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YouTube MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for interacting with YouTube videos. This server provides tools for extracting video metadata, captions, and converting them to markdown format with various templates.

Features

Video Metadata: Fetch comprehensive video information
Caption Extraction: Support for auto-generated and manual captions
Multiple Languages: Built-in support for English and French
Template System: Three built-in markdown templates:
- Basic: Simple transcript format
- Detailed: Full metadata with timestamps
- Search: Results highlighting with context
Search Functionality: Search within video captions
Flexible Authentication: Supports both API key and OAuth2 authentication

Prerequisites

Node.js (v16 or higher)
npm or yarn
A YouTube Data API key and/or OAuth2 credentials

Installation

Clone the repository:

git clone [repository-url]
cd youtube-mcp

Install dependencies:

npm install

Build the project:

npm run build

Configuration

Create a .env file in the root directory with your YouTube credentials:

YOUTUBE_API_KEY=your_api_key
YOUTUBE_CLIENT_ID=your_client_id
YOUTUBE_CLIENT_SECRET=your_client_secret
YOUTUBE_REFRESH_TOKEN=your_refresh_token  # Optional, for OAuth2

MCP Configuration

Add the server to your MCP settings file (usually at ~/.config/Code/User/globalStorage/rooveterinaryinc.roo-cline/settings/cline_mcp_settings.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["path/to/youtube-mcp/build/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "YOUTUBE_API_KEY": "your_api_key",
        "YOUTUBE_CLIENT_ID": "your_client_id",
        "YOUTUBE_CLIENT_SECRET": "your_client_secret"
      },
      "disabled": false,
      "alwaysAllow": []
    }
  }
}

Usage

The server provides the following tools:

1. Get Video Info

use_mcp_tool youtube get_video_info {
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID"
}

2. Get Captions

use_mcp_tool youtube get_captions {
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID",
  "language": "en"  // Optional, defaults to "en"
}

3. Convert to Markdown

use_mcp_tool youtube convert_to_markdown {
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID",
  "template_name": "detailed",  // Optional, "basic", "detailed", or "search"
  "language": "en",            // Optional
  "options": {                 // Optional
    "include_chapters": true,
    "search_term": "keyword"   // Only for search template
  }
}

4. List Templates

use_mcp_tool youtube list_templates

Dependencies

{
  "dependencies": {
    "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk": "latest",
    "googleapis": "^146.0.0",
    "google-auth-library": "^9.0.0",
    "youtube-captions-scraper": "^2.0.0",
    "express": "^4.18.2",
    "open": "^9.1.0"
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "@types/node": "^20.0.0",
    "typescript": "^5.0.0",
    "tsx": "^4.0.0"
  }
}

OAuth2 Setup

For OAuth2 authentication (required for private video access):

Create a project in the Google Cloud Console
Enable the YouTube Data API v3
Create OAuth2 credentials (Web application type)
Run the authentication script:

node src/get-api-key.js

Follow the browser prompts to authorize the application
Copy the refresh token to your configuration

Customizing Templates

You can add custom templates by modifying the DEFAULT_TEMPLATES array in src/index.ts. Templates follow this structure:

interface MarkdownTemplate {
  name: string;
  description: string;
  format: {
    header?: string;
    chapter_format?: string;
    caption_block: string;
    timestamp_format?: string;
    search_result_format?: string;
  }
}

License

MIT

Contributing

Fork the repository
Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some amazing feature')
Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
Open a Pull Request