---
name: youtube-content
description: "YouTube transcripts to summaries, threads, blogs."
version: 1.0.0
author: Teknium (teknium1), Hermes Agent
license: MIT
platforms: [linux, macos, windows]
metadata:
  hermes:
    tags: [YouTube, Video, Transcripts, Media]
    related_skills: []
---

# YouTube Content Tool

## When to use

Use when the user shares a YouTube URL or video link, asks to summarize a video, requests a transcript, or wants to extract and reformat content from any YouTube video. Transforms transcripts into structured content (chapters, summaries, threads, blog posts).

Extract transcripts from YouTube videos and convert them into useful formats.

## Setup

Use `terminal` with the Python from a PM-prepared Hermes source checkout. The
`youtube` extra declares the helper's dependency; do not install packages into
Hermes with raw pip or project-discovering `uv run`.

From that checkout, first follow the isolated development-home setup in
[Package Management](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/reference/package-management#developer-workflow),
then prepare the extra and reactivate before running the helper:

```bash
source ./activate
python -c "import pm; pm.sync_venv(['youtube'], explicit=True)"
source ./activate
python -c "import youtube_transcript_api; print(youtube_transcript_api.__file__)"
```

On Windows, use `. .\activate.ps1` instead of `source ./activate`. If the terminal
runs on a different host or in a sandbox, use an explicitly isolated helper
environment there, not the agent's production environment. Run every command
below with the interpreter whose import check succeeded.

## Helper Script

`SKILL_DIR` is the directory containing this SKILL.md file. The script accepts any standard YouTube URL format, short links (youtu.be), shorts, embeds, live links, or a raw 11-character video ID.

```bash
# JSON output with metadata
python SKILL_DIR/scripts/fetch_transcript.py "https://youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID"

# Plain text (good for piping into further processing)
python SKILL_DIR/scripts/fetch_transcript.py "URL" --text-only

# With timestamps
python SKILL_DIR/scripts/fetch_transcript.py "URL" --timestamps

# Specific language with fallback chain
python SKILL_DIR/scripts/fetch_transcript.py "URL" --language tr,en
```

## Output Formats

After fetching the transcript, format it based on what the user asks for:

- **Chapters**: Group by topic shifts, output timestamped chapter list
- **Summary**: Concise 5-10 sentence overview of the entire video
- **Chapter summaries**: Chapters with a short paragraph summary for each
- **Thread**: Twitter/X thread format — numbered posts, each under 280 chars
- **Blog post**: Full article with title, sections, and key takeaways
- **Quotes**: Notable quotes with timestamps

### Example — Chapters Output

```
00:00 Introduction — host opens with the problem statement
03:45 Background — prior work and why existing solutions fall short
12:20 Core method — walkthrough of the proposed approach
24:10 Results — benchmark comparisons and key takeaways
31:55 Q&A — audience questions on scalability and next steps
```

## Workflow

1. **Fetch** the transcript using `terminal` and the prepared Python with `--text-only --timestamps`.
2. **Validate**: confirm the output is non-empty and in the expected language. If empty, retry without `--language` to get any available transcript. If still empty, tell the user the video likely has transcripts disabled.
3. **Chunk if needed**: if the transcript exceeds ~50K characters, split into overlapping chunks (~40K with 2K overlap) and summarize each chunk before merging.
4. **Transform** into the requested output format. If the user did not specify a format, default to a summary.
5. **Verify**: re-read the transformed output to check for coherence, correct timestamps, and completeness before presenting.

## Error Handling

- **Transcript disabled**: tell the user; suggest they check if subtitles are available on the video page.
- **Private/unavailable video**: relay the error and ask the user to verify the URL.
- **No matching language**: retry without `--language` to fetch any available transcript, then note the actual language to the user.
- **Dependency missing**: repeat PM preparation and reactivation above, then verify the helper uses that Python. Do not repair the selected generation with pip.


---
Source attribution: NousResearch
Original project: https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/blob/085f562af53a6fedadac3681e2c498fc71316132/skills/media/youtube-content/SKILL.md
License: MIT
License information: https://opensource.org/license/mit
Original upstream instructions; downloaded from Mega AI Hub.

## Upstream license notice

MIT License

Copyright (c) 2025 Nous Research

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.



# Mega AI Hub resource metadata

Creator / publisher: NousResearch
Original project: https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/blob/085f562af53a6fedadac3681e2c498fc71316132/skills/media/youtube-content/SKILL.md
Attribution basis: Source repository record

Fields of work: Content & Media, Marketing
Roles: Content Marketer, Copywriter, Influencer Marketer, Marketing Analyst, Social Media Manager
Specialties: API, Backend, Frontend, Remotion
Tools: Youtube Transcript Api
Country applicability: Country not specified
Classification basis: Source catalog labels
Instruction SHA-256: b556a0d2a220b46b80eb011619f0c951404f4d6e2edcc8b4847faec512b55132
