youtube-summarize

# YouTube Video Summarizer

Summarize YouTube videos by extracting transcripts and providing intelligent summaries. Saves summaries to an Obsidian vault and opens a styled preview in the browser.

## Prerequisites

The venv is already set up at `~/.claude/skills/youtube-summarize/venv` with `youtube-transcript-api` installed.

## Workflow

1. **Extract video ID** from the URL (supports youtube.com/watch, youtu.be, shorts)
2. **Fetch transcript** using `scripts/get_transcript.py`
3. **Summarize** the transcript based on user request
4. **Save & Preview** using `scripts/save_summary.py` - saves to Obsidian vault and opens styled HTML in browser

## Scripts

### Get Transcript

```bash
# Activate venv and get plain text transcript
source ~/.claude/skills/youtube-summarize/venv/bin/activate && python ~/.claude/skills/youtube-summarize/scripts/get_transcript.py "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID"

# Get timestamped transcript
source ~/.claude/skills/youtube-summarize/venv/bin/activate && python ~/.claude/skills/youtube-summarize/scripts/get_transcript.py "URL" --format timestamped

# Specify language
source ~/.claude/skills/youtube-summarize/venv/bin/activate && python ~/.claude/skills/youtube-summarize/scripts/get_transcript.py "URL" --lang es
```

### Save Summary & Open Preview

After generating the summary, save it and open the preview:

```bash
source ~/.claude/skills/youtube-summarize/venv/bin/activate && python ~/.claude/skills/youtube-summarize/scripts/save_summary.py \
  --title "Video Title Here" \
  --url "https://youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID" \
  --summary "Your markdown summary here"
```

Options:
- `--no-preview`: Skip opening browser preview
- `--no-save`: Skip saving to Obsidian vault
- `--stdin`: Read summary from stdin instead of --summary flag

## Output Locations

- **Obsidian Vault**: `~/Documents/YouTube-Summaries/` (customize in `save_summary.py`)
- **Browser Preview**: Opens automatically in default browser (temp HTML file)

## Summarization Guidelines

After extracting the transcript, provide summaries based on user needs:

| Request Type | Output |
|-------------|--------|
| "Summarize" | 3-5 paragraph overview of main points |
| "Key points" | Bullet list of 5-10 main takeaways |
| "TLDR" | 2-3 sentence ultra-brief summary |
| "Explain" | Detailed explanation with context |
| "Timestamps" | Key moments with timestamps |

## Error Handling

| Error | Cause | Solution |
|-------|-------|----------|
| `TranscriptsDisabled` | Video has no captions | Inform user; cannot extract |
| `NoTranscriptFound` | No transcript in requested language | Try without `--lang` flag |
| `VideoUnavailable` | Private/deleted video | Inform user |

## Notes

- Works with auto-generated and manual captions
- Supports 100+ languages (use ISO 639-1 codes)
- Shorts and regular videos both supported
- Summaries are saved with frontmatter for Obsidian compatibility