠️  youtube-transcript-api not installed

This skill requires the Python library 'youtube-transcript-api'.

Would you like me to install it now?
- [ ] Yes - Install with pip
- [ ] No - I'll install manually

User selects "Yes":

$ pip install youtube-transcript-api
Successfully installed youtube-transcript-api-0.6.1

✅ Installation complete! Proceeding with video summary...

Example 4: Invalid URL

User Input:

claude> summarize youtube video www.youtube.com/some-video

Skill Response:

❌ Invalid YouTube URL format

Expected format examples:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID
- https://youtu.be/VIDEO_ID

Please provide a valid YouTube video URL.

📊 Executive Summary

This video provides a comprehensive introduction to the fundamental concepts of Artificial Intelligence (AI), designed for beginners and professionals who want to understand the technical foundations and practical applications of modern AI. The instructor covers everything from basic definitions to machine learning algorithms, using practical examples and visualizations to facilitate understanding.

[... continued detailed summary ...]

**Save Options:**

What would you like to save? → Summary + raw transcript

✅ File saved: resumo-exemplo123-2026-02-01.md (includes raw transcript) [████████████████████] 100% - ✓ Processing complete!

Welcome to this comprehensive tutorial on machine learning fundamentals. In today's video, we'll explore the core concepts that power modern AI systems...

Version: 1.2.0 Last Updated: 2026-02-02 Maintained By: Eric Andrade

Limitations

• Use this skill only when the task clearly matches the scope described above.
• Do not treat the output as a substitute for environment-specific validation, testing, or expert review.
• Stop and ask for clarification if required inputs, permissions, safety boundaries, or success criteria are missing.

Changelog - youtube-summarizer

All notable changes to the youtube-summarizer skill will be documented in this file.

The format is based on Keep a Changelog, and this project adheres to Semantic Versioning.

---

[1.2.1] - 2026-02-04

🐛 Fixed

• Exit code propagation in `--list` mode
• Issue: Script always exited with status 0 even when list_available_transcripts() failed
• Risk: Broke automation pipelines that rely on exit codes to detect failures
• Root Cause: Return value from list_available_transcripts() was ignored
• Solution: Now properly checks return value and exits with code 1 on failure
• Impact: Scripts in automation can now correctly detect when transcript listing fails (invalid video ID, network errors, etc.)

🔧 Changed

• extract-transcript.py (lines 58-60)
• Before: list_available_transcripts(video_id); sys.exit(0)
• After: success = list_available_transcripts(video_id); sys.exit(0 if success else 1)

📝 Notes

• Breaking Change: None - only affects error handling behavior
• Backward Compatibility: Scripts that check exit codes will now work correctly
• Migration: No changes needed for existing users

🔗 Related

• Identified by Codex automated review in antigravity-awesome-skills PR #62
• Also fixed in antigravity-awesome-skills fork

---

[1.2.0] - 2026-02-04

✨ Added

• Intelligent prompt workflow integration
• LLM processing with Claude CLI or GitHub Copilot CLI
• Progress indicators with rich terminal UI
• Multiple output formats
• Enhanced error handling

🔧 Changed

• Major refactor of transcript extraction logic
• Improved documentation in SKILL.md
• Updated installation requirements

---

[1.0.0] - 2025-02-01

✨ Initial Release

• YouTube transcript extraction
• Language detection and selection
• Basic summarization
• Markdown output format
• Support for multiple languages

🎥 youtube-summarizer

Extract transcripts from YouTube videos and generate comprehensive, detailed summaries

Version: 1.2.0 Status: ✨ Zero-Config | 🌍 Universal Platforms: GitHub Copilot CLI, Claude Code

---

Overview

The youtube-summarizer skill automates the extraction of YouTube video transcripts and generates verbose, structured summaries using the STAR + R-I-S-E framework. Perfect for documenting educational content, lectures, tutorials, or any informational videos without rewatching them.

---

Features

• 🎯 Automatic transcript extraction using youtube-transcript-api
• ✅ Video validation - Checks if video is accessible and has transcripts
• 🌍 Multi-language support - Prefers Portuguese, falls back to English
• 📊 Comprehensive summaries - Prioritizes detail and completeness
• 📝 Structured output - Markdown with headers, sections, insights
• 🔍 Metadata included - Video title, channel, duration, URL
• ⚡ Error handling - Clear messages for all failure scenarios
• 🛠️ Dependency management - Offers to install requirements automatically
• 📊 Progress gauge - Visual processing tracker across all steps
• 💾 Flexible save options - Summary-only, summary+transcript, or transcript-only (NEW v1.2.0)

---

Quick Start

Triggers

Activate this skill with any of these phrases:

# English
copilot> summarize this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID
copilot> summarize youtube video https://youtu.be/VIDEO_ID
copilot> extract youtube transcript https://youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID

# Portuguese (also supported)
copilot> resume este video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID

First-Time Setup

The skill will automatically check for dependencies and offer to install them:

⚠️  youtube-transcript-api not installed

Would you like me to install it now?
- [x] Yes - Install with pip
- [ ] No - I'll install manually

Select "Yes" and the skill handles installation automatically.

---

Use Cases

1. Educational Video Documentation

copilot> summarize this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abc123

Output:

• Comprehensive summary of lecture content
• Key concepts and terminology
• Examples and practical applications
• Resources mentioned in the video

2. Technical Tutorial Analysis

copilot> summarize youtube video https://youtu.be/xyz789

Output:

• Step-by-step breakdown of tutorial
• Code snippets and commands mentioned
• Best practices highlighted
• Troubleshooting tips documented

3. Conference Talk Reference

copilot> extract youtube transcript https://youtube.com/watch?v=def456

Output:

• Speaker insights and arguments
• Statistics and data points
• Case studies and examples
• Q&A session summary

4. Language Learning Content

copilot> summarize youtube video https://youtu.be/ghi789

Output:

• Vocabulary and expressions used
• Grammar points explained
• Cultural references
• Practice exercises mentioned

5. Research and Investigation

copilot> summarize youtube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkl012

Output:

• Research findings presented
• Methodology explained
• Results and conclusions
• Future work suggestions

---

Output Structure

Every summary follows this comprehensive structure:

# [Video Title]

**Canal:** [Channel Name]
**Duração:** [Duration]
**URL:** [Video URL]
**Data de Publicação:** [Date]

---

## 📊 Síntese Executiva
[High-level overview, 2-3 paragraphs]

---

## 📝 Resumo Detalhado
### [Topic 1]
[Detailed analysis with examples, data, quotes]

### [Topic 2]
[Continued breakdown...]

---

## 💡 Principais Insights
- **Insight 1:** [Explanation]
- **Insight 2:** [Explanation]

---

## 📚 Conceitos e Terminologia
- **Term 1:** [Definition]
- **Term 2:** [Definition]

---

## 🔗 Recursos Mencionados
- [Resource 1]
- [Resource 2]

---

## 📌 Conclusão
[Final synthesis and key takeaways]

---

Requirements

• Python 3.x (usually pre-installed on macOS/Linux)
• pip (Python package manager)
• [youtube-transcript-api](https://github.com/jdepoix/youtube-transcript-api) by Julien Depoix (installed automatically by the skill)

Manual Installation (Optional)

If you prefer to install dependencies manually:

pip install youtube-transcript-api

---

Supported URL Formats

The skill recognizes these YouTube URL formats:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID
• https://youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID
• https://youtu.be/VIDEO_ID
• https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID

---

Limitations

Videos That Work

✅ Public videos with auto-generated captions ✅ Videos with manual subtitles/captions ✅ Videos with transcripts in any supported language

Videos That Don't Work

❌ Private or unlisted videos ❌ Videos with transcripts disabled ❌ Age-restricted videos (may require authentication) ❌ Videos without any captions/subtitles

---

Error Messages

No Transcript Available

❌ No transcript available for this video

This skill requires videos with auto-generated captions or manual subtitles.
Unfortunately, transcripts are not enabled for this video.

Solution: Try a different video that has captions enabled.

Invalid URL

❌ Invalid YouTube URL format

Expected format examples:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID
- https://youtu.be/VIDEO_ID

Solution: Ensure you're providing a complete, valid YouTube URL.

Video Not Accessible

❌ Unable to access video

Possible reasons:
1. Video is private or unlisted
2. Video has been removed
3. Invalid video ID

Solution: Verify the URL and ensure the video is public.

---

FAQ

Q: How long does it take to generate a summary?

A: Depends on video length:

• Short videos (5-10 min): 30-60 seconds
• Medium videos (20-40 min): 1-2 minutes
• Long videos (60+ min): 2-5 minutes

Q: Can I summarize videos in languages other than English/Portuguese?

A: Yes! The skill attempts to extract transcripts in the video's original language. If unavailable, it falls back to English.

Q: Will this work with YouTube Music videos?

A: Only if the music video has captions/transcripts enabled. Most music videos don't have transcripts.

Q: Can I customize the summary length?

A: The skill prioritizes completeness by design (verbose summaries). If you need shorter summaries, you can ask the AI to condense the output afterward.

Q: Does this download the video?

A: No. Only the text transcript is extracted via YouTube's API. No video files are downloaded.

Q: Can I save the summary to a file?

A: Yes! After the summary is generated, the skill offers flexible save options:

• Summary only - Markdown file with structured summary
• Summary + transcript - Markdown file with summary and raw transcript appended
• Transcript only - Plain text file with raw transcript (NEW in v1.2.0)
• Display only - No files saved, summary shown in terminal

Files are saved as resumo-{VIDEO_ID}-{YYYY-MM-DD}.md (summary) or transcript-{VIDEO_ID}-{YYYY-MM-DD}.txt (transcript-only).

Q: When should I save just the transcript?

A: Use the transcript-only option when you:

• Need raw content for further analysis
• Want to process the text with other tools
• Prefer to create your own summary later
• Need the transcript for documentation or archival purposes

---

Installation

Global Installation (Recommended)

Install the skill globally to use it across all projects:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/ericgandrade/cli-ai-skills.git
cd cli-ai-skills

# Run the install script
./scripts/install-skills.sh $(pwd)

This creates symlinks in:

• ~/.copilot/skills/youtube-summarizer/ (GitHub Copilot CLI)
• ~/.claude/skills/youtube-summarizer/ (Claude Code)

Repository Installation

Add to a specific project:

# Copy skill to your project
cp -r cli-ai-skills/.github/skills/youtube-summarizer .github/skills/

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Contributing

Found a bug or have a feature request? Contributions welcome!

1. Fork the repository 2. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b feature/youtube-enhancement 3. Commit changes: git commit -m "feat(youtube-summarizer): add feature X" 4. Push and create a Pull Request

---

License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

---

Acknowledgments

• [youtube-transcript-api](https://github.com/jdepoix/youtube-transcript-api) by Julien Depoix - Python library for extracting YouTube video transcripts
• Anthropic STAR/R-I-S-E frameworks - For structured summarization

---

Built with ❤️ by Eric Andrade

Version 1.1.0 | Last updated: February 2026