KB YouTube Channel

Use the native kb ingest channel for channel resolution, transcripts, dedup/resume, retries, and pacing. The bundled scripts/ingest-channel.py adds topic organization under yt-channels/, metadata, indexes, validation, and a run report.

1. Resolve the vault, channel/playlist URL, topic slug/title/domain, video selection (--limit N or --all), and transcript policy (captions, auto, or stt) from the request. Ask only for choices that cannot reasonably be inferred.
2. Check required tools once, reusing current evidence: kb, yt-dlp, qmd when indexing, and ffmpeg plus the configured provider when STT is requested. Do not install optional networking dependencies as a default preflight.
3. Run python3 <kb-yt-channel-dir>/scripts/ingest-channel.py with --vault, --channel-url, --topic-slug, --title, --domain, selection, and --transcribe. Resolve the helper from this skill directory. Native-language captions are the default; override --sub-langs only when needed. --no-index defers indexing; --embed requests embeddings.
4. A preview is optional. The existing --dry-run creates/updates the topic skeleton and metadata, then lists the ingest plan without transcripts; it is not a read-only preview. Use it only within authorized topic creation/update. Do not require preview followed by a repeated full preflight.
5. Inspect the helper's JSON summary and failures. Reuse its completed topic-info/lint/index validation; run additional checks only for missing evidence. When searchability is part of the task, verify one representative kb search in the topic/collection after indexing.
6. Report actual ingested/skipped/failed counts and the report path. Compile wiki articles only if the task includes synthesis; transcript ingestion alone does not imply compilation.

Failures and references

Start with the existing network configuration and native bounded retries/backoff. On rate limits, honor server guidance, lower concurrency, or increase pacing. Configure authenticated cookies or a permitted proxy only when an observed access/network problem requires it; never expose credentials or mandate a residential proxy for large channels.

Read references/channel-topic-contract.md for metadata/output details and references/troubleshooting.md for an actual failure. Resume the same request after repair; native dedup preserves successful ingests. Missing captions can justify auto/STT if that scope and provider cost are authorized. Preserve partial outputs; use the supported refresh path for a specific transcript rather than deleting user data by default.