- name
- yt_transcript
- description
- Extract YouTube video transcripts from existing captions (manual or auto-generated) using yt-dlp, with optional timestamps and local SQLite caching. Use when the user asks for a YouTube transcript, captions, subtitles, or wants to turn a YouTube link into text for summarization/search.
- metadata
- openclaw
- emoji
- 📝
- requires
- bins
- os
- user-invocable
- true
YouTube Transcript (Captions-Only)
Extracts transcripts from existing YouTube captions using yt-dlp. Prefers manual subtitles; falls back to auto-generated captions.
Prerequisites
- Python 3.7+
yt-dlpinstalled and on PATH (pip install yt-dlpor system package)
How to Run
Script path: {baseDir}/scripts/yt_transcript.py
# Basic usage
python {baseDir}/scripts/yt_transcript.py <youtube_url_or_id>
# Specify language
python {baseDir}/scripts/yt_transcript.py <url> --lang en
# Plain text output
python {baseDir}/scripts/yt_transcript.py <url> --text
# Text without timestamps
python {baseDir}/scripts/yt_transcript.py <url> --text --no-ts
# Custom cache path
python {baseDir}/scripts/yt_transcript.py <url> --cache /path/to/cache.sqliteOutput Formats
JSON mode (default)
Returns a JSON object:
{
"video_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
"lang": "en",
"source": "manual",
"segments": [
{ "start": 0.0, "duration": 4.2, "text": "We're no strangers to love" }
]
}Text mode (--text)
Newline-separated transcript lines. Use --no-ts to omit timestamps.
Caching
Results are cached in a local SQLite database: {baseDir}/cache/transcripts.sqlite
Subsequent calls for the same video/lang/format are served from cache instantly.
To use a custom cache location: --cache /path/to/transcripts.sqlite
Cookies (optional)
For age-restricted or members-only videos, provide a Netscape-format cookies.txt:
export YT_TRANSCRIPT_COOKIES=/path/to/cookies.txt
python {baseDir}/scripts/yt_transcript.py <url>
# or
python {baseDir}/scripts/yt_transcript.py <url> --cookies /path/to/cookies.txtCookies must be stored under ~/.config/yt-transcript/ for security.
Troubleshooting
- No captions available: Video has no manual or auto-generated captions
- yt-dlp not found: Install with
pip install yt-dlporbrew install yt-dlp - Age-restricted video: Provide cookies from a logged-in YouTube session
- Rate limited: Wait and retry; reduce request frequency