YouTube Transcript + YouTube Search MCP

YouTube MCP Server: Transcripts, Search, Channels & Playlists

A remote MCP server for YouTube: transcripts, video and channel search, channel browsing, in-channel search, and playlist extraction.

API key or OAuth 2.1 sign-in. Free tier, no card required.

Thirteen 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

Quick taste:

Search @veritasium for videos about black holes, pull the transcript of the

two best matches, and tell me where they disagree.

The agent chains search_channel_videos and get_youtube_transcript on its own. No code on your side.

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Why this MCP

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Install as an Agent Plugin

This repo root is also an Agent Plugins 1.0.0 package. It bundles the MCP server with a youtube skill that tells the agent which tool to use when, what each one costs, and how to avoid wasting credits.

plugin.json                # plugin manifest

mcp.json # hosted MCP server (streamable-http, OAuth, no key in the file) skills/youtube/SKILL.md # when and how to use the 13 tools

In VS Code, run Chat: Install Plugin From Source and paste https://github.com/tubeagentkit/youtube-mcp. Other clients that support Agent Plugins can point at this repo or a local clone. For Cursor there is a separate plugin repo.

The package holds no credentials. Check the manifests against the published schemas yourself:

curl -sO https://agent-plugins.org/schemas/1.0.0/plugin.schema.json

curl -sO https://agent-plugins.org/schemas/1.0.0/mcp.schema.json npx ajv-cli@5 validate --spec=draft2020 -s plugin.schema.json -d plugin.json npx ajv-cli@5 validate --spec=draft2020 -s mcp.schema.json -d mcp.json

ChatGPT and Codex

The same plugin.json carries the ChatGPT/Codex plugin directory listing under extensions.com.openai (other clients ignore it). scripts/build-openai-zip.sh checks it against OpenAI's field limits and builds the upload ZIP in dist/, with only plugin.json, mcp.json, skills/ and assets/.

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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).

Tip: clients that support MCP OAuth can skip the headers block in the snippets below and sign in through the browser instead.

Tip: to stop repeating "use the transcript tool", add a standing instruction to your client's rules or custom instructions, for example: *"When I share a YouTube link, fetch its transcript with the youtube-transcript MCP before answering."*

Claude Code (CLI)

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

Claude Desktop / Claude Web (OAuth)

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.

Cursor

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" } } } }

VS Code

"mcp.servers": {

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

ChatGPT

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.

Windsurf

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

{

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

Cline

{

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

Zed

{

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

Roo Code

{

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

Amp

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

Augment Code

"augment.advanced": {

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

Kilo Code

In .kilocode/mcp.json:

{

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

JetBrains AI Assistant

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.

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Run locally (stdio)

Prefer a local process? server/ is an open-source stdio MCP server with the same 13 tools, built on the official MCP TypeScript SDK. It calls the public REST API with your API key.

git clone https://github.com/tubeagentkit/youtube-mcp

npm install --prefix youtube-mcp/server

Then point your client at it, e.g. Claude Desktop / Cursor:

{

"mcpServers": { "youtube-transcript": { "command": "node", "args": ["/absolute/path/to/youtube-mcp/server/index.js"], "env": { "GYT_API_KEY": "sk_live_your_key_here" } } } }

Live integration test (uses only free tools): GYT_API_KEY=sk_live_... npm test --prefix server

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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.

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Available Tools

All thirteen 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.

Cost: 1 credit, with or without timestamps.

2. get_transcript_languages

List the caption languages a video offers, creator-uploaded or auto-generated, and which one a default request returns.

| Parameter | Type