YouTube Transcript Summarizer
Extract transcripts from YouTube videos and generate AI-powered summaries. Supports any source language and can output summaries in your preferred language.
Requirements
pip install -r requirements.txt
# or: pip install youtube-transcript-api anthropic
- ANTHROPIC_API_KEY env var required for AI summarization
- yt-dlp (optional) for automatic video title fetching
- Python 3.7+
Cost depends on transcript length and current Claude API pricing.
Usage
# Single video (default: English -> Korean)
python youtube_transcript_summarizer.py "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID"
# Transcript only (no AI summary)
python youtube_transcript_summarizer.py "VIDEO_URL" --no-summary
# Japanese video with English summary
python youtube_transcript_summarizer.py "VIDEO_URL" --source-lang ja --target-lang en
# Auto-detect source language
python youtube_transcript_summarizer.py "VIDEO_URL" --source-lang auto --target-lang fr
# Batch processing
python youtube_transcript_summarizer.py --batch "urls.txt" --output-dir "summaries"
# Custom model and transcript limit
python youtube_transcript_summarizer.py "VIDEO_URL" --model claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929 --max-transcript-chars 30000
CLI Options
| Option | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
--title |
Custom video title | Auto-fetched via yt-dlp |
--source-lang |
Source transcript language | en |
--target-lang |
Output summary language | ko |
--output-dir |
Output directory | outputs/summaries |
--batch FILE |
Process multiple URLs from file | - |
--timeline-interval |
Timeline interval (minutes) | 5 |
--no-summary |
Skip AI summary | false |
--api-key |
Claude API key | ANTHROPIC_API_KEY env |
--model |
Claude model name | claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929 |
--max-transcript-chars |
Max chars sent to Claude | 15000 |
Supported Languages
en, ko, ja, zh, es, fr, de, pt, ru, ar, hi, auto
Output Format
Files are named YYYY-MM-DD VideoTitle.md with YAML frontmatter:
---
title: "Video Title"
source: "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ID"
created: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS
tags:
- youtube-transcript
video_id: "ID"
source_lang: "en"
target_lang: "ko"
---
Sections: Summary, Key Points, Main Content, Timeline, Full Transcript.
Claude Code Integration
Summarize this YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID