YouTube Transcript Extractor MCP server

This MCP server allows AI assistants like Claude Desktop and Cursor to extract transcripts from YouTube videos, making it possible for AI systems to analyze and work with YouTube content directly through the Model Context Protocol.

Installation

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v16 or higher)
• pnpm (recommended) or npm
• YouTube video URLs to extract transcripts from

Setup Steps

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/yourusername/yt-mcp.git
   cd yt-mcp
   

2. Install dependencies:

   pnpm install
   

3. Build the project:

   pnpm run build
   

Configuration

Setting up with Cursor

1. Open Cursor Settings
2. Navigate to MCP → Add new MCP server
3. Configure with these settings:
   • Name: youtube-transcript
   • Type: command
   • Command: node /absolute/path/to/yt-mcp/build/index.js

Setting up with Claude Desktop

Add this configuration to your Claude Desktop config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube-transcript": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/yt-mcp/build/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

Usage

Once configured, the AI assistant can extract transcripts from YouTube videos by using a video URL. The AI will use this format internally:

const transcript = await extractTranscript({
  input: "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID"
});

Limitations and Troubleshooting

Known Limitations

• Only works with public YouTube videos
• Videos must have captions/subtitles enabled
• Auto-generated captions may not be 100% accurate

Common Issues

• "Cannot find video ID" error: Check that you're using a complete and correct YouTube URL and that the video is publicly accessible

• "No transcript available" error: Verify that the video has captions enabled or try a different video

• Build errors: Ensure all dependencies are installed and you're using Node.js v16 or higher

How to install this MCP server

For Claude Code

To add this MCP server to Claude Code, run this command in your terminal:

claude mcp add-json "youtube-transcript" '{"command":"node","args":["/absolute/path/to/yt-mcp/build/index.js"]}'

See the official Claude Code MCP documentation for more details.

For Cursor

There are two ways to add an MCP server to Cursor. The most common way is to add the server globally in the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file so that it is available in all of your projects.

If you only need the server in a single project, you can add it to the project instead by creating or adding it to the .cursor/mcp.json file.

Adding an MCP server to Cursor globally

To add a global MCP server go to Cursor Settings > Tools & Integrations and click "New MCP Server".

When you click that button the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file will be opened and you can add your server like this:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "youtube-transcript": {
            "command": "node",
            "args": [
                "/absolute/path/to/yt-mcp/build/index.js"
            ]
        }
    }
}

Adding an MCP server to a project

To add an MCP server to a project you can create a new .cursor/mcp.json file or add it to the existing one. This will look exactly the same as the global MCP server example above.

How to use the MCP server

Once the server is installed, you might need to head back to Settings > MCP and click the refresh button.

The Cursor agent will then be able to see the available tools the added MCP server has available and will call them when it needs to.

You can also explicitly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.

For Claude Desktop

To add this MCP server to Claude Desktop:

1. Find your configuration file:

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

2. Add this to your configuration file:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "youtube-transcript": {
            "command": "node",
            "args": [
                "/absolute/path/to/yt-mcp/build/index.js"
            ]
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect