Agent skill

Youtube

Extract transcripts from YouTube videos via the YouTube caption system

AGPL-3.0-or-laterAuto-check passedKnowledge Management

Install Youtube

skills CLI

$ npx skills add axoviq-ai/synthadoc --skill youtube -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install axoviq-ai/synthadoc youtube --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/axoviq-ai/synthadoc.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/synthadoc/skills/youtube .claude/skills/youtube && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Paste into Claude Code

Install the "youtube" agent skill from https://github.com/axoviq-ai/synthadoc/tree/main/synthadoc/skills/youtube into .claude/skills/youtube/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "youtube", then confirm the skill loads.

Claude Code copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

$skill-installer

$skill-installer install https://github.com/axoviq-ai/synthadoc/tree/main/synthadoc/skills/youtube

Type this inside Codex. $skill-installer <name> installs a curated skill from openai/skills. The installer writes to $CODEX_HOME/skills (default ~/.codex/skills). Restart Codex if the skill does not show up.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add axoviq-ai/synthadoc --skill youtube -a codex

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.codex/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install axoviq-ai/synthadoc youtube --agent codex

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/axoviq-ai/synthadoc.git skills-src && mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r skills-src/synthadoc/skills/youtube .agents/skills/youtube && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.agents/skills/ instead of .agents/skills for a personal install.

Codex skills documentation · loads skills from .agents/skills/

Paste into Codex

Install the "youtube" agent skill from https://github.com/axoviq-ai/synthadoc/tree/main/synthadoc/skills/youtube into .agents/skills/youtube/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "youtube", then confirm the skill loads.

Codex copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add axoviq-ai/synthadoc --skill youtube -a cursor

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.cursor/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install axoviq-ai/synthadoc youtube --agent cursor

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/axoviq-ai/synthadoc.git skills-src && mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r skills-src/synthadoc/skills/youtube .cursor/skills/youtube && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.cursor/skills/ instead of .cursor/skills for a personal install.

Cursor skills documentation · loads skills from .cursor/skills/, .agents/skills/, .claude/skills/, .codex/skills/

Paste into Cursor

Install the "youtube" agent skill from https://github.com/axoviq-ai/synthadoc/tree/main/synthadoc/skills/youtube into .cursor/skills/youtube/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "youtube", then confirm the skill loads.

Cursor copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

gemini skills install

$ gemini skills install https://github.com/axoviq-ai/synthadoc.git --path synthadoc/skills/youtube

--scope user (default) or --scope workspace; --path is the subfolder of the repo that holds the skill; --consent skips the security confirmation prompt.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add axoviq-ai/synthadoc --skill youtube -a gemini-cli

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.gemini/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install axoviq-ai/synthadoc youtube --agent gemini-cli

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/axoviq-ai/synthadoc.git skills-src && mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r skills-src/synthadoc/skills/youtube .gemini/skills/youtube && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.gemini/skills/ instead of .gemini/skills for a personal install, then run /skills reload.

Gemini CLI skills documentation · loads skills from .gemini/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into Gemini CLI

Install the "youtube" agent skill from https://github.com/axoviq-ai/synthadoc/tree/main/synthadoc/skills/youtube into .gemini/skills/youtube/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "youtube", then confirm the skill loads.

Gemini CLI copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install axoviq-ai/synthadoc youtube

Installs for Copilot at project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Preview a skill first with gh skill preview. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

skills CLI

$ npx skills add axoviq-ai/synthadoc --skill youtube -a github-copilot

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.copilot/skills/.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/axoviq-ai/synthadoc.git skills-src && mkdir -p .github/skills && cp -r skills-src/synthadoc/skills/youtube .github/skills/youtube && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.copilot/skills/ instead of .github/skills for a personal install. Commit .github/skills so cloud agent and code review can use it.

GitHub Copilot skills documentation · loads skills from .github/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into GitHub Copilot

Install the "youtube" agent skill from https://github.com/axoviq-ai/synthadoc/tree/main/synthadoc/skills/youtube into .github/skills/youtube/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "youtube", then confirm the skill loads.

GitHub Copilot copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add axoviq-ai/synthadoc --skill youtube -a opencode

OpenCode documents no install command of its own. Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.config/opencode/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install axoviq-ai/synthadoc youtube --agent opencode

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/axoviq-ai/synthadoc.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/synthadoc/skills/youtube .opencode/skills/youtube && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.config/opencode/skills/ instead of .opencode/skills for a personal install.

OpenCode skills documentation · loads skills from .opencode/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into OpenCode

Install the "youtube" agent skill from https://github.com/axoviq-ai/synthadoc/tree/main/synthadoc/skills/youtube into .opencode/skills/youtube/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "youtube", then confirm the skill loads.

OpenCode copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

Facts

Skill name: youtube
GitHub stars: 1.6k
Token cost: ~634 tokens
SKILL.md length: 139 words
Files: 4 (incl. scripts)
Skills in repo: 9
Repo updated: Oct 10, 2026
First seen: Oct 7, 2026
Licence: AGPL-3.0-or-later

At a glance

Extract transcripts from YouTube videos via the YouTube caption system

Knowledge Management work in your project
SKILL.md covers Setup, Standalone usage, When this skill is used and Limitations
Runs Python scripts from its folder; calls pip; reaches youtube.com and youtu.be

What it does

Youtube is an agent skill from axoviq-ai/synthadoc. Extract transcripts from YouTube videos via the YouTube caption system

Its SKILL.md is about 630 tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. The skill folder holds 4 other files, including scripts (for example `scripts/__init__.py` and `scripts/main.py`).

It sits in Knowledge Management. It works with YouTube and Obsidian. The repository describes itself as: Synthadoc: An open-source LLM knowledge compilation engine that turns raw documents into structured, local-first wikis. A transparent, human-readable alternative to traditional… The licence is AGPL-3.0-or-later.

When your agent uses it

Knowledge Management work in your project

Example prompts

“/youtube”

Requirements

Python 3

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 90d0db7. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

Tool permissions
Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.
From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.
Runs code
Ships 2 files in scripts/ (Python), which the agent can run.
Shell commands in SKILL.md call:
- pip
From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.
Network
Hosts in commands or code, which the agent is likely to contact:
- youtube.com
- youtu.be
- youtubekids.com
From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.
Credentials
Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.
From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Youtube loads about 634 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 20 tokens; SKILL.md has 139 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it: ~20
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches: ~634

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); the scripts in this folder are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from axoviq-ai/synthadoc at commit 90d0db7, republished under its AGPL-3.0-or-later licence (© axoviq-ai). 139 words, ~634 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/youtube/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 3 other files; get the full folder from GitHub.

name: youtube
description: Extract transcripts from YouTube videos via the YouTube caption system
version: 1.0
entry.script: scripts/main.py
entry.class: YoutubeSkill
triggers.extensions: https://www.youtube.com/, https://youtu.be/, https://www.youtubekids.com/
requires: youtube-transcript-api
author: axoviq.com
license: AGPL-3.0-or-later

YouTube Skill

Extracts the transcript (captions) from a YouTube video using the YouTube caption system — no API key or audio download required. Optionally uses a vision-capable LLM to produce a structured summary (Overview, Topics, Key takeaways) before the raw transcript.

Setup

bash

pip install youtube-transcript-api

Standalone usage

Transcript only (no LLM required):

python

import asyncio
from synthadoc.skills.youtube.scripts.main import YoutubeSkill

skill = YoutubeSkill()          # no provider — returns raw timestamped transcript

async def main():
    result = await skill.extract("https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ")
    print(result.text)          # "[0:00] text [0:04] text ..."
    print(result.metadata)      # {"video_id": "...", "title": "...", "url": "..."}

asyncio.run(main())

With LLM summarization (pass any provider that implements complete()):

python

skill = YoutubeSkill(provider=my_provider)
result = await skill.extract(url)
# result.text contains:
#   ## Executive Summary
#   <Overview / Topics / Key takeaways>
#
#   ## Transcript
#   [0:00] ...

The provider must implement:

python

async def complete(messages, system=None, temperature=0.0, max_tokens=4096)
    -> object with .text (str), .input_tokens (int), .output_tokens (int)

Message (used to build the messages list) is importable from synthadoc.skills.base:

python

from synthadoc.skills.base import Message

When this skill is used

Source starts with https://www.youtube.com/, https://youtu.be/, or https://www.youtubekids.com/

To search YouTube by topic instead of ingesting a specific URL, use the web search skill — it filters Tavily results to YouTube domains automatically:

bash

synthadoc ingest "youtube Moore's Law"
synthadoc ingest "youtube kids: Sesame Street"
synthadoc ingest "search for youtube: history of computing"

Limitations

Only works for videos that have captions (auto-generated or manually added). If no captions are available the source is skipped with a warning.
Private or deleted videos are skipped gracefully.

Files

SKILL.md and 3 other files (scripts) in synthadoc/skills/youtube of axoviq-ai/synthadoc.

SKILL.md
requirements.txt
scripts/__init__.py
scripts/main.py

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 90d0db7

Compare with similar skills

Youtube next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Youtube compared with similar skills
Skill	Stars	Used in	Tokens	Auto-check	Licence	Repo updated
Youtube this skillaxoviq-ai/synthadoc	1.6k	—	~634	Automated safety check: Pass	AGPL-3.0-or-later	today
Subscription Videos MetadataEfficientStreet/youtube-subscriptions-ingest	180	—	~7.1k	Automated safety check: Notes	MIT	1 mo ago
Youtube Transcriptglebis/claude-skills	391	—	~613	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	3 days ago
Researchiusztinpaul/ai-research-os-workshop	179	—	~17k	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	3 mo ago
Baoyu URL To Markdownsdyckjq-lab/llm-wiki-skill	2.5k	2 repos	~3.2k	Automated safety check: Pass	None	2 mo ago
Obsidian CLIAtmosphere/atmosphere	3.8k	13 repos	~795	Automated safety check: Pass	Apache-2.0	2 days ago

Similar skills

Subscription Videos Metadata
EfficientStreet/youtube-subscriptions-ingest
Pull metadata from YouTube subscription videos into a second-brain vault as a real cross-linked knowledge graph — not just a flat archive.
180 GitHub stars~7.1k tokensUpdated 1 mo ago
Knowledge ManagementAuto-check: notes
Youtube Transcript
glebis/claude-skills
Extract YouTube video transcripts with metadata and save as Markdown to Obsidian vault.
391 GitHub stars~613 tokensUpdated 3 days ago
Knowledge ManagementAuto-check passed
Research
iusztinpaul/ai-research-os-workshop
Build, extend, AND query a persistent LLM-maintained wiki for any research topic.
179 GitHub stars~17k tokensUpdated 3 mo ago
Knowledge ManagementAuto-check passed
Baoyu URL To Markdown
sdyckjq-lab/llm-wiki-skill
Fetch any URL and convert to markdown using Chrome CDP. An agent skill from sdyckjq-lab/llm-wiki-skill.
2.5k GitHub starsUsed in 2 repos~3.2k tokens
Knowledge ManagementAuto-check passed
Obsidian CLI
Atmosphere/atmosphere
Interact with Obsidian vaults using the Obsidian CLI to read, create, search, and manage notes, tasks, properties, and more.
3.8k GitHub starsUsed in 13 repos~795 tokens
Knowledge ManagementAuto-check passed
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Collects content from WeChat articles, web pages, YouTube, podcasts, documents and more, uploads it to NotebookLM and generates podcasts, slides or mind maps.
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Knowledge ManagementAuto-check passed

Questions about Youtube

What does Youtube do?

Extract transcripts from YouTube videos via the YouTube caption system. Youtube is an agent skill from axoviq-ai/synthadoc.

When should I use Youtube?

Youtube fits situations like: knowledge Management work in your project.

How do I install Youtube in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add axoviq-ai/synthadoc --skill youtube -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (synthadoc/skills/youtube in axoviq-ai/synthadoc) into .claude/skills/youtube in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Youtube in Codex?

Run `npx skills add axoviq-ai/synthadoc --skill youtube -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (synthadoc/skills/youtube in axoviq-ai/synthadoc) into .agents/skills/youtube in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Youtube in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add axoviq-ai/synthadoc --skill youtube -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/youtube, .gemini/skills/youtube, .github/skills/youtube and .opencode/skills/youtube in your project.

What does Youtube need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Youtube needs Python for the scripts in its folder and the command-line tools its instructions call (pip). Our summary lists: Python 3.

Does Youtube access the network?

SKILL.md names 3 domains. In commands or code: youtube.com, youtu.be and youtubekids.com; the agent is likely to contact these when it follows the instructions. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Youtube safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. The check reads SKILL.md only: the scripts in the folder are not scanned, so read them before running anything.

What licence does Youtube use?

Youtube is published under the AGPL-3.0-or-later licence (declared in SKILL.md). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Youtube use?

About 634 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 2.5k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Youtube?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Youtube: Subscription Videos Metadata (EfficientStreet/youtube-subscriptions-ingest, 180 stars), Youtube Transcript (glebis/claude-skills, 391 stars), Research (iusztinpaul/ai-research-os-workshop, 179 stars) and Baoyu URL To Markdown (sdyckjq-lab/llm-wiki-skill, 2.5k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Youtube?

axoviq-ai (a GitHub organization) maintains it in axoviq-ai/synthadoc, which has 1,578 GitHub stars. The repository holds 9 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 10, 2026.

Source: axoviq-ai/synthadoc on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.

Youtube

Install Youtube

Facts

At a glance

What it does

When your agent uses it

Example prompts

Requirements

What it can do on your machine

Tool permissions

Runs code

Network

Credentials

Context cost

Safety

SKILL.md

YouTube Skill

Setup

Standalone usage

When this skill is used

Limitations

Files

Compare with similar skills

Similar skills

Subscription Videos Metadata

Youtube Transcript

Research

Baoyu URL To Markdown

Obsidian CLI

Multi-Source to NotebookLM Processor

More from axoviq-ai/synthadoc

Image

Session

PPTX

DOCX

PDF

URL

Questions about Youtube

Install Youtube

Facts

At a glance

What it does

When your agent uses it

Example prompts

Requirements

What it can do on your machine

Tool permissions

Runs code

Network

Credentials

Context cost

Safety

SKILL.md

YouTube Skill

Setup

Standalone usage

When this skill is used

Limitations

Files

Compare with similar skills

Similar skills

More from axoviq-ai/synthadoc

Related

Questions about Youtube