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Install in OpenClaw
/install youtube-search
Description
Use when the user wants to find YouTube content on any topic: searching for videos or channels, finding creators who cover a subject, discovering tutorials,...
Usage Guidance
This skill appears coherent and does what it says: it uses TranscriptAPI to search YouTube and fetch transcripts and needs a TranscriptAPI key. Before installing, consider: (1) The agent will ask you to paste an existing key or provide an email/OTP so it can create an account for you — only provide your own email and OTP if you trust the process. (2) It will attempt to persist the TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY so it survives across sessions; ensure you are comfortable with the agent writing that value into whatever profile/config is used on this system. (3) Use a dedicated service account or limit the key's scope if possible, and review transcriptapi.com for legitimacy and billing. (4) If you do not want the agent to write config files or store persistent secrets, refuse the create-account flow and supply a key only after reviewing where and how it will be stored.
Capability Analysis
Type: OpenClaw Skill
Name: youtube-search
Version: 1.5.0
The skill facilitates YouTube searching and transcript retrieval via transcriptapi.com. It is classified as suspicious due to instructions in 'references/auth-setup.md' that direct the AI agent to bypass platform security features (specifically secret redaction) by writing API keys and access tokens to temporary files to avoid detection in tool outputs. Furthermore, it instructs the agent to implement persistence by modifying the host's environment variables or shell profiles to ensure the 'TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY' survives across sessions.
Capability Tags
Capability Assessment
Purpose & Capability
Name/description map to the actual behavior: it calls TranscriptAPI endpoints to search YouTube and fetch transcripts. The single required environment variable (TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY) is the API key the service needs — appropriate and proportional.
Instruction Scope
SKILL.md and references/auth-setup.md are explicit about API calls, required headers, and a signup flow. The auth guide instructs the agent to ask for the user's email or API key, perform registration and OTP verification, write raw HTTP responses to temporary files, and persist the resulting TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY in the environment so it survives sessions. These file writes and persistence steps are expected for long-lived credentials, but they do expand the agent's actions to filesystem/config changes and requiring the user to share OTPs or their key.
Install Mechanism
No install spec and no code files — instruction-only. No packages or downloads are requested, so nothing will be written to disk by an installer beyond whatever the agent does as part of storing the key.
Credentials
Only TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY is required (declared as primaryEnv). No unrelated secrets, cloud credentials, or broad-scoped tokens are requested. Requiring a single service API key is proportional to the stated functionality.
Persistence & Privilege
The skill asks the agent to persist the API key so it is available across future sessions and non-interactive shells; this may require writing to shell profiles or agent config files. 'always' is false and autonomous invocation is allowed (platform default). Persisting secrets is normal here, but users should be aware the agent will be guided to store a long-lived secret on the host.
How to Use
- Make sure OpenClaw is installed (local or Docker)
- Run the install command in chat:
/install youtube-search - After installation, invoke the skill by name or use
/youtube-search - Provide required inputs per the skill's parameter spec and get structured output
Version History
v1.5.0
Replace auth.js with agent-native auth-setup.md; fix YAML frontmatter (quote descriptions); add version field; move homepage into metadata.openclaw.
v1.4.1
ClawHub variant: minimal tapi-auth.js v3.0.0, only writes to ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json
v1.4.0
**Expanded key persistence for easier autonomous authentication across shells and platforms.**
- The skill now saves the API key to multiple locations, including shell profiles and agent config files, for seamless use in background and autonomous tasks.
- Existing configuration files are automatically backed up before updating with the API key.
- A new "File Writes" section in the documentation details exactly which files are written to on macOS, Linux, and Windows, and under what conditions.
- OpenClaw configuration is updated when present to enable background agent use without manual intervention.
- These changes reduce friction for agents and users, ensuring persistent API access across sessions and environments.
v1.3.4
- Fixed minor formatting in the metadata and YAML frontmatter in SKILL.md.
- No functional or API changes in this version.
v1.3.3
youtube-search v1.3.3
- No file changes detected in this version.
- Behavior and documentation remain unchanged.
v1.0.1
youtube-search 1.0.1
- Added detailed usage instructions and setup steps for obtaining and configuring the TranscriptAPI key.
- Clarified API parameters, example responses, and common workflows for searching videos, channels, and transcripts.
- Described error codes and free tier limitations.
- Updated documentation for channel handle resolution and searching within specific channels.
- Improved guidance for assisting new users through authentication if environment variables are missing.
v1.3.2
Fix: markdown formatting + blank line between password warning and Step 2
v1.3.1
Fix: register response now echoes password + pre-filled next_command to prevent agents losing the password between register and verify steps
v1.3.0
Bundled auth script for agent-driven signup flow
v1.2.2
Fixed code block widths for proper rendering
v1.2.1
Removed separators
v1.2.0
Cleaned docs — removed internal implementation details
v1.1.0
Full v2 API support: search, channels, playlists. Accurate schemas, validation, cache TTLs.
v1.0.0
Initial release — YouTube transcripts via TranscriptAPI.com
Metadata
Frequently Asked Questions
What is youtube-search?
Use when the user wants to find YouTube content on any topic: searching for videos or channels, finding creators who cover a subject, discovering tutorials,... It is an AI Agent Skill for Claude Code / OpenClaw, with 2156 downloads so far.
How do I install youtube-search?
Run "/install youtube-search" in the OpenClaw or Claude Code chat to install it in one step — no extra setup required.
Is youtube-search free?
Yes, youtube-search is completely free, licensed under MIT-0. You can download, install and use it at no cost.
Which platforms does youtube-search support?
youtube-search is cross-platform and runs anywhere OpenClaw / Claude Code is available (cross-platform).
Who created youtube-search?
It is built and maintained by Rohit Das (@therohitdas); the current version is v1.5.0.
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