Youtube Summarize MCP Server

MCP server that fetches YouTube video transcripts and optionally summarizes them.

Local serverstdioPython

What is the Youtube Summarize MCP server?

MCP server that fetches YouTube video transcripts and optionally summarizes them. Exposed over MCP by the youtube summarize mcp server, that capability becomes something an assistant can invoke while it works, not something you go and do afterwards.

What it actually does

  • Fetch transcripts — in multiple formats (text, JSON, SRT, WebVTT, pretty-print)
  • Video metadata — — title, description, channel, upload date, duration, views, chapters (via yt-dlp)
  • Optional timestamps — in plain-text transcripts
  • Summarize videos — — returns transcript with the prompt clearly broken out for human review before the LLM acts on it
  • List playlist videos — — fast enumeration of any public playlist with optional sorting
  • Search videos — — clean ranked results with sort and filter options, without the ads, Shorts shelves, and personalized recommendations of the YouTube website

Adding it to your client

The server ships on PyPI as youtube-summarize, so your MCP client can launch it on demand — there is no separate build step. Add the server block to your client's configuration, restart it, and the tools register themselves.

Its toolset

Everything the assistant can do here goes through one of these:

  • get_transcript — Fetch a YouTube video's transcript. By default the response is prefixed with a [METADATA] block (title, channel, published, duration, views
  • summarize_transcript — Fetch a transcript and return it with summarization instructions. The response is structured into clearly-labeled sections ([INSTRUCTIONS]
  • get_video_metadata — Fetch metadata (title, description, channel, upload date, duration, views, tags, chapters, etc.) for a YouTube video. Backed by yt-dlp
  • list_playlist_videos — List the videos in a YouTube playlist (title, ID, channel, duration, views, URL). Per-video metadata is intentionally lean so the call stays fast
  • search_videos — Search YouTube for videos and return a clean ranked list (title, ID, channel, duration, views, URL) — only actual videos, with no ads, recommendation
  • list_transcripts — The list_transcripts tool exposed by this server

Configuration

  • Python 3.13+ - uv package manager

Caveats

  • It runs with your machine's permissions. That is convenient and also the reason to think about what you point it at before you approve a tool call.
  • MCP clients confirm each tool call by default. Leave that on until you have watched what the youtube summarize mcp server does with a few real requests.

When to reach for it

This sits in the AI and media services group, where several servers overlap in what they claim to do but differ sharply once you actually set them up. Youtube Summarize's toolset — get_transcript, summarize_transcript, get_video_metadata and 3 more — is a fair guide to whether it matches your workflow. It is maintained by zlatkoc; worth a glance at recent repository activity before you build anything load-bearing on it.

We check each listing at SyncDev against the project's documentation before it goes live — if something here drifts out of date, it is a bug worth reporting.

Available tools

ToolWhat it does
get_transcriptFetch a YouTube video's transcript. By default the response is prefixed with a [METADATA] block (title, channel, published, duration, views, description); pass include_metadata=false for transcript-only output.
summarize_transcriptFetch a transcript and return it with summarization instructions. The response is structured into clearly-labeled sections ([INSTRUCTIONS], [PROMPT_SOURCE], [VIDEO], [METADATA], [TRANSCRIPT]) so a human can review the pr
get_video_metadataFetch metadata (title, description, channel, upload date, duration, views, tags, chapters, etc.) for a YouTube video. Backed by yt-dlp.
list_playlist_videosList the videos in a YouTube playlist (title, ID, channel, duration, views, URL). Per-video metadata is intentionally lean so the call stays fast even for large playlists; call get_video_metadata with a specific video ID
search_videosSearch YouTube for videos and return a clean ranked list (title, ID, channel, duration, views, URL) — only actual videos, with no ads, recommendation shelves, or personalization. Relevance ordering still comes from YouTu
list_transcriptsThe list_transcripts tool exposed by this server.

How to install the Youtube Summarize MCP server

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube-summarize": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["youtube-summarize"]
    }
  }
}

Add to claude_desktop_config.json, then restart Claude Desktop.

Configuration

  • Python 3.13+ - uv package manager

Example prompts to try

  • Use Youtube Summarize to get transcript.
  • Use Youtube Summarize to summarize transcript.
  • Use Youtube Summarize to get video metadata.

Frequently asked questions

It connects Youtube Summarize to MCP-compatible AI assistants such as Claude and Cursor, exposing 6 tools (get_transcript, summarize_transcript, get_video_metadata, and more) that the assistant can call on your behalf. Instead of copying data back and forth by hand, the assistant works with Youtube Summarize directly.