YouTube MCP Server

A zero-config MCP server for YouTube. Search videos, get transcripts, browse channels, and search across a creator's entire content. No API keys needed.

Quick Start

uvx yt-mcp-server

Or install with pip:

pip install yt-mcp-server

Setup

Claude Desktop

Add to your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["--from", "yt-mcp-server", "youtube-mcp-server"]
    }
  }
}

Claude Code

claude mcp add youtube -- uvx yt-mcp-server

Cursor

Add to your Cursor MCP settings:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["--from", "yt-mcp-server", "youtube-mcp-server"]
    }
  }
}

Tools

Tool	Description
search_channel_transcripts	Search across ALL videos of a channel — find what any creator said about any topic
search_transcript	Search within a single video's transcript
get_transcript	Get full transcript with timestamps
search_videos	Search YouTube for videos
get_video_info	Get video details — title, description, stats, chapters
get_channel_info	Get channel info — subscribers, description, video count
get_channel_videos	List videos from a channel, sorted by date or popularity
get_comments	Get video comments sorted by relevance

Example Prompts

"Find me the best videos on how to scale a B2B SaaS from 0 to $1M ARR"
→ search_videos

"Show me everything @AlexHormozi posted this month"
→ get_channel_videos

"Summarize this interview with Sam Altman: https://youtube.com/watch?v=..."
→ get_transcript

"What exactly did @AlexHormozi say about making offers? Give me the timestamps"
→ search_channel_transcripts — searches all videos, returns exact passages with links

"Compare how @ycombinator and @AlexHormozi think about product-market fit"
→ search_channel_transcripts on both channels

HTTP Transport

Run as a standalone HTTP server:

yt-mcp-server --transport streamable-http --port 8000

Requirements

• Python 3.10+
• yt-dlp (installed automatically)
• No API keys or authentication required

Note

Transcript features (get_transcript, search_transcript, search_channel_transcripts) use YouTube's internal API, which may rate-limit after many requests in a short period. Normal usage (a few queries per session) works fine.

Acknowledgments

Built with the assistance of Claude by Anthropic.

License

MIT