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PopNx MCPMCP servers for people who use AI · explained in plain words

YouTube Transcript AI

by zxl777version 1.3.0i★ –iRuns in the cloud
Registry nameai.youtube-transcript/youtube-transcript

Install

Overview

Description from the maker (original English)

Read YouTube transcripts and search what people say across 425k videos. Free API key.

PopNx MCP’s three pillars

These three are never merged into one score: opinions, measurements and popularity are different things.

What you can do with it

We have not written a plain-language summary for this one yet. Below are the facts we read from the registry.

  • Connection: Runs in the cloud
  • Transport: Streamable HTTP
  • Category: Marketing & social media
  • You need to fill in: Authorization

Install

Pick the AI app you use, then copy the settings.

Before you install

  • Basic checks: 3 of 3 passed
  • Runs on the maker’s server: what you ask it goes through their server.
  • Can do 12 things (tools) get_youtube_transcript, search_youtube_videos, find_in_transcript, get_transcripts_batch …
  • You fill in yourself: Authorization

Values marked secret are keys to your account. Never share them or paste them into a chat.

You need

Which app do you use?

Pick your app above. We remember it, so next time the button says “Install in …”.

This address needs a key in a request header, which the add-connector menu cannot set. Use Claude Code, Cursor or VS Code instead.

Run this in your terminal

claude mcp add --transport http youtube-transcript https://youtube-transcript.ai/mcp --header 'Authorization: Bearer {api_key}'

Fill in the empty values before running it.

Open in Cursor

Or copy the settings yourself

Paste into .cursor/mcp.json in your project, or ~/.cursor/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube-transcript": {
      "url": "https://youtube-transcript.ai/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer {api_key}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Your browser asks to open the app, then the app shows the settings and asks you to confirm. Key values are left empty for you to fill in.

Open in VS Code

Or copy the settings yourself

Paste into .vscode/mcp.json in your project

{
  "servers": {
    "youtube-transcript": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://youtube-transcript.ai/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer {api_key}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Your browser asks to open the app, then the app shows the settings and asks you to confirm. Key values are left empty for you to fill in.

This address needs a key in a request header, which the add-connector menu cannot set. Use Claude Code, Cursor or VS Code instead.

Your choice stays on this device in a cookie; no account needed.

Values you fill in

  • Authorization secret required HTTP header
    API key sent as a Bearer token. Create a free key at https://youtube-transcript.ai/get-api-key

These settings are generated from the maker’s registry entry. If the README says otherwise, follow the README.

What it can do

Tool names and descriptions exactly as the server reported them on Nov 7, 2026. The maker wrote them, not us; we show them as plain text.

  • get_youtube_transcript

    Fetch the full text transcript of a YouTube video. Accepts a YouTube URL (watch, youtu.be, shorts, embed) or a bare 11-character video ID, and returns the transcript as plain text with title and metadata. Optionally pass a BCP-47 language code to select a specific caption track.

  • search_youtube_videos

    Search YouTube and return matching videos with channel, view count and duration. Use it first when researching a topic: run several differently-worded queries (and in more than one language), then read the best hits with get_youtube_transcript, find_in_transcript or get_transcrip

  • find_in_transcript

    Find where a video talks about something. Give one or more keywords and get back only the matching passages, each with a timestamp and a link that opens the video at that moment. Far cheaper than reading the whole transcript when you are looking for specific points. Matching is a

  • get_transcripts_batch

    Read the transcripts of several videos in one call (up to 5), each cut to a length you choose, so you can skim a set of search results without filling your context. Each video counts as one request against your daily quota. For the rest of a long video use find_in_transcript or g

  • get_video_comments

    Fetch the top comments of a YouTube video (YouTube's "top" ordering, replies not included), with like counts. Comments are where viewers report what worked for them, which makes them useful for checking claims made in the video.

  • list_channel_videos

    List the latest videos of a YouTube channel or playlist, with view count and duration. Use it to follow a creator who looks credible, or to cover a playlist. Returns at most 50 videos per call; to go further, call again with offset set to the number of videos already read (the re

  • get_account_status

    Show the plan of the API key on this connection (Free or Pro), the daily request quota, how many requests were used today, how many remain, when the quota resets, and the per-call limits of the tools. Free: it does not use any quota. Call it before a large job to check the quota

  • search_spoken_words

    Search what people actually say inside YouTube videos. Full-text search over about 100 million spoken sentences from about 425,000 English-language videos (the ones users looked up on youtube-transcript.ai), with typically 1 to 8 million new sentences added every day. Returns mat

  • get_spoken_context

    Read what was said around a moment in a video: the sentences before and after a timestamp. Use it after search_spoken_words to see what a matching sentence was part of, before you quote or rely on it. Works for videos in the library only.

  • rank_videos_by_topic

    Find the videos that talk about something the most, ranked by how many sentences mention it. Better than searching titles when you want the videos that really go deep on a topic. Each result has the number of mentions, the first mention and a link. Read the best ones with get_you

  • rank_channels_by_topic

    Find which channels talk about something the most, ranked by mentions, with how many of their videos mention it. Use it to find who covers a topic: creators to follow, experts, or partners. Same library, caption quirks and dates as search_spoken_words.

  • spoken_mentions_over_time

    Count how often something is mentioned over time, by day, week or month. Each period shows the mentions and the rate per million spoken sentences, so busy and quiet periods compare fairly. Use it to see whether a topic is rising or fading. The date is when we captured the caption

Basic checksi

We check information anyone can see; we have not read the code. Checks that do not apply are left out of the count. · Checked Nov 7, 2026

  • ✓ Pass

    Maker matches the repo

    The registry name was verified against the domain youtube-transcript.ai (the registry checks domain ownership)

  • … Not checked yet

    Still maintained

    We have not read this repo from GitHub yet

  • … Not checked yet

    Has a licence

    We have not read this repo from GitHub yet

  • ✓ Pass

    Endpoint responds

    Responded in 200 ms (HTTP 200)

  • – Not applicable

    Sign-in with OAuth

    No sign-in needed

  • ✓ Pass

    No hidden instructions in tool descriptions

    Read 12 tool descriptions and found no hidden instructions to the AI

Compared with others in Marketing & social mediai

  • More stars than 0% of the other 3564 servers in this category
  • Published to the registry more recently than 78% of the other 3564 servers in this category
  • Basic checks equal to or better than 100% of the other 3564 servers in this category

Compared with every active server in this category in the registry. Stars count only when the publisher owns the repo.

Common questions

Is YouTube Transcript AI safe?

It passed 3 of 3 applicable basic checks. We have not read the code. Before adding a key or token, see what access the server asks for and use a key with only the permissions you need.

What keys or codes does it need?

You need to fill in: Authorization

Does it run on my computer or in the cloud?

It runs in the maker’s cloud. Connect over the internet with nothing to install, but what you send passes through the maker’s servers.

Is it still maintained?

The GitHub repo last changed –, and the latest version (1.3.0) reached the registry 9 days ago.

Which apps can use it?

Apps that support MCP, such as Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor and VS Code. It connects by URL, so apps that accept remote MCP servers work too, such as ChatGPT in developer mode.

What can I use instead?

In the same category: MCP YouTube Transcript, Google Analytics MCP, BibiGPT YouTube Video Summarizer

Alternatives

Servers in the same category from other makers, sorted by stars.

Reading a card:★ GitHub starsiThree pillars: reviews · checks · usageiUpdated = latest version published to the registryi

An MCP server retrieving transcripts of YouTube videos

Runs on your computer★ 495MITUpdated 10 days ago
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GA4 MCP server for AI agents: schema discovery, server-side aggregation, analysis-ready defaults.

Runs on your computer★ 244MITUpdated 10 days ago
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README from the maker

Open the README

Copied from the maker’s repo as written. PopNx MCP has not reviewed or endorsed it. HTML, images and scripts are removed. Links lead off this site.

YouTube Transcript MCP Server

Give Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Claude Code and any MCP client the ability to read YouTube transcripts. Hosted, nothing to install. Free API key: 10 requests a day.

A hosted Model Context Protocol server that exposes one tool, get_youtube_transcript, backed by youtube-transcript.ai. Paste a YouTube link mid-conversation and your AI reads the full transcript on demand.

Connector URL:

https://youtube-transcript.ai/mcp?key=YOUR_KEY

Replace YOUR_KEY with your API key. Create a free key with a Google sign-in; it takes about a minute.


Why

  • Free to start. A free key covers 10 transcripts a day. Pro is 1,000 a day for $120 a year, on the same key.
  • Reliable. A hardened fetch pipeline with proxy fallback returns transcripts even on videos that block typical scrapers.
  • Any language. Pick a caption track by language code (en, zh-CN, es, ja, …) or let it choose the default.
  • Built for agents. One tool, plain-text output with title and metadata. Multi-hour videos come back in parts, so nothing gets cut off.

Authentication

Tool calls need an API key. There is no OAuth. Send the key in one of two ways:

WhereExample
HeaderAuthorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY
URLhttps://youtube-transcript.ai/mcp?key=YOUR_KEY

The URL form is for clients that only accept a connector URL.

Quick start

Claude (web / desktop)

Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector

FieldValue
Nameyoutube-transcript.ai
URLhttps://youtube-transcript.ai/mcp?key=YOUR_KEY

Then ask: *“Summarize this video: https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ”*

ChatGPT

In the custom connector / MCP server setup, add an MCP server with URL https://youtube-transcript.ai/mcp?key=YOUR_KEY (transport: Streamable HTTP), enable it for your chat, then paste a YouTube link.

Claude Code
claude mcp add --transport http --scope user youtube-transcript \

https://youtube-transcript.ai/mcp \ --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY"

Cursor

Add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json, or to .cursor/mcp.json inside one project:

{

"mcpServers": { "youtube-transcript": { "url": "https://youtube-transcript.ai/mcp", "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_KEY" } } } }

Codex

Add to ~/.codex/config.toml:

[mcp_servers.youtube-transcript]

url = "https://youtube-transcript.ai/mcp" http_headers = { "Authorization" = "Bearer YOUR_KEY" }

Clients that only launch local servers

For clients that start MCP servers from a config file and cannot take a remote URL, bridge with mcp-remote:

{

"mcpServers": { "youtube-transcript": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote", "https://youtube-transcript.ai/mcp?key=YOUR_KEY"] } } }

Let your agent do it

Paste https://youtube-transcript.ai/mcp.md into a coding agent. It is a plain-text version of these instructions, written for an AI to follow.

Tool reference

get_youtube_transcript

Fetch the full text transcript of a YouTube video.

ParameterTypeRequiredDescription
videostringyesYouTube URL (watch, youtu.be, shorts, embed) or a bare 11-character video ID
langstringnoCaption language code, e.g. en, zh-CN, es. Omit for the default track
offsetintegernoWhere to continue a long transcript. Use the value given at the end of the previous part

Returns plain text: the transcript with title, duration, and a list of available languages. Transcripts over 120,000 characters come back in parts; each part ends with a note giving the offset for the next call.

Example prompts

  • “Summarize the key points of in 5 bullets.”
  • “Pull the transcript of this video and translate it to Spanish.”
  • “What does the speaker say about pricing in ? Quote the exact lines.”

Programmatic use

The server speaks standard MCP over Streamable HTTP (JSON-RPC). A zero-dependency example is in examples/quickstart.mjs:

YT_TRANSCRIPT_KEY=YOUR_KEY node examples/quickstart.mjs https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ

Calling from your own code without MCP? There is a plain HTTP endpoint too: see the YouTube Transcript API.

Limits

  • Free: 10 requests a day. Pro: 1,000 a day for $120 a year. Upgrade from the key page.
  • Every tool call counts as one request, including each part of a long transcript. The count resets at 00:00 UTC.
  • The video needs captions, either written by the uploader or auto-generated by YouTube.

Notes

  • Not affiliated with YouTube or Google. Transcripts are fetched from publicly available captions.
  • Listed in the official MCP Registry as ai.youtube-transcript/youtube-transcript.

Links

  • Web tool (no AI client needed): https://youtube-transcript.ai
  • Connector landing page: https://youtube-transcript.ai/mcp
  • HTTP API: https://youtube-transcript.ai/api

License

MIT

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