YouTube Transcript MCP Server
YouTube video captions and transcripts extracted directly into your AI assistant.
Data last scanned today · Reviewed yesterday
Overview
YouTube Transcript MCP Server enables AI models to fetch video captions and subtitles. It supports standard YouTube videos and Shorts, allowing users to specify languages or retrieve English transcripts by default. The tool includes options to include timestamps and automatically filter out sponsorships or ad-related content from the output text. This server is designed to provide quick, structured access to video content for analysis or summarization tasks within compatible MCP-enabled environments. Developers can install the server using common CLI tools like Smithery or mcp-get to quickly integrate video processing capabilities into their workflows.
Our verdict
This server carries a high-risk profile with a security score of 24/100. The primary concern is the lack of any authentication method, meaning anyone with access to your configuration can use the server. Furthermore, the project lacks official vendor maintenance and has not been editorially reviewed. Given these factors, it is recommended for use only in non-sensitive or isolated testing environments rather than production setups handling confidential data.
- Supports YouTube Shorts and standard video URLs
- Built-in filtering for ads and sponsorships
- Configurable language support with automatic fallback
- Lightweight codebase with only two direct dependencies
- High security risk due to lack of authentication
- Community-maintained without official vendor oversight
- Last repository commit was over 200 days ago
Setup
{
"mcpServers": {
"mcp-server-youtube-transcript": {
"args": [
"-y",
"@kimtaeyoon83/mcp-server-youtube-transcript"
],
"command": "npx"
}
}
}Paste into ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows), then restart Claude Desktop. Some servers require API keys or tokens as environment variables — check the project's README and add an "env" object if needed.
- No read-only mode — running this grants full read/write access.
- No built-in authentication — anyone with access to this config can invoke every tool it exposes.
Tools
| Tool | Description | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| get_transcript | Extract transcripts from YouTube videos | low |
Compatibility
| Client | Local | Docker | Remote | Read-only |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Desktop | ||||
| Cursor | ||||
| VS Code | ||||
| Windsurf | ||||
| ChatGPT |
Frequently asked questions
›What are the system requirements to run this server?
You need to have Node.js version 18 or higher installed along with either npm or yarn.
›Can this server retrieve transcripts from YouTube Shorts?
Yes, the server supports YouTube Shorts URLs in addition to standard video URLs and video IDs.
›How does the server handle languages that are not available for a specific video?
If your requested language is not found, the server automatically falls back to other available languages.
›Does the server include ad or sponsorship content in the output?
The server features built-in ad and sponsorship filtering based on chapter markers, which is enabled by default.
›How can I include timestamps in the transcript output?
You can set the include_timestamps parameter to true when calling the get_transcript tool.
›How should I troubleshoot issues while developing this server?
Because MCP servers communicate over stdio, it is recommended to use the MCP Inspector for debugging.
Alternatives
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