YouTube Tools (yt-dlp)

What it does

Free, local YouTube operations using yt-dlp. This skill provides scripts and guidance to download single or bulk videos, extract transcripts/subtitles, convert to audio, and fetch rich video metadata for research or content workflows. It emphasizes offline, no-API workflows and safe defaults (filename sanitization, output isolation).

When to use it

Use this skill when you need to: download videos or playlists to local storage; extract transcripts for summarization or analysis; convert videos to audio (MP3); or gather video metadata (title, duration, views) for research. Prefer this when you want a free, local alternative to cloud scrapers (e.g., Apify). Not ideal for large-scale comment scraping or search scraping.

What's included

• Scripts: scripts/download_video.py, scripts/get_transcript.py, scripts/get_video_info.py (has_scripts=true)
• References: references/yt-dlp-guide.md and yt-dlp docs (has_references=true)
• Instructions: environment setup (yt-dlp, ffmpeg), common usage examples (single, bulk, playlist, audio-only), output locations, and integration patterns (download → transcribe → summarize). Security and copyright notes are included.

Compatible agents

Best used with agents that can run local scripts or orchestrate CLI tools (Claude Code, Copilot/Codex-like agents, local execution harnesses). It integrates well where the agent can call Python helpers or shell out to yt-dlp/ffmpeg.