YouTube Transcript MCP Server

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that extracts, searches, and analyzes YouTube video transcripts. Works with Claude Desktop, Cursor, and any MCP-compatible client.

Features

• Get Transcript - Extract full transcript from any YouTube video
• Search Transcript - Find specific keywords with surrounding context
• Transcript Summary - Get time-chunked transcript for easier analysis
• Batch Processing - Process up to 10 videos at once

Installation

pip (recommended)

pip install yt-transcript-mcp

From source

git clone https://github.com/alex2zimmermann-ux/yt-transcript-mcp
cd yt-transcript-mcp
pip install .

Configuration

Claude Desktop

Add to your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube-transcript": {
      "command": "yt-transcript-mcp",
      "env": {
        "YT_MCP_MODE": "standalone"
      }
    }
  }
}

Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Description
YT_MCP_MODE	standalone	standalone or backend
YT_MCP_BACKEND_URL	http://localhost:8300	Backend service URL
YT_MCP_BACKEND_API_KEY	-	API key for backend
YT_MCP_CACHE_MAX_SIZE	100	Max cache entries
YT_MCP_CACHE_TTL_SECONDS	3600	Cache TTL in seconds
YT_MCP_RATE_LIMIT_PER_MINUTE	30	Rate limit
YT_MCP_TRANSPORT	stdio	stdio or streamable-http

Modes

Standalone (default)

Uses youtube-transcript-api directly. Lightweight, no external dependencies. Best for marketplace deployment.

Backend

Connects to a running transcript service (FastAPI) that supports cookies, yt-dlp, and Whisper fallback. Best for premium/self-hosted usage.

Tools

get_transcript

Get the transcript of a YouTube video.

Parameters:

• url (required) - YouTube URL or video ID
• language (optional, default: "en") - Language code
• format (optional, default: "text") - "text", "segments", or "both"

search_transcript

Search for keywords in a video transcript.

Parameters:

• url (required) - YouTube URL or video ID
• query (required) - Search term
• language (optional, default: "en")
• context_segments (optional, default: 1) - Surrounding segments to include

get_transcript_summary

Get transcript in time chunks for analysis.

Parameters:

• url (required) - YouTube URL or video ID
• language (optional, default: "en")
• chunk_minutes (optional, default: 5)

batch_transcripts

Process multiple videos at once.

Parameters:

• urls (required) - List of YouTube URLs or IDs (max 10)
• language (optional, default: "en")

Docker

# Standalone
docker compose --profile standalone up

# Backend
YT_MCP_BACKEND_API_KEY=your-key docker compose --profile backend up

Development

python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -e ".[dev]"
pytest tests/ -v --cov

License

MIT