YouTube MCP Server

Overview

The YouTube MCP Server bridges the gap between AI assistants and dynamic video content by providing a simple, protocol‑based interface to extract subtitles from any publicly accessible YouTube video. By leveraging the popular downloader, it fetches transcript data in a structured JSON format that Claude or any other MCP‑compatible client can ingest and analyze on the fly. This eliminates the need for manual transcript extraction, enabling developers to build conversational agents that can reference video content without leaving the chat interface.

For developers building AI workflows, this server solves a common pain point: how to bring real‑time video insights into an assistant’s context. Instead of uploading large video files or relying on external transcription services, the MCP server pulls subtitles directly from YouTube’s API via . The result is a lightweight, zero‑cost solution that respects the source’s licensing and privacy settings. When a user asks Claude to “Summarize the YouTube video <<URL>>,” the assistant automatically invokes the MCP endpoint, retrieves the transcript, and produces a concise summary—all within the conversation.

Key capabilities include:

• Subtitle extraction: Supports multiple languages and auto‑generated captions when available.
• Structured output: Returns subtitles as JSON with timestamps, making it easy to map text back to specific moments in the video.
• Protocol‑agnostic integration: Works with any MCP client, allowing seamless incorporation into existing AI pipelines or custom tooling.
• Zero‑friction setup: Requires only the binary, which can be installed via Homebrew or WinGet, keeping the deployment footprint minimal.

Typical use cases span educational platforms that need to auto‑generate lecture notes, content creators who want quick video summaries for marketing, and accessibility tools that convert spoken language into readable text. In a larger AI workflow, the server can feed subtitle data into downstream NLP models for sentiment analysis, keyword extraction, or question answering about specific video segments.

What sets this MCP server apart is its focus on simplicity and immediacy. By turning a single URL into actionable text, it removes the barrier of manual transcription and lets developers prototype conversational agents that interact with live video content in real time. This makes it an invaluable component for any project where understanding or summarizing YouTube videos is a core requirement.