- name
- youtube-digest
- description
- Understand, summarize, translate, and extract key points from YouTube videos. Use when a user provides a YouTube URL and wants: (1) a Chinese summary, (2) a transcript or subtitle extraction, (3) translation of spoken content, (4) timestamps / chapter notes, (5) visual understanding via key frames, or (6) question answering about a video. Prefer this skill for transcript-first workflows.
YouTube Digest
Use a transcript-first workflow.
Quick workflow
- Run
scripts/fetch_youtube.py <url> --out <dir>to collect metadata and subtitles.
If behind a proxy, add --proxy <proxy-url>.
- If subtitles exist, read
summary.jsonand the generated transcript file first. - If the user only wants a quick answer, summarize directly from the transcript.
- If the user needs stronger visual grounding, extract key frames with ffmpeg after downloading the video or by using an existing local video file.
- If no subtitles are available, report that transcript extraction needs
yt-dlp+ a speech-to-text path (for example Whisper) before promising a result.
Default behavior
- Prefer manual subtitles over auto subtitles.
- Prefer Chinese subtitles when available; otherwise use English auto/manual subtitles.
- Keep downloads minimal: subtitles + metadata first, full video only when visual analysis is necessary.
- For long videos, produce:
- 3-line executive summary - bullet timeline with timestamps - key insights / actionable points - open questions or uncertainties
Outputs
For normal requests, return:
- Video topic
- Summary (in user's language)
- Key timestamps
- Notable quotes / insights
- If confidence is limited, say whether the result came from manual subtitles, auto subtitles, or partial metadata only.
Files produced by the script
The fetch script writes an output directory containing:
summary.json— chosen subtitle file, title, uploader, duration, and extraction statustranscript.txt— plain text transcript when subtitles are available- raw subtitle files from
yt-dlp(VTT/SRT)
Read summary.json first to decide what to do next.
Required runtime tools
yt-dlpfor metadata + subtitle extractiondenoas JS runtime (required by yt-dlp 2026+)ffmpegfor media conversion / optional frame extraction (optional)
Key commands
Basic extraction:
python3 scripts/fetch_youtube.py "<youtube-url>" --out /tmp/youtube-digestWith proxy:
python3 scripts/fetch_youtube.py "<youtube-url>" --proxy http://your-proxy:port --out /tmp/youtube-digestPrefer specific subtitle languages:
python3 scripts/fetch_youtube.py "<youtube-url>" --langs zh.*,en.* --out /tmp/youtube-digestFailure handling
- If
yt-dlpis missing, stop and install it instead of improvising. - If YouTube blocks the request (429 or bot detection), try using a proxy or report the limitation.
- If only metadata is available, do not pretend you understood the full video.
- If subtitles are auto-generated, mention that wording may be noisy.
References
- Read
references/install-and-deploy.mdfor deployment instructions. - Read
references/usage-patterns.mdfor output templates for summaries, translations, or Q&A.