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Install in OpenClaw
/install tldw
Description
Extracts YouTube video transcripts and provides concise summaries highlighting main points, arguments, and conclusions without watching the full video.
Usage Guidance
This skill appears to do what it says: download and clean YouTube captions and let the agent summarize them. Before installing/use: 1) Review scripts/extract_transcript.py yourself (it’s included) or run it in an isolated environment; 2) If you must summarize age-restricted videos, avoid supplying your primary Google/YouTube cookies—use a throwaway account or minimal cookie export because the cookie file contains session tokens; 3) Be aware pip will fetch yt-dlp and webvtt-py from PyPI—only install packages you trust and consider running installs in a dedicated venv or container; 4) Note the script sets 'nocheckcertificate' (weakened TLS checking) and high retry counts — acceptable for robustness but reduces certificate validation; 5) AGPL-3.0 applies (see LICENSE) — be mindful of copyleft obligations if you modify or redistribute. If you want higher assurance, run the script manually on a sample URL and inspect the cached outputs before letting an agent run it autonomously.
Capability Analysis
Type: OpenClaw Skill
Name: tldw
Version: 1.0.2
The skill is classified as suspicious primarily due to the `nocheckcertificate: True` option set in the `ydl_opts` within `scripts/extract_transcript.py`. This setting disables SSL certificate verification, which can expose network connections to Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) attacks, even if intended for reliability. Additionally, the skill is designed to process user-provided cookie files for accessing age-restricted content, which, while a stated feature, involves handling potentially sensitive authentication data.
Capability Assessment
Purpose & Capability
The name/behavior match: SKILL.md and scripts both describe extracting YouTube captions via yt-dlp, cleaning/deduplicating captions, caching them, and then summarizing the transcript in the agent session. The declared dependencies (yt-dlp, webvtt-py) and the provided extract_transcript.py are what you'd expect for this function.
Instruction Scope
Runtime instructions are narrowly scoped to: create a venv, pip-install yt-dlp and webvtt-py, run scripts/extract_transcript.py to produce JSON, and summarize the transcript. The documentation does not instruct reading unrelated system files or sending data to unknown endpoints; the code fetches caption URLs (from yt-dlp metadata) and uses requests to download them, which is consistent with the purpose.
Install Mechanism
There is no automated install spec in the registry (instruction-only), so setup requires pip installing packages into a local venv as documented. Those installs come from PyPI (yt-dlp, webvtt-py) — common and expected, but you should be aware that pip will fetch third-party packages at install time.
Credentials
The skill requests no environment variables or credentials. It does offer optional cookie-file support for age-restricted content (Netscape-format cookies). That is functionally justified but sensitive: cookies can contain session/authentication tokens. The script otherwise caches transcripts locally and does not declare any external secret storage. Also note yt-dlp option 'nocheckcertificate': True disables strict SSL checking for downloads — likely intended to improve reliability but reduces TLS protections.
Persistence & Privilege
The skill does not request persistent/global privileges (always:false). It creates a local venv/ and cache/ directories within the skill directory as documented, which is expected and confined to its own directory. It does not modify other skills or system-wide agent settings.
How to Use
- Make sure OpenClaw is installed (local or Docker)
- Run the install command in chat:
/install tldw - After installation, invoke the skill by name or use
/tldw - Provide required inputs per the skill's parameter spec and get structured output
Version History
v1.0.2
Initial release of tl-dw (tldw) YouTube video summarizer.
- Extracts and summarizes YouTube video transcripts using yt-dlp and Python.
- Supports caching, deduplication, and multi-format (VTT/SRT/JSON) transcript handling.
- Allows access to age-restricted content with browser cookies.
- Provides structured summaries including main points, key arguments, and conclusions.
- Includes error handling for missing captions, age restrictions, network issues, and large transcripts.
v1.0.1
tldw 1.0.0 initial release
- First release of the tldw YouTube video summarizer skill.
- Adds AGPL-3.0 LICENSE file.
v1.0.0
Initial release: YouTube transcript extraction and summarization
Metadata
Frequently Asked Questions
What is tl;dw - YouTube Video Summarizer?
Extracts YouTube video transcripts and provides concise summaries highlighting main points, arguments, and conclusions without watching the full video. It is an AI Agent Skill for Claude Code / OpenClaw, with 1611 downloads so far.
How do I install tl;dw - YouTube Video Summarizer?
Run "/install tldw" in the OpenClaw or Claude Code chat to install it in one step — no extra setup required.
Is tl;dw - YouTube Video Summarizer free?
Yes, tl;dw - YouTube Video Summarizer is completely free (open-source). You can download, install and use it at no cost.
Which platforms does tl;dw - YouTube Video Summarizer support?
tl;dw - YouTube Video Summarizer is cross-platform and runs anywhere OpenClaw / Claude Code is available (cross-platform).
Who created tl;dw - YouTube Video Summarizer?
It is built and maintained by vovavvk (@vovavvk); the current version is v1.0.2.
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