YouTube Skill Claude Code — Communication skill for Claude Code

YouTube Skill for Claude Code

A [Claude Code](https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code) skill that downloads YouTube transcripts, metadata, and videos using [yt-dlp](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp).

**Zero setup required.** Claude will automatically install Homebrew and yt-dlp if they're missing.


What It Does

When you share a YouTube URL or ask about video content, Claude Code will automatically:

• Extract transcripts - auto-generated or manual subtitles as clean text
• Get metadata - title, description, duration, uploader, upload date
• Download videos - any format, quality, or audio-only
• Process playlists - batch download with organized output

Installation

Clone into your Claude Code skills directory:

git clone https://github.com/adampaulwalker/youtube-skill-claude-code.git ~/.claude/skills/youtube

Restart Claude Code. That's it.

Dependencies (Homebrew, yt-dlp) are installed automatically on first use. No manual setup needed.

Usage

Just use natural language in Claude Code:

• "Get the transcript from this video: https://youtube.com/watch?v=..."
• "Download this YouTube video as mp3"
• "What's this video about? https://youtube.com/watch?v=..."
• /youtube to invoke directly

How It Works

Claude Code auto-discovers skills by scanning `~/.claude/skills/` for folders containing a `SKILL.md` file. This skill gives Claude the `Bash` tool permission to run `yt-dlp` commands for YouTube operations.

On first use, Claude checks for Homebrew and yt-dlp and installs them if missing. See [SKILL.md](SKILL.md) for the full command reference.

License

MIT