youtube-transcribe

YouTube Transcribe Skill

Tool Discovery

Before running, the agent checks for available tools and sets PATH:

# Find tools dynamically — don't hardcode paths
export PATH="/tmp/miniforge/bin:$(python3 -m site --user-base)/bin:$PATH"

YTDLP=$(command -v yt-dlp 2>/dev/null || echo "yt-dlp")
FFMPEG=$(command -v ffmpeg 2>/dev/null || echo "ffmpeg")
WHISPER=$(command -v whisper 2>/dev/null || echo "whisper")

# Verify tools exist
for TOOL in "$YTDLP" "$FFMPEG" "$WHISPER"; do
  [ -x "$TOOL" ] || echo "[WARN] Tool not found or not executable: $TOOL"
done

Tool requirements:

Environment PATH

export PATH="/tmp/miniforge/bin:$(python3 -m site --user-base)/bin:$PATH"

Workflow

Step 1 — Parse YouTube URL

URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5kYrmzNhcU"
VIDEO_ID=$(echo "$URL" | grep -oE 'v=[^&]+' | cut -d= -f2 | head -1)
# Handles: https://youtu.be/ID, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ID&t=..., https://youtube.com/embed/ID

Step 2 — Get Video Metadata

TITLE=$($YTDLP --extractor-args "youtube:player_client=android" \
  --print title --no-warnings "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=${VIDEO_ID}" 2>/dev/null)
CHANNEL=$($YTDLP --extractor-args "youtube:player_client=android" \
  --print channel --no-warnings "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=${VIDEO_ID}" 2>/dev/null)
DURATION=$($YTDLP --extractor-args "youtube:player_client=android" \
  --print duration_string --no-warnings "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=${VIDEO_ID}" 2>/dev/null)

Step 3 — Download Audio (with Fallback Chain)

mkdir -p /tmp/yt_audio

# Strategy: try android client first → if GVS PO Token error, fall back to web client
# (web client may 403 on some videos; android client needs PO token for high-quality formats
# but usually succeeds with format 18 even without PO token)

# Attempt 1: android client (works without PO token for format 18)
$YTDLP -x --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 0 \
  --extractor-args "youtube:player_client=android" \
  -f "best[ext=mp4]/best" \
  -o "/tmp/yt_audio/${VIDEO_ID}.%(ext)s" \
  "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=${VIDEO_ID}" 2>&1 | grep -v "^Deprecated\|^NotOpenSSL\|^Warning:"

# If android fails (GVS PO Token required), fall back to web
if [ ! -f "/tmp/yt_audio/${VIDEO_ID}.mp4" ] && [ ! -f "/tmp/yt_audio/${VIDEO_ID}.mp3" ]; then
  echo "[*] Android client failed, trying web client..."
  $YTDLP -x --audio-format mp3 --audio-quality 0 \
    -o "/tmp/yt_audio/${VIDEO_ID}.%(ext)s" \
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=${VIDEO_ID}" 2>&1 | grep -v "^Deprecated\|^NotOpenSSL"
fi