wetwilliam/youtube-transcript-mcp-server

YouTube Transcript MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for downloading YouTube video transcripts. This server allows Claude Desktop to extract video IDs from YouTube URLs and download transcripts in various formats.

Features

• Extract Video ID: Extract YouTube video ID from URLs or validate existing IDs
• Download Transcripts: Download video transcripts with language preferences
• Multiple Formats: Support for JSON, text, SRT, and WebVTT formats
• Language Support: Automatic language detection and translation capabilities

Installation

1. Clone or download this repository
2. Install Python dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt
   

Configuration

Add the following configuration to your Claude Desktop config file:

Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube-transcript": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["C:\\path\\to\\youtube-transcript-mcp-server\\simple_server.py"],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

Replace C:\\path\\to\\youtube-transcript-mcp-server\\simple_server.py with the actual path to your server file.

Usage

Once configured, you can use the following tools in Claude Desktop:

Extract Video ID

Extract a YouTube video ID from a URL:

Extract the video ID from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ

Download Transcript

Download a video transcript:

Download the transcript for video ID: dQw4w9WgXcQ

You can also specify language preferences and output format:

Download the transcript for video ID: dQw4w9WgXcQ in Chinese (zh-TW) format as SRT

Supported Languages

The server supports automatic language detection and can translate transcripts to available languages. Common language codes include:

• en - English
• zh-TW - Chinese (Taiwan)
• zh-CN - Chinese (Simplified)
• ja - Japanese
• ko - Korean
• es - Spanish
• fr - French
• de - German

Output Formats

• text: Plain text format (default)
• json: JSON format with timestamps
• srt: SubRip subtitle format
• vtt: WebVTT subtitle format

Requirements

• Python 3.7+
• youtube-transcript-api
• Claude Desktop with MCP support

Troubleshooting

1. Server not starting: Check that Python is installed and accessible
2. No transcripts available: Some videos may not have transcripts or may be region-locked
3. Language not found: Try different language codes or let the server auto-detect

License

This project uses the youtube-transcript-api library. Please check the original library's license for usage terms.