Content
# MCP YouTube Transcript Server
[](https://smithery.ai/server/@sinco-lab/mcp-youtube-transcript)
A Model Context Protocol server that enables retrieval of transcripts from YouTube videos. This server provides direct access to video transcripts through a simple interface, making it ideal for content analysis and processing.
<a href="https://glama.ai/mcp/servers/@sinco-lab/mcp-youtube-transcript">
<img width="380" height="200" src="https://glama.ai/mcp/servers/@sinco-lab/mcp-youtube-transcript/badge" alt="mcp-youtube-transcript" />
</a>
## Table of Contents
- [Features](#features)
- [Getting Started](#getting-started)
- [Prerequisites](#prerequisites)
- [Installation](#installation)
- [Usage](#usage)
- [Basic Configuration](#basic-configuration)
- [Testing](#testing)
- [Troubleshooting and Maintenance](#troubleshooting-and-maintenance)
- [API Reference](#api-reference)
- [Development](#development)
- [Contributing](#contributing)
- [License](#license)
## Features
✨ Key capabilities:
- Extract transcripts from YouTube videos
- Support for multiple languages
- Format text with continuous or paragraph mode
- Retrieve video titles and metadata
- Automatic paragraph segmentation
- Text normalization and HTML entity decoding
- Robust error handling
- Timestamp and overlap detection
## Getting Started
### Prerequisites
- Node.js 18 or higher
### Installation
We provide two installation methods:
#### Option 1: Manual Configuration (Recommended for Production)
1. Create or edit the Claude Desktop configuration file:
- macOS: `~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`
- Windows: `%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json`
2. Add the following configuration:
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"youtube-transcript": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@sinco-lab/mcp-youtube-transcript"
]
}
}
}
```
Quick setup script for macOS:
```bash
# Create directory if it doesn't exist
mkdir -p ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude
# Create or update config file
cat > ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json << 'EOL'
{
"mcpServers": {
"youtube-transcript": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@sinco-lab/mcp-youtube-transcript"
]
}
}
}
EOL
```
#### Option 2: Via Smithery (Development Only)
```bash
npx -y @smithery/cli install @sinco-lab/mcp-youtube-transcript --client claude
```
⚠️ **Note**: This method is not recommended for production use as it relies on Smithery's proxy services.
## Usage
### Basic Configuration
To use with Claude Desktop / Cursor / cline, ensure your configuration matches:
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"youtube-transcript": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@sinco-lab/mcp-youtube-transcript"]
}
}
}
```
### Testing
#### With Claude App
1. Restart the Claude app after installation
2. Test with a simple command:
```plaintext
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJpK3YTTKZ4 Summarize this video
```
Example output:
#### With MCP Inspector
```bash
# Clone and setup
git clone https://github.com/sinco-lab/mcp-youtube-transcript.git
cd mcp-youtube-transcript
npm install
npm run build
# Launch inspector
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector node "dist/index.js"
# Access http://localhost:6274 and try these commands:
# 1. List Tools: clink `List Tools`
# 2. Test get_transcripts with:
# url: "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJpK3YTTKZ4"
# lang: "en" (optional)
# enableParagraphs: false (optional)
```
### Troubleshooting and Maintenance
#### Checking Claude Logs
To monitor Claude's logs, you can use the following command:
```bash
tail -n 20 -f ~/Library/Logs/Claude/mcp*.log
```
This will display the last 20 lines of the log file and continue to show new entries as they are added.
> **Note**: Claude app automatically prefixes MCP server log files with `mcp-server-`. For example, our server's logs will be written to `mcp-server-youtube-transcript.log`.
#### Cleaning the `npx` Cache
If you encounter issues related to the `npx` cache, you can manually clean it using:
```bash
rm -rf ~/.npm/_npx
```
This will remove the cached packages and allow you to start fresh.
## API Reference
### get_transcripts
Fetches transcripts from YouTube videos.
**Parameters:**
- `url` (string, required): YouTube video URL or ID
- `lang` (string, optional): Language code (default: "en")
- `enableParagraphs` (boolean, optional): Enable paragraph mode (default: false)
**Response Format:**
```json
{
"content": [{
"type": "text",
"text": "Video title and transcript content",
"metadata": {
"videoId": "video_id",
"title": "video_title",
"language": "transcript_language",
"timestamp": "processing_time",
"charCount": "character_count",
"transcriptCount": "number_of_transcripts",
"totalDuration": "total_duration",
"paragraphsEnabled": "paragraph_mode_status"
}
}]
}
```
## Development
### Project Structure
```
├── src/
│ ├── index.ts # Server entry point
│ ├── youtube.ts # YouTube transcript fetching logic
├── dist/ # Compiled output
└── package.json
```
### Key Components
- `YouTubeTranscriptFetcher`: Core transcript fetching functionality
- `YouTubeUtils`: Text processing and utilities
### Features and Capabilities
- **Error Handling:**
- Invalid URLs/IDs
- Unavailable transcripts
- Language availability
- Network errors
- Rate limiting
- **Text Processing:**
- HTML entity decoding
- Punctuation normalization
- Space normalization
- Smart paragraph detection
## Contributing
We welcome contributions! Please feel free to submit issues and pull requests.
## License
This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the [LICENSE](LICENSE) file for details.
## Related Projects
- [mcp-servers](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/servers)
- [MCP Inspector](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/inspector)
