YouTube Transcript + Search MCP 🎬

A remote MCP server for YouTube — transcripts, video/channel search, channel browsing, in-channel search, and playlist extraction. API-key or OAuth 2.1 sign-in. Free tier, no card required.

Six tools, one hosted endpoint, no local install — for Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf, and 15+ other MCP-compatible clients.

https://getyoutubetranscript.com/api/mcp

---

Why this MCP

	This MCP	Typical single-purpose YouTube MCP
Hosting	✅ Remote (no local install, no build step)	❌ Local stdio process to manage
Tools	✅ 6 (transcript, search, channel latest/search/videos, playlist)	❌ Usually 1 (transcript only)
YouTube search (video and channel)	✅ Yes	❌ No
Full channel upload history, paginated	✅ Yes	❌ No
In-channel search	✅ Yes	❌ No
Auth	✅ API key and OAuth 2.1 (DCR + CIMD)	❌ Usually neither
Agent-friendly errors	✅ Stable error codes, human-readable messages	❌ Bare HTTP codes

---

Quick Install

Requirements: a free getyoutubetranscript.com account (sign up — 100 credits, no card) and an API key from your dashboard — or just connect via OAuth and skip the key entirely (see Authentication below).

claude mcp add --transport http youtube-transcript https://getyoutubetranscript.com/api/mcp --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

1. Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector
2. Name: YouTube Transcript · URL: https://getyoutubetranscript.com/api/mcp
3. Click Add, then Connect and sign in via browser — no API key needed.

Settings → Features → MCP → Add New MCP Server — Type: SSE/HTTP, URL: https://getyoutubetranscript.com/api/mcp.

Or edit ~/.cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube-transcript": {
      "url": "https://getyoutubetranscript.com/api/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" }
    }
  }
}

"mcp.servers": {
  "youtube-transcript": {
    "type": "http",
    "url": "https://getyoutubetranscript.com/api/mcp",
    "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" }
  }
}

Enable Developer Mode, then Settings → Connected Apps → Add → URL https://getyoutubetranscript.com/api/mcp. Leave Client ID/Secret blank for Dynamic Client Registration, or use OAuth sign-in directly.

Add to ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube-transcript": {
      "serverUrl": "https://getyoutubetranscript.com/api/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" }
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube-transcript": {
      "url": "https://getyoutubetranscript.com/api/mcp",
      "type": "streamableHttp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" }
    }
  }
}

{
  "context_servers": {
    "youtube-transcript": {
      "source": "remote",
      "url": "https://getyoutubetranscript.com/api/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" }
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube-transcript": {
      "type": "streamable-http",
      "url": "https://getyoutubetranscript.com/api/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" }
    }
  }
}

amp mcp add youtube-transcript https://getyoutubetranscript.com/api/mcp --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

"augment.advanced": {
  "mcpServers": [
    {
      "name": "youtube-transcript",
      "url": "https://getyoutubetranscript.com/api/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" }
    }
  ]
}

In .kilocode/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube-transcript": {
      "type": "streamable-http",
      "url": "https://getyoutubetranscript.com/api/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" }
    }
  }
}

Settings → Tools → AI Assistant → MCP:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube-transcript": {
      "url": "https://getyoutubetranscript.com/api/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" }
    }
  }
}

30-second example

Summarize this video for me: https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ

The agent calls get_youtube_transcript and summarizes the result. If you connected via OAuth, there's no key to configure at all — just approve the connection once.

---

Authentication

API Key

Universal, works with every MCP client. Get one free (100 credits, no card) at the dashboard, then send it as a Bearer token:

"headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer sk_live_your_key_here" }

OAuth 2.1

No manual key management — sign in via browser, the server handles the rest.

• Dynamic Client Registration (DCR): supported for clients that self-register at connect time (Claude Desktop/Web, ChatGPT, and most others).
• Client ID Metadata Documents (CIMD): supported per the current MCP spec (2026-07-28) for clients that host their own metadata document — the more modern alternative to DCR, no shared secret required.
• First connection opens a consent screen showing exactly what access is being granted; approve once and you're connected.

Both methods issue a token scoped and audience-bound to this specific MCP server — it can't be replayed against any other API.

---

Available Tools

All six tools are exposed automatically once you connect. 1 credit = 1 successful request. Failed or rate-limited calls never consume credits.

1. get_youtube_transcript

Fetch the full transcript for a YouTube video, plus its title/author/thumbnail metadata.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
video_url	string	required	YouTube URL (full or short) or an 11-character video ID
language	string	optional	Language code, e.g. en, es. Defaults to en
send_metadata	boolean	optional	Include title/author/thumbnail. Defaults to true

Cost: 1 credit. Note: this returns the full transcript as one text block — there's no per-segment timestamp breakdown.

2. search_youtube

Search YouTube for videos or channels, paginated.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
query	string	required unless continuation set	Search query
search_type	"video" | "channel"	optional	Defaults to "video"
continuation	string	optional	Opaque token from a previous response — fetches the next page

Cost: 1 credit/page.

3. get_channel_latest_videos · FREE

Get a channel's metadata plus its most recent uploads.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
channel	string	required	@handle, channel URL, or UC… channel ID

Cost: Free.

4. search_channel_videos

Search within one specific channel's videos.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
channel	string	required unless continuation set	@handle, channel URL, or UC… ID
query	string	required unless continuation set	Query to search within the channel
continuation	string	optional	Opaque token — fetches the next page

Cost: 1 credit/page.

5. list_channel_videos

List every video a channel has ever uploaded (the full /videos tab, not just recent ones).

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
channel	string	required unless continuation set	@handle, channel URL, or UC… ID
continuation	string	optional	Opaque token — fetches the next page

Cost: 1 credit/page.

6. list_playlist_videos

Get every video in a YouTube playlist.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
playlist	string	required unless continuation set	Playlist URL or ID
continuation	string	optional	Opaque token — fetches the next page

Cost: 1 credit/page.

---

Use Cases & Prompts

Use Case	Example Prompt
📝 Summarize a video	"Summarize the key points from this video: [URL]"
🔍 Research a topic	"Search YouTube for the 5 most-watched videos on neural radiance fields; summarize each."
🧠 Study notes	"Create study notes from this MIT lecture series playlist: [PLAYLIST URL]"
📡 Monitor a creator	"Each morning, list new uploads from @hubermanlab and tell me which to watch."
🏛️ Build a content database	"Pull every video from @veritasium and store title + transcript."
🎯 Channel research	"Search inside @MKBHD for any video about [topic] and summarize the takeaways."
✍️ Repurpose content	"Turn this video into a 1,500-word blog post: [URL]"

---

Pricing & Rate Limits

Plan	Price	Credits	Rate Limit
Free	$0	100 credits on signup	60 req/min
Monthly	$5/month	1,000 credits/month	200 req/min
Annual	$4.50/mo ($54/yr)	1,000 credits/month	300 req/min

• 1 credit = 1 successful request. Failed/rate-limited requests don't consume credits.
• get_channel_latest_videos is always free.
• Manage billing →

---

Troubleshooting

• If using an API key: confirm it starts with sk_live_ and has no extra whitespace
• If using OAuth: try disconnecting and reconnecting the connector
• Confirm the key/connection is still active in your dashboard

Check your balance and top up or upgrade at the dashboard.

• The video may not have captions enabled
• It may be private, age-restricted, or region-locked
• Confirm it plays in a real browser first

Back off and retry after a short delay — don't hammer it in a tight loop.

• Clear cookies for getyoutubetranscript.com and retry
• Ensure popup/redirect blockers aren't interfering with the consent screen
• If your client supports both DCR and CIMD, try the other registration method

---

Also available as a REST API

Building an app instead of an agent? The same backend is a plain JSON REST API — see the Agent Skill repo for the full endpoint reference, or the dashboard to get a key directly.

Base URL: https://getyoutubetranscript.com/api/v1

---

Connect

• 🌐 Website: getyoutubetranscript.com
• 🔑 Dashboard: getyoutubetranscript.com/dashboard
• 🧩 Agent Skill version: tubeagentkit/youtube-transcript-skills

Disclosure

getyoutubetranscript.com is an independent product and is not affiliated with or endorsed by YouTube or Google.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.