Extract YouTube Transcript

Fetches plain-text transcripts from YouTube videos using extract_youtube_transcript.py in this skill folder.

Dependency

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Quick Start

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Supported URL formats: youtube.com/watch?v=, youtu.be/, /embed/, /live/, /shorts/, or a raw 11-char video ID.

Common Patterns

Fetch with preferred language(s)

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Pass languages in priority order. Falls back to any available transcript if none match.

Save transcript to file

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Text is printed to stdout and also written to the file.

List available languages first

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Use this to discover what language codes are available before fetching.

Language Codes

Code	Language
INLINECODE6	English
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Traditional Chinese | | zh-Hans | Simplified Chinese | | ja | Japanese | | ko | Korean | | es | Spanish |

Error Handling

Error	Cause	Recovery
INLINECODE12	Owner disabled captions	No transcript available
INLINECODE13

Requested lang not found | Run --list-langs, pick an available code | | VideoUnavailable | Video is private/deleted | Verify the URL | | AgeRestricted | Age-gated video | Auth not supported; no workaround | | InvalidVideoId | Malformed URL or ID | Check the URL format |

Workflow

1. 1. Try a direct fetch first
2. If NoTranscriptFound, run --list-langs to see available codes, then re-fetch with INLINECODE20
3. Save long transcripts to a file with --output for easier downstream processing