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YouTube transcript for Claude

Paste a YouTube link below, pick a starter prompt and select Copy for Claude to paste the prompt, title, link and transcript into a chat. If you use Claude Code, connect the TubeTranscript MCP server instead, so Claude calls get_transcript itself. The MCP server needs a Pro API key.

10 free transcripts per 24 hours (24 with a free account). Paste a link, or type it and choose Get transcript.

Free/guest transcripts are published publicly. Choose Pro for private transcripts.

How to give Claude a YouTube video in 3 steps

  1. Paste the YouTube link above and choose Get transcript.
  2. Pick a starter prompt and select Copy for Claude.
  3. Paste into a new Claude chat and send. In Claude Code, use the MCP server below instead.

Example output

The first chunk of a real transcript from the public library: Moravec's Paradox - Why are machines so smart, yet so dumb? (Up and Atom). The text is shown exactly as stored, including recognition errors.

Summarize this YouTube video in 5–7 bullet points, then give a one-sentence takeaway. Use only the transcript below.

Title: Moravec's Paradox - Why are machines so smart, yet so dumb?
URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcfVRkC3Dp0
Channel: Up and Atom

Transcript:
this episode was made possible by Robo race the world's first driverless racing series hi everyone jto have you ever wondered why it's so easy for machines to do things we find really hard hey Siri what's the square root of five thousand six hundred and ninety seven this square root of five thousand six hundred and ninety seven is approximately seventy five point four seven eight five but so hard to do

Use get_transcript from Claude Code (MCP)

With a Pro API key exported as TUBETRANSCRIPT_API_KEY, register the servers with the Claude Code CLI:

claude mcp add --transport http tubetranscript https://tubetranscript.io/api/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $TUBETRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"
claude mcp add --transport http tubetranscript-ai https://tubetranscript.io/api/mcp/tools \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $TUBETRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"

Run claude mcp list to confirm both connect, then start a new session. Ask Claude to fetch a video's transcript: it calls get_transcript, which returns clean text without timestamps plus a job_id. If the status is processing (audio transcription), Claude should call it again after about 60 seconds. The AI tools (extract_hooks, create_mindmap, generate_brand_voice_blog) take that job_id.

Cursor, Windsurf and n8n setups are in the MCP setup guide. For scripts that do not go through Claude, the YouTube transcript API returns the timed transcript as JSON with the same key.

Limits you should know

  • The MCP servers and REST API need a Pro API key ($9/month). Copying for Claude does not.
  • Claude can still misread or invent details; ask it to quote the transcript and check important claims.
  • Captions and speech recognition contain mistakes, especially in names, numbers and noisy audio. Auto-generated captions often have no punctuation (see the example above).
  • Without an account you get 10 transcripts per 24 hours (up to 5 of them AI-transcribed); a free account gets 24. Pro raises this to 1,000 a day under fair use.

FAQ

Do I need Pro to use this with Claude?

Not to copy and paste. The MCP server, which lets Claude Code fetch transcripts itself, needs a Pro API key.

What does get_transcript return?

The video ID, a status, a job_id and the transcript as plain text without timestamps. For timed chunks, use the REST API.

Does the MCP server work in Cursor and Windsurf?

Yes. The MCP setup guide has the configuration for each.

What if the transcript is too long for one message?

Use the transcript splitter to send it in labelled parts.

By Kenji Saito · Updated