YouTube Summary (youtube2md)

Use the official youtube2md CLI behavior from the repository.

Runtime + security prerequisites

• - Require Node.js 18+.
• Require preinstalled youtube2md on PATH.

- Recommended pinned install: npm i -g youtube2md@1.0.1

• - Require python3 for transcript text preparation (prepare.py) in extract mode.
• Default runner uses local youtube2md executable only.
• Runtime npm execution (npx) is intentionally not supported in this skill.
• The YOUTUBE2MD_BIN environment variable override is rejected by the runner.
• INLINECODE7 enables full summarization mode; transcript/content may be sent to OpenAI through youtube2md’s workflow.

- For sensitive content, omit OPENAI_API_KEY and use extract mode.

• - In sensitive environments, audit the upstream youtube2md package and dependencies before installation or version bumps.

See references/security.md before first-time install/enable.

Workflow

1. 1. Validate input

- Accept youtube.com and youtu.be URLs. - If URLs are missing, ask for one URL per line.

1. 2. Choose mode

- Full mode: generates Markdown. - Use when OPENAI_API_KEY is available and external API use is acceptable. - Extract mode (--extract-only): outputs transcript JSON and prepares transcript text (.txt). - Use when API key is unavailable or when transcript-only output is requested. - Prefer a no-error path: check key first and run extract directly when key is missing.

1. 3. Run converter

- Preferred runner script: - scripts/run_youtube2md.sh <url> full [output_md_path] [language] [model] - If OPENAI_API_KEY is missing, runner auto-falls back to extract mode by default. - scripts/run_youtube2md.sh <url> extract [output_json_path] - Optional machine-readable CLI output: - YOUTUBE2MD_JSON=1 scripts/run_youtube2md.sh <url> full - YOUTUBE2MD_JSON=1 scripts/run_youtube2md.sh <url> extract - Runtime controls: - Use only locally installed youtube2md executable. - Do not use runtime npm execution (npx) for this skill. - Direct CLI equivalent: - youtube2md --url <url> [--out <path>] [--lang <language>] [--model <model>] - Add --extract-only for transcript-only mode.

1. 4. Verify output

- Full mode: Markdown file exists and is non-empty. - Extract mode: JSON file exists and is non-empty. - Extract mode: prepared TXT file exists and is non-empty. - If using --json, parse ok: true/false and handle error code.

1. 5. Respond to the user

- Follow references/output-format.md as the default response shape. - Follow references/summarization-behavior.md for source policy and chapter/takeaway density. - Do not include generated local file path(s) in normal user-facing replies. - Share file paths only when explicitly requested by the user (e.g., debugging/export workflows). - Summary source policy: - Full mode succeeded → use youtube2md Markdown output as the summary source. - Non-full mode (extract) → use prepared .txt transcript text as the summary source. - Keep user-facing flow smooth: if key is missing, use extract output and summarize from .txt without surfacing avoidable tool-error noise.

Multi-video requests

• - Process URLs sequentially.
• Return per-video summary results (omit local file paths unless requested).
• If any fail, report successful items first, then failures with fixes.

Built-in behavior to trust

• - Default output paths:

- Full mode: ./summaries/<video_id>.md - Extract mode: ./summaries/<video_id>.json - Local runner post-process (extract): ./summaries/<video_id>.txt via INLINECODE35

Packaging hygiene

• - Do not publish generated outputs (e.g., summaries/*.json, summaries/*.txt) inside the skill folder.
• Keep only source files (SKILL.md, scripts/, references/, helpers) in release artifacts.

Resources

• - CLI runner: INLINECODE41
• Transcript text prep: INLINECODE42
• Output guidance: INLINECODE43
• Behavior reference: INLINECODE44
• Security/install notes: INLINECODE45
• Troubleshooting and error codes: INLINECODE46