YouTube To Ebook — Communication skill for Claude Code

YouTube to Ebook

Transform YouTube videos from your favorite channels into beautifully formatted EPUB ebooks.

Features

• Fetches latest videos from YouTube channels (automatically filters out Shorts)
• Extracts transcripts from videos
• Uses Claude AI to transform transcripts into polished magazine-style articles
• Generates EPUB ebooks readable on any device
• Optional: Email delivery with ebook attachment
• Optional: Web dashboard for easy management

Quick Start

1. **Clone and install:**

   git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/youtube-to-ebook.git
   cd youtube-to-ebook
   pip install -r requirements.txt

2. **Set up API keys:**

   cp .env.example .env
   # Edit .env with your keys

3. **Add your channels:**

   # Edit channels.txt with YouTube channel handles
   @mkbhd
   @veritasium
   @3blue1brown

4. **Generate your ebook:**

   python main.py

Getting API Keys

YouTube Data API (Free)

1. Go to Google Cloud Console
2. Create a new project
3. Enable "YouTube Data API v3"
4. Create credentials → API Key
5. Copy to .env

Anthropic API

1. Go to Anthropic Console
2. Create an API key
3. Copy to .env

Web Dashboard

Launch a friendly web interface:

pip install streamlit
python -m streamlit run dashboard.py

Automation (Mac)

Run automatically every week:

# Copy the plist to LaunchAgents
cp com.youtube.newsletter.plist ~/Library/LaunchAgents/

# Load it
launchctl bootstrap gui/$(id -u) ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.youtube.newsletter.plist

Troubleshooting

"ModuleNotFoundError" when running automation

Your Mac may have multiple Python installations. The automation scripts use `python3`, but your packages might be installed in a different Python.

**Fix:** Find your Python path and update the scripts:

# Find where your Python is
which python3

# Update