Package Exports

This package does not declare an exports field, so the exports above have been automatically detected and optimized by JSPM instead. If any package subpath is missing, it is recommended to post an issue to the original package (youtube-transcript-cli) to support the "exports" field. If that is not possible, create a JSPM override to customize the exports field for this package.

Readme

YouTube Transcript CLI

A Node.js CLI that fetches YouTube transcripts from a video URL or video ID.

This project is a standalone CLI package for npm and bun (not an MCP server).

Features

Fetch transcript by full YouTube URL or raw video ID
Optional language priority list (--lang=en,fr)
Optional timestamps (--timestamps)
Optional chunking by max characters (--max=6000)
Works as a local command and as a global command (-g)

Command Name

The CLI command is:

yt-transcript

Hyphens are valid in CLI command names.

Installation

Global install (recommended)

npm install -g youtube-transcript-cli
# or with bun
bun add -g youtube-transcript-cli

Then use it directly from any terminal:

yt-transcript https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ --lang=en,fr --timestamps --max=6000

Local install in a project

npm install youtube-transcript-cli
# or with bun
bun add youtube-transcript-cli

Run with npx:

npx yt-transcript https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ --lang=en,fr --timestamps --max=6000
# or with bunx
bunx yt-transcript https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ --lang=en,fr --timestamps --max=6000

Local Development Test (before publishing)

From this repository folder:

npm install
npm run build
npm link
yt-transcript --help
yt-transcript https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ --lang=en,fr --timestamps --max=6000

# bun alternative
bun install
bun run build
bun link
yt-transcript https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ --lang=en,fr --timestamps --max=6000

Remove the global link when done:

npm unlink -g youtube-transcript-cli
# or with bun
bun unlink -g youtube-transcript-cli

Usage

yt-transcript [<url|videoId>] [--lang en,fr] [--timestamps] [--max 12000]

If no URL/ID is provided, a default demo video is used.

Options

--lang=en,fr or --lang en,fr: language priority list
--timestamps: include timestamps in output
--max=6000 or --max 6000: chunk output by max characters
--help or -h: show help

Output Behavior

Without --max, output is not chunked.
With --max, output is split into chunks.
Timestamps are based on real segment offsets.

Use as a Skill (Prompt Examples)

When integrated as a skill in an AI assistant, users can ask:

Give me the transcript and timestamps on this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
Give me the french transcript of this Youtube video dQw4w9WgXcQ
Extract transcript in English and French with timestamps for https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ

Publish to npm

When you are ready:

npm login
npm publish

The package is configured with:

package name: youtube-transcript-cli
CLI command: yt-transcript

License

MIT