# YouTube Transcript MCP Server

> Give Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Claude Code and any MCP client the ability to read **YouTube transcripts**. Hosted, nothing to install. Free API key: 10 requests a day.

A hosted [Model Context Protocol](https://modelcontextprotocol.io) server that exposes one tool, `get_youtube_transcript`, backed by [youtube-transcript.ai](https://youtube-transcript.ai). Paste a YouTube link mid-conversation and your AI reads the full transcript on demand.

**Connector URL:**

```
https://youtube-transcript.ai/mcp?key=YOUR_KEY
```

Replace `YOUR_KEY` with your API key. [Create a free key](https://youtube-transcript.ai/get-api-key) with a Google sign-in; it takes about a minute.

---

## Why

- **Free to start.** A free key covers 10 transcripts a day. Pro is 1,000 a day for $120 a year, on the same key.
- **Reliable.** A hardened fetch pipeline with proxy fallback returns transcripts even on videos that block typical scrapers.
- **Any language.** Pick a caption track by language code (`en`, `zh-CN`, `es`, `ja`, …) or let it choose the default.
- **Built for agents.** One tool, plain-text output with title and metadata. Multi-hour videos come back in parts, so nothing gets cut off.

## Authentication

Tool calls need an API key. There is no OAuth. Send the key in one of two ways:

| Where | Example |
|-------|---------|
| Header | `Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY` |
| URL | `https://youtube-transcript.ai/mcp?key=YOUR_KEY` |

The URL form is for clients that only accept a connector URL.

## Quick start

### Claude (web / desktop)

Settings → **Connectors** → **Add custom connector**

| Field | Value |
|-------|-------|
| Name  | `youtube-transcript.ai` |
| URL   | `https://youtube-transcript.ai/mcp?key=YOUR_KEY` |

Then ask: *“Summarize this video: https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ”*

### ChatGPT

In the custom connector / MCP server setup, add an MCP server with URL `https://youtube-transcript.ai/mcp?key=YOUR_KEY` (transport: **Streamable HTTP**), enable it for your chat, then paste a YouTube link.

### Claude Code

```bash
claude mcp add --transport http --scope user youtube-transcript \
  https://youtube-transcript.ai/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY"
```

### Cursor

Add to `~/.cursor/mcp.json`, or to `.cursor/mcp.json` inside one project:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube-transcript": {
      "url": "https://youtube-transcript.ai/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_KEY" }
    }
  }
}
```

### Codex

Add to `~/.codex/config.toml`:

```toml
[mcp_servers.youtube-transcript]
url = "https://youtube-transcript.ai/mcp"
http_headers = { "Authorization" = "Bearer YOUR_KEY" }
```

### Clients that only launch local servers

For clients that start MCP servers from a config file and cannot take a remote URL, bridge with [`mcp-remote`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/mcp-remote):

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube-transcript": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote", "https://youtube-transcript.ai/mcp?key=YOUR_KEY"]
    }
  }
}
```

### Let your agent do it

Paste [`https://youtube-transcript.ai/mcp.md`](https://youtube-transcript.ai/mcp.md) into a coding agent. It is a plain-text version of these instructions, written for an AI to follow.

## Tool reference

### `get_youtube_transcript`

Fetch the full text transcript of a YouTube video.

| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|-----------|------|----------|-------------|
| `video`   | string | yes | YouTube URL (watch, `youtu.be`, shorts, embed) or a bare 11-character video ID |
| `lang`    | string | no  | Caption language code, e.g. `en`, `zh-CN`, `es`. Omit for the default track |
| `offset`  | integer | no | Where to continue a long transcript. Use the value given at the end of the previous part |

Returns plain text: the transcript with title, duration, and a list of available languages. Transcripts over 120,000 characters come back in parts; each part ends with a note giving the `offset` for the next call.

## Example prompts

- “Summarize the key points of `<link>` in 5 bullets.”
- “Pull the transcript of this video and translate it to Spanish.”
- “What does the speaker say about pricing in `<link>`? Quote the exact lines.”

## Programmatic use

The server speaks standard MCP over Streamable HTTP (JSON-RPC). A zero-dependency example is in [`examples/quickstart.mjs`](examples/quickstart.mjs):

```bash
YT_TRANSCRIPT_KEY=YOUR_KEY node examples/quickstart.mjs https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ
```

Calling from your own code without MCP? There is a plain HTTP endpoint too: see the [YouTube Transcript API](https://youtube-transcript.ai/api).

## Limits

- Free: 10 requests a day. Pro: 1,000 a day for $120 a year. Upgrade from the [key page](https://youtube-transcript.ai/get-api-key).
- Every tool call counts as one request, including each part of a long transcript. The count resets at 00:00 UTC.
- The video needs captions, either written by the uploader or auto-generated by YouTube.

## Notes

- **Not affiliated** with YouTube or Google. Transcripts are fetched from publicly available captions.
- Listed in the official MCP Registry as `ai.youtube-transcript/youtube-transcript`.

## Links

- Web tool (no AI client needed): https://youtube-transcript.ai
- Connector landing page: https://youtube-transcript.ai/mcp
- HTTP API: https://youtube-transcript.ai/api

## License

MIT