Summarize YouTube videos

Turn a YouTube video, or a channel's new uploads, into notes, using transcripts from YTAPI.

Setup

If YTAPI_API_KEY is not set, read references/auth-setup.md and follow it: the user either pastes a key or you create a free account with their email (200 credits, no card). Send the key as Authorization: Bearer $YTAPI_API_KEY and never print it.

One video

1. Details (free): title, channel, length, caption languages.

   curl -s "https://api.ytapi.dev/v1/videos/VIDEO_ID/basic-info" -H "Authorization: Bearer $YTAPI_API_KEY"
   

2. Transcript with timestamps (1 credit). Save it to a file; long videos give long transcripts.

   curl -s "https://api.ytapi.dev/v1/transcripts?video_id=VIDEO_ID&format=segments&languages=en,*" \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $YTAPI_API_KEY" -o /tmp/ytapi-transcript.json
   

   segments holds text with start seconds. For a shorter file without timestamps, use format=text.

3. Write the summary in the user's language:

   • one or two sentences on what the video is about;
   • the key points, each with a link to its moment: https://youtu.be/VIDEO_ID?t=START_SECONDS;
   • notable quotes, quoted exactly;
   • say if the captions were auto-generated (track_kind is asr), since names and numbers may be misheard.

   For a video over an hour, summarize it section by section, then combine.

A channel's new videos

1. Latest uploads (1 credit): GET /v1/channels/@HANDLE/latest.
2. Pick the videos the user cares about (for example, published since the last digest), fetch each transcript with format=text, and summarize each in a few lines with its link.

Each transcript costs a credit; ask before summarizing more than about ten videos.

Credits and errors

Only successful responses use credits; errors are free. New accounts get 200 free credits. Until a credit pack is bought, a key can make 1 request per second and 100 per day (UTC); 429 daily_limit_exceeded means that day's limit is used up (it resets at 00:00 UTC; any pack removes it). 402 insufficient_credits means the balance is empty: packs from $9 at https://ytapi.dev/?utm_source=skill#pricing. 401 means the key is missing or wrong.

For video details, search, channels, playlists and batches in one skill, install ytapi. Full reference: https://docs.ytapi.dev