YouTube Transcript MCP server

This MCP server allows you to retrieve transcripts from YouTube videos through a simple interface, making it easy to access and analyze video content without manual transcription. It supports multiple languages, can format text in continuous or paragraph mode, and includes features like metadata retrieval and text normalization.

Installation

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18 or higher

Installation Options

Option 1: Manual Configuration (Recommended for Production)

1. Create or edit the Claude Desktop configuration file:

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

2. Add the following configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube-transcript": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@sinco-lab/mcp-youtube-transcript"
      ]
    }
  }
}

For macOS users, here's a quick setup script:

# Create directory if it doesn't exist
mkdir -p ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude

# Create or update config file
cat > ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json << 'EOL'
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube-transcript": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@sinco-lab/mcp-youtube-transcript"
      ]
    }
  }
}
EOL

Option 2: Via Smithery (Development Only)

npx -y @smithery/cli install @sinco-lab/mcp-youtube-transcript --client claude

Note: The Smithery method is not recommended for production use as it relies on Smithery's proxy services.

Usage

Basic Usage with Claude

1. Restart the Claude app after installation
2. Use a simple command like:

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJpK3YTTKZ4 Summarize this video
   

Testing with MCP Inspector

For more advanced testing, you can use the MCP Inspector:

# Clone and setup
git clone https://github.com/sinco-lab/mcp-youtube-transcript.git
cd mcp-youtube-transcript
npm install
npm run build

# Launch inspector
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector node "dist/index.js"

Then access http://localhost:6274 and try these commands:

• List Tools: click List Tools
• Test get_transcripts with:
  • url: "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJpK3YTTKZ4"
  • lang: "en" (optional)
  • enableParagraphs: false (optional)

Troubleshooting

Checking Claude Logs

Monitor Claude's logs with:

tail -n 20 -f ~/Library/Logs/Claude/mcp*.log

Cleaning the npx Cache

If you encounter issues with the npx cache:

rm -rf ~/.npm/_npx

API Reference

get_transcripts

Fetches transcripts from YouTube videos.

Parameters:

• url (string, required): YouTube video URL or ID
• lang (string, optional): Language code (default: "en")
• enableParagraphs (boolean, optional): Enable paragraph mode (default: false)

Response Format:

{
  "content": [{
    "type": "text",
    "text": "Video title and transcript content",
    "metadata": {
      "videoId": "video_id",
      "title": "video_title",
      "language": "transcript_language",
      "timestamp": "processing_time",
      "charCount": "character_count",
      "transcriptCount": "number_of_transcripts",
      "totalDuration": "total_duration",
      "paragraphsEnabled": "paragraph_mode_status"
    }
  }]
}

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":"npx","args":["-y","@sinco-lab/mcp-youtube-transcript"]}'

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": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "@sinco-lab/mcp-youtube-transcript"
            ]
        }
    }
}

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": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "@sinco-lab/mcp-youtube-transcript"
            ]
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect