YouTube Transcript Server
Retrieve transcripts and subtitles from YouTube videos through a simple MCP interface.
Add to your client
Copy the config for your MCP client and paste it into its config file.
npx -y @smithery/cli install @kimtaeyoon83/mcp-server-youtube-transcript --client claudePaste into ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
{
"mcpServers": {
"youtube-transcript-server": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@kimtaeyoon83/mcp-server-youtube-transcript"
]
}
}
}Step-by-step guides: Add to Claude Desktop · Add to Cursor · Add to Windsurf
Before you start
- Node.js 18 or higher
- npm or yarn
About YouTube Transcript Server
YouTube Transcript Server is a Model Context Protocol server that retrieves transcripts from YouTube videos, giving AI clients direct access to video captions and subtitles. It accepts standard video URLs, Shorts URLs, or bare video IDs, supports language-specific retrieval with automatic fallback to available languages, can optionally include timestamps, and filters out ads and sponsorships by default based on chapter markers.
Tools & capabilities (1)
get_transcriptExtract transcripts from YouTube videos. Inputs: url (string, required) — YouTube video URL, Shorts URL, or video ID; lang (string, optional, default 'en') — language code (e.g. 'ko', 'en'), automatically falls back to available languages if the requested one is not found; include_timestamps (boolean, optional, default false) — include timestamps in output (e.g. '[0:05] text'); strip_ads (boolean, optional, default true) — filter out sponsorships, ads, and promotional content based on chapter markers.
When to use it
- Extract subtitles from a YouTube video by URL, Shorts URL, or video ID
- Retrieve a transcript in a specific language with automatic fallback
- Get a timestamped transcript to reference specific moments in a video
- Fetch a raw transcript without ad/sponsorship filtering when needed
Security notes
The server validates all input parameters, handles YouTube API errors gracefully, implements timeouts for transcript retrieval, and provides detailed error messages for troubleshooting.
YouTube Transcript Server FAQ
What input formats does the server accept?
It accepts standard YouTube video URLs, YouTube Shorts URLs, and bare video IDs.
What happens if the requested language is unavailable?
The server automatically falls back to available languages if the requested language code is not found.
Does it remove ads and sponsorships?
Yes. The strip_ads option is enabled by default and filters out sponsorships, ads, and promotional content based on chapter markers. Set strip_ads to false to get the raw transcript.
How do I install it for Claude Desktop?
You can install it automatically via Smithery with 'npx -y @smithery/cli install @kimtaeyoon83/mcp-server-youtube-transcript --client claude', or add the mcpServers configuration manually with command 'npx' and args ['-y', '@kimtaeyoon83/mcp-server-youtube-transcript'].
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