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Youtube Transcribe Skill
by
Pengfei Ni
· GitHub ↗
· v0.1.0
485
Downloads
2
Stars
1
Active Installs
1
Versions
Install in OpenClaw
/install youtube-transcribe-skill
Description
Extract subtitles/transcripts from YouTube videos. Triggers: "youtube transcript", "extract subtitles", "video captions", "视频字幕", "字幕提取", "YouTube转文字", "提取字幕".
Usage Guidance
This skill appears to do what it says: extract YouTube transcripts using yt-dlp or browser automation. Before installing, consider: (1) yt-dlp --cookies-from-browser will access your browser cookie store to handle sign-in-protected videos — only proceed if you are comfortable with that and trust the runtime. (2) The fallback uses a chrome-devtools plugin to open pages and run JavaScript on them; review what that plugin can access in your environment. (3) SKILL.md mentions 'WebFetch'/'firecrawl' but those tools aren't declared — if the agent attempts those, verify what implementation will be used. (4) No external credentials are requested and nothing is downloaded by the skill itself, which reduces risk. If you plan to use this skill, ensure yt-dlp and/or the specified mcp plugin are installed from trusted sources and avoid running it in environments where exposing browser cookies would be unacceptable.
Capability Analysis
Type: OpenClaw Skill
Name: youtube-transcribe-skill
Version: 0.1.0
The skill is classified as suspicious due to the use of powerful capabilities that, while potentially functional for its stated purpose, introduce significant security risks. Specifically, the `SKILL.md` instructions allow `yt-dlp` to access browser cookies via `--cookies-from-browser`, and critically, grant the agent the ability to execute arbitrary JavaScript in the user's browser context using `mcp__plugin_claude-code-settings_chrome__evaluate_script`. While the provided JavaScript is benign, this capability represents a browser-side Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerability, making the skill highly susceptible to prompt injection attacks for data exfiltration or other malicious browser actions.
Capability Assessment
Purpose & Capability
The skill's name and description align with its instructions: it uses yt-dlp when available and falls back to browser automation to extract transcripts. Minor inconsistency: SKILL.md mentions using 'WebFetch' or 'firecrawl' to fetch the page/title, but those tools are not listed in the allowed-tools block. Otherwise the declared allowed tools (yt-dlp and the chrome-devtools mcp plugin) are appropriate for the stated purpose.
Instruction Scope
Instructions stay focused on extracting transcripts and saving them locally. Privacy-relevant behaviors: recommending yt-dlp with --cookies-from-browser=chrome means the tool will read browser cookie stores to bypass sign-in restrictions; the mcp__plugin evaluate_script step runs arbitrary JS on the video page (reads DOM/transcript). These are coherent for scraping transcripts but can expose local browser cookies or other page content if the environment/tool implementation is broad.
Install Mechanism
No install spec (instruction-only), so nothing is being downloaded or written by the skill itself. This is low-risk from an install perspective.
Credentials
The skill does not request environment variables, credentials, or config paths. It does rely on local tools (yt-dlp and a chrome-devtools mcp plugin) and on access to the browser's cookie store via yt-dlp, which is proportional to the goal but privacy-sensitive; no extra unrelated credentials are requested.
Persistence & Privilege
always is false and the skill is user-invocable. It does not request permanent presence or modifications to other skills or system-wide settings.
How to Use
- Make sure OpenClaw is installed (local or Docker)
- Run the install command in chat:
/install youtube-transcribe-skill - After installation, invoke the skill by name or use
/youtube-transcribe-skill - Provide required inputs per the skill's parameter spec and get structured output
Version History
v0.1.0
youtube-transcribe-skill v0.1.0
- Initial release: Extracts subtitles/transcripts from YouTube videos via CLI or browser automation.
- Supports multiple triggers, including English and Chinese phrases.
- Primary extraction uses `yt-dlp`; if unavailable or fails, falls back to browser automation via `chrome-devtools-mcp`.
- Handles common issues (missing tools, browser restrictions) with user prompts and fallbacks.
- Saves extracted subtitles to the current directory with timestamp and subtitle text per line.
- Reports file path, subtitle language, and total subtitle lines upon completion.
Metadata
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Youtube Transcribe Skill?
Extract subtitles/transcripts from YouTube videos. Triggers: "youtube transcript", "extract subtitles", "video captions", "视频字幕", "字幕提取", "YouTube转文字", "提取字幕". It is an AI Agent Skill for Claude Code / OpenClaw, with 485 downloads so far.
How do I install Youtube Transcribe Skill?
Run "/install youtube-transcribe-skill" in the OpenClaw or Claude Code chat to install it in one step — no extra setup required.
Is Youtube Transcribe Skill free?
Yes, Youtube Transcribe Skill is completely free (open-source). You can download, install and use it at no cost.
Which platforms does Youtube Transcribe Skill support?
Youtube Transcribe Skill is cross-platform and runs anywhere OpenClaw / Claude Code is available (cross-platform).
Who created Youtube Transcribe Skill?
It is built and maintained by Pengfei Ni (@feiskyer); the current version is v0.1.0.
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