youtube-transcriber

YouTube Transcriber

Extract transcripts from YouTube videos and playlists using browser-based caption extraction. Works with any video that has auto-generated or manual captions — no API key required.

Environment note: This skill works in both Claude Code and Cowork. It requires the Claude in Chrome extension in both environments. The Chrome MCP tools (navigate, javascript_tool, get_page_text, etc.) work identically in both.

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Prerequisites

This skill requires Claude in Chrome (browser automation). If the Chrome MCP tools (navigate, javascript_tool, get_page_text, etc.) are not available, inform the user:

• Cowork: "Install the Claude in Chrome extension from your browser"
• Claude Code: "Add the Chrome MCP extension and ensure it's running"

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Single Video Transcription

Step 1: Navigate to the video

navigate to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v={VIDEO_ID}

Wait for the page to load. If given a short URL (youtu.be/ID) or a URL with extra params, extract the video ID and use the canonical format above.

Step 2: Expand the description to reveal the transcript button

Use javascript_tool to click "...more" on the description:

const expandBtn = document.querySelector('#description-inline-expander #expand')
              || document.querySelector('tp-yt-paper-button#expand');
if (expandBtn) expandBtn.click();

Wait 1-2 seconds for the description to expand.

Step 3: Open the transcript panel

Use javascript_tool to find and click the "Show transcript" button:

const buttons = document.querySelectorAll('button.yt-spec-button-shape-next');
let clicked = false;
buttons.forEach(b => {
  if (b.innerText.includes('Show transcript') || b.innerText.includes('הצגת תמליל') || b.innerText.includes('להצגת התמליל')) {
    b.click();
    clicked = true;
  }
});
clicked ? 'Transcript panel opened' : 'Show transcript button not found';

Wait 2 seconds for the transcript panel to load.

If the transcript button is not found, the video may not have captions. Inform the user.

Step 4: Scroll the transcript panel to load all segments

YouTube lazy-loads transcript segments. Scroll the engagement panel to trigger loading:

(() => {
  const panel = document.querySelector(
    'ytd-engagement-panel-section-list-renderer[visibility="ENGAGEMENT_PANEL_VISIBILITY_EXPANDED"]'
  );
  if (!panel) return 'No transcript panel found';

  const scroller = panel.querySelector('#content');
  if (!scroller) return 'No scrollable content found';

  // Scroll to bottom to trigger lazy-load
  scroller.scrollTop = scroller.scrollHeight;
  return 'Scrolled transcript panel';
})();

Important: Run this scroll snippet 2-3 times with a short pause between each call to ensure all segments load. For long videos (10+ minutes), scroll more aggressively.

Step 5: Extract the transcript text

Use javascript_tool to extract text from the engagement panel and parse it:

(() => {
  const panel = document.querySelector(
    'ytd-engagement-panel-section-list-renderer[visibility="ENGAGEMENT_PANEL_VISIBILITY_EXPANDED"]'
  );
  if (!panel) return 'ERROR: No transcript panel found';

  const raw = panel.innerText;
  const lines = raw.split('\n').map(l => l.trim()).filter(l => l.length > 0);

  const timestampRe = /^(\d{1,2}:)?\d{1,2}:\d{2}$/;
  const hebrewTimeWords = /שני|דקו|שעה/;

  const result = [];
  for (let i = 0; i < lines.length; i++) {
    if (timestampRe.test(lines[i])) {
      const ts = lines[i];
      let text = '';
      if (i + 1 < lines.length && !timestampRe.test(lines[i + 1])) {
        if (hebrewTimeWords.test(lines[i + 1])) {
          if (i + 2 < lines.length && !timestampRe.test(lines[i + 2])) {
            text = lines[i + 2];
            i += 2;
          } else {
            i += 1;
            continue;
          }
        } else {
          text = lines[i + 1];
          i += 1;
        }
      }
      if (text) result.push(ts + ' ' + text);
    }
  }

  return result.length > 0
    ? result.join('\n')
    : 'ERROR: Could not parse transcript lines. Raw line count: ' + lines.length;
})();

Step 6: Get the video title

Use javascript_tool:

document.querySelector('yt-formatted-string.ytd-watch-metadata')?.innerText || document.title;

Step 7: Format and save

Combine the video title, URL, and transcript into a clean document:

# {Video Title}
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v={VIDEO_ID}

{timestamp} {text}
{timestamp} {text}
...

Save to the outputs folder as a .txt file.

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Playlist Transcription

When the user provides a playlist URL:

Step P1: Extract video IDs from the playlist

Navigate to the playlist URL, then use javascript_tool:

(() => {
  const links = document.querySelectorAll('a#video-title');
  const videos = [];
  const seen = new Set();
  links.forEach(a => {
    const href = a.href;
    const match = href.match(/[?&]v=([a-zA-Z0-9_-]{11})/);
    if (match && !seen.has(match[1])) {
      seen.add(match[1]);
      videos.push({ id: match[1], title: a.innerText.trim() });
    }
  });
  return JSON.stringify(videos);
})();

If the playlist has many videos, scroll down first to load them all:

for (let i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
  window.scrollBy(0, 2000);
  await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, 500));
}

Step P2: Transcribe each video

Loop through each video ID and follow Steps 1-7 from Single Video Transcription. Store each transcript in a separate variable/file, then compile at the end.

Important: Between videos, navigate directly to the next URL — do not rely on the playlist's auto-play.

Step P3: Compile all transcripts

Create a compiled file with all transcripts separated by headers:

============================================================
Video 1: {Title}
URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v={ID}
============================================================

{transcript}

============================================================
Video 2: {Title}
...

Save to outputs as {playlist-name}-transcripts.txt.

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Error Handling

Problem	Solution
"Show transcript" button not found	The video may not have captions. Try checking if captions exist via the CC button in the player controls.
Transcript panel loads but is empty	Scroll the panel more aggressively (increase scroll iterations to 20+).
Hebrew/Arabic time descriptions mixed in	The extraction script filters these out using the hebrewTimeWords regex. If new patterns appear, add them.
Wrong language detected by YouTube	YouTube sometimes misdetects the language for songs. Note this in the output but still extract whatever text is available.
Very short video (<30 seconds)	May not have auto-generated captions. Inform the user and offer to describe the video content instead.
navigate tool not available	This skill requires Claude in Chrome. Suggest installing the Chrome extension.

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Tips

• Quality: Auto-generated captions vary in quality. Songs and heavily accented speech may produce inaccurate text. Always note when transcripts are auto-generated.
• Languages: This works with any language that YouTube generates captions for. The extraction is language-agnostic.
• Large playlists: For playlists with 20+ videos, consider processing in batches and saving intermediate results to avoid losing work.
• Educational use: After transcription, you can create vocabulary sheets, summaries, study guides, or flashcards from the transcript content. Ask the user what they'd like to do with the transcripts.