YouTube Video Transcript Analysis

Analyze YouTube video transcripts to generate structured reports with summaries, key takeaways, notable quotes, and action items.

When to Use

Activate this skill when the user:

• Mentions "YouTube", "video", "transcript", or "video analysis"
• Provides a YouTube URL to analyze
• Wants to analyze a text file containing a video transcript
• Asks for a summary of a video they watched
• Provides a file path to a transcript

Input Detection

The user can provide either:

1. YouTube URL - Contains youtube.com/watch, youtu.be/, or youtube.com/shorts/
2. File path - Path to a transcript file (e.g., inbox/video.txt)

Instructions

Step 0: Identify Input Type

Determine if the user provided a YouTube URL or file path.

Step 1A: Fetch Transcript (URL Input)

If the user provided a YouTube URL:

1. Run yt-dlp to download the transcript:

   yt-dlp --write-auto-sub --write-sub --sub-lang en --skip-download --convert-subs srt -o "inbox/%(title)s" "<URL>"
   

2. Look for the output file in inbox/ (format: <video-title>.en.srt)
3. If successful, proceed with the transcript file
4. Store the original YouTube URL for the report's Source field

Error handling:

• If yt-dlp not found: Tell user "yt-dlp not installed. Install with: pip install yt-dlp"
• If no captions available: Tell user "No English captions found for this video"
• If network error: Tell user "Failed to fetch transcript. Check URL and connection."

Step 1B: Read Transcript (File Path Input)

If the user provided a file path:

1. Ask the user for the file path if not provided
2. Read the transcript file at the path provided
3. If file not found: Tell user and suggest checking the path

Step 2: Read Analysis Prompt

Read the analysis prompt from prompts/yt.md

Step 3: Extract Video Title

• From SRT file: Parse the filename (remove .en.srt suffix)
• From transcript content: Look for video title in first few lines
• If unclear: Ask user for the title

Step 4: Generate Analysis

Generate analysis following the prompt structure exactly

Step 5: Save the Report

Save to reports/youtube/YYYY-MM-DD_sanitized-title.md where:

• YYYY-MM-DD is today's date
• sanitized-title is the title in lowercase, spaces replaced with hyphens, special chars removed

Step 6: Update Activity Log

Update the activity log at logs/YYYY-MM-DD.md:

• Create file if it doesn't exist
• Add entry under "## Videos Watched" section
• Format: - [Title](../reports/youtube/filename.md) - HH:MM

Step 7: Confirm to User

Tell user what was saved and where

Report Format

Include this header in the report:

# [Video Title]

**Source**: [YouTube URL or file path]
**Date**: YYYY-MM-DD
**Type**: YouTube Video

---

[Analysis content following prompts/yt.md structure]

---

## My Notes

[Empty space for user notes]

Error Handling

• If yt-dlp not installed: Tell user how to install it
• If no captions available: Inform user and suggest alternatives
• If file not found: Tell user and suggest checking the path
• If file is empty: Inform user and ask if they want to proceed
• If prompts/yt.md missing: Use a basic summary structure

Related

• Slash command equivalent: /yt <url-or-filepath>
• Prompt file: prompts/yt.md
• Output location: reports/youtube/
• Transcript location: inbox/ (for downloaded transcripts)