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@limecooler/yt-info-mcp
@limecooler/yt-info-mcp/dist/index.js

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Readme

YouTube Info MCP Server

A lightweight MCP server that extracts YouTube video metadata and transcripts through web scraping, featuring robust error handling, caching, and retry logic without requiring API keys or external dependencies.

Features

Fetches video metadata (title, author, duration, views, description)
Downloads available transcripts/captions
No API key required
No external dependencies (like yt-dlp)
Fast startup time for Claude Desktop integration
Comprehensive error handling with specific error codes
Input validation using Zod schemas
Retry logic with exponential backoff for network resilience
In-memory caching for improved performance
Debug logging support (set MCP_DEBUG=true)
TypeScript with full type safety

Installation

Option 1: Direct Usage with npx (Recommended)

No installation needed! You can run the server directly using npx.

Option 2: Local Installation

Clone this repository:

git clone https://github.com/Limecooler/yt-video-info.git
cd yt-video-info

Install dependencies:

npm install

Build the TypeScript code:

npm run build

Claude Desktop Configuration

Add the following to your Claude Desktop configuration file:

Configuration File Locations

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Option 1: Using npx (Recommended - No Installation Required)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube-info": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@limecooler/yt-info-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Option 2: Local Installation

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube-info": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/yt-video-info/dist/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

Usage

Once configured, you can use the tool in Claude Desktop:

Please get information from YouTube video dQw4w9WgXcQ

The tool will return:

Video metadata (title, author, duration, view count, description)
Transcript with timestamps (if available)
Error details if the video is unavailable or has no transcript

Response Format

{
  "metadata": {
    "title": "Video Title",
    "author": "Channel Name",
    "lengthSeconds": 215,
    "viewCount": 1234567,
    "description": "Video description..."
  },
  "transcript": {
    "text": "Full transcript text...",
    "segments": [
      {
        "start": 0.0,
        "text": "First segment"
      },
      {
        "start": 2.5,
        "text": "Second segment"
      }
    ]
  },
  "error": "Error message if transcript unavailable"
}

Error Handling

The server handles various error cases:

Invalid video ID format
Video not found (404)
Private or age-restricted videos
Videos without transcripts
Network errors

Development

Run in development mode with auto-reload:

npm run dev

Testing

Run comprehensive tests:

npm test

Test MCP protocol communication:

npm run test:mcp

Enable debug logging:

MCP_DEBUG=true npm start

Limitations

Relies on YouTube's web interface structure, which may change
Cannot access transcripts for videos that don't have captions
May be rate-limited by YouTube if used excessively
Does not transcribe audio - only downloads existing captions

License

MIT