YouTube Transcript Server

1[![MseeP.ai Security Assessment Badge](https://mseep.net/pr/kimtaeyoon83-mcp-server-youtube-transcript-badge.png)](https://mseep.ai/app/kimtaeyoon83-mcp-server-youtube-transcript)
2 
3# YouTube Transcript Server
4[![Trust Score](https://archestra.ai/mcp-catalog/api/badge/quality/kimtaeyoon83/mcp-server-youtube-transcript)](https://archestra.ai/mcp-catalog/kimtaeyoon83__mcp-server-youtube-transcript)
5 
6[![smithery badge](https://smithery.ai/badge/@kimtaeyoon83/mcp-server-youtube-transcript)](https://smithery.ai/server/@kimtaeyoon83/mcp-server-youtube-transcript)
7 
8A Model Context Protocol server that enables retrieval of transcripts from YouTube videos. This server provides direct access to video captions and subtitles through a simple interface.
9 
10<a href="https://glama.ai/mcp/servers/z429kk3te7"><img width="380" height="200" src="https://glama.ai/mcp/servers/z429kk3te7/badge" alt="mcp-server-youtube-transcript MCP server" /></a>
11 
12### Installing via Smithery
13 
14To install YouTube Transcript Server for Claude Desktop automatically via [Smithery](https://smithery.ai/server/@kimtaeyoon83/mcp-server-youtube-transcript):
15 
16```bash
17npx -y @smithery/cli install @kimtaeyoon83/mcp-server-youtube-transcript --client claude
18```
19 
20## Components
21 
22### Tools
23 
24- **get_transcript**
25  - Extract transcripts from YouTube videos
26  - Inputs:
27    - `url` (string, required): YouTube video URL, Shorts URL, or video ID
28    - `lang` (string, optional, default: "en"): Language code for transcript (e.g., 'ko', 'en'). Automatically falls back to available languages if requested language is not found.
29    - `include_timestamps` (boolean, optional, default: false): Include timestamps in output (e.g., '[0:05] text')
30    - `strip_ads` (boolean, optional, default: true): Filter out sponsorships, ads, and promotional content from transcript based on chapter markers
31 
32## Key Features
33 
34- Support for multiple video URL formats (including YouTube Shorts)
35- Language-specific transcript retrieval with automatic fallback
36- Optional timestamps for referencing specific moments
37- Built-in ad/sponsorship filtering (enabled by default)
38- Zero external dependencies for transcript fetching
39- Detailed metadata in responses
40 
41## Configuration
42 
43To use with Claude Desktop, add this server configuration:
44 
45```json
46{
47  "mcpServers": {
48    "youtube-transcript": {
49      "command": "npx",
50      "args": ["-y", "@kimtaeyoon83/mcp-server-youtube-transcript"]
51    }
52  }
53}
54```
55 
56## Install via tool
57 
58[mcp-get](https://github.com/michaellatman/mcp-get) A command-line tool for installing and managing Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers.
59 
60```shell 
61npx @michaellatman/mcp-get@latest install @kimtaeyoon83/mcp-server-youtube-transcript
62```
63 
64## Awesome-mcp-servers 
65[awesome-mcp-servers](https://github.com/punkpeye/awesome-mcp-servers) A curated list of awesome Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers.
66 
67## Development
68 
69### Prerequisites
70 
71- Node.js 18 or higher
72- npm or yarn
73 
74### Setup
75 
76Install dependencies:
77```bash
78npm install
79```
80 
81Build the server:
82```bash
83npm run build
84```
85 
86For development with auto-rebuild:
87```bash
88npm run watch
89```
90 
91### Testing
92 
93```bash
94npm test
95```
96 
97### Debugging
98 
99Since MCP servers communicate over stdio, debugging can be challenging. We recommend using the MCP Inspector for development:
100 
101```bash
102npm run inspector
103```
104 
105 
106 
107## Running evals
108 
109The evals package loads an mcp client that then runs the index.ts file, so there is no need to rebuild between tests. You can load environment variables by prefixing the npx command. Full documentation can be found [here](https://www.mcpevals.io/docs).
110 
111```bash
112OPENAI_API_KEY=your-key  npx mcp-eval src/evals/evals.ts src/index.ts
113```
114## Error Handling
115 
116The server implements robust error handling for common scenarios:
117- Invalid video URLs or IDs
118- Unavailable transcripts
119- Language availability issues
120- Network errors
121 
122## Usage Examples
123 
1241. Get transcript by video URL:
125```typescript
126await server.callTool("get_transcript", {
127  url: "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID",
128  lang: "en"
129});
130```
131 
1322. Get transcript by video ID:
133```typescript
134await server.callTool("get_transcript", {
135  url: "VIDEO_ID",
136  lang: "ko"
137});
138```
139 
1403. Get transcript from YouTube Shorts:
141```typescript
142await server.callTool("get_transcript", {
143  url: "https://www.youtube.com/shorts/VIDEO_ID"
144});
145```
146 
1474. Get transcript with timestamps:
148```typescript
149await server.callTool("get_transcript", {
150  url: "VIDEO_ID",
151  include_timestamps: true
152});
153```
154 
1555. Get raw transcript without ad filtering:
156```typescript
157await server.callTool("get_transcript", {
158  url: "VIDEO_ID",
159  strip_ads: false
160});
161```
162 
1636. How to Extract YouTube Subtitles in Claude Desktop App
164```
165chat: https://youtu.be/ODaHJzOyVCQ?si=aXkJgso96Deri0aB Extract subtitles
166```
167 
168## Security Considerations
169 
170The server:
171- Validates all input parameters
172- Handles YouTube API errors gracefully
173- Implements timeouts for transcript retrieval
174- Provides detailed error messages for troubleshooting
175 
176## License
177 
178This MCP server is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.
179