This is an MCP server that allows you to directly download transcripts of YouTube videos.
Standard I/O
Docker
Add this to your claude_desktop_config.json:
{
"mcpServers": {
"-kimtaeyoon83-mcp-server-youtube-transcript": {
"args": [
"index.js"
],
"command": "node"
}
}
}metadata in responses
(boolean, optional, default: true): Filter out sponsorships, ads, and promotional content from transcript based on chapter markers
timestamps for referencing specific moments
for multiple video URL formats (including YouTube Shorts)
- `url` (string, required): A publicly reachable **direct video URL** (e.g. an `.mp4`/`.mov`/`.webm` link or a pre-signed URL). TwelveLabs fetches the file server-side, so a YouTube watch page URL will not work — it serves HTML, not a raw video stream.
(boolean, optional, default: false): Include timestamps in output (e.g., '[0:05] text')
external dependencies for transcript fetching
transcripts from YouTube videos
(string, optional, default: "en"): Language code for transcript (e.g., 'ko', 'en'). Automatically falls back to available languages if requested language is not found.
a video with [TwelveLabs](https://twelvelabs.io) Pegasus, a video-understanding model. Unlike `get_transcript`, this reasons over what is *shown* on screen, so it produces useful summaries and answers even for videos with little or no speech (demos, gameplay, b-roll, music videos).
(number, optional, default: 2048): Maximum response length in tokens.
(string, optional): Instruction or question for the model (e.g. `"Summarize this video in 3 sentences"` or `"What products are shown?"`). Defaults to a general summary.
(string, optional, default: `"pegasus1.2"`): Pegasus model to use (`"pegasus1.2"` or `"pegasus1.5"`).
the `TWELVELABS_API_KEY` environment variable. The transcript tool works without it; analysis is fully opt-in. Grab a free key at [twelvelabs.io](https://twelvelabs.io) — there's a generous free tier.