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.

Seven 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.

Why this MCP

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 7 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/.

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

{
  "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" }
  }
}

{
  "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" }
    }
  ]
}

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

{
  "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.

Run locally (stdio)

Prefer a local process? server/ is an open-source stdio MCP server with the same 7 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

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 seven 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. search_youtube

Search YouTube for videos or channels, paginated.

Cost: 1 credit/page.

3. get_channel_latest_videos _{· FREE}

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

Cost: Free.

4. search_channel_videos

Search within one specific channel's videos.

Cost: 1 credit/page.

5. list_channel_videos

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

Cost: 1 credit/page.

6. list_playlist_videos

Get every video in a YouTube playlist.

Cost: 1 credit/page.

7. get_credits _{· FREE}

Check the remaining credit balance for your key/account. No parameters.

Cost: Free.

Use Cases & Prompts

Pricing & Rate Limits

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

Troubleshooting

Verification

This repo contains the MIT-licensed source of the local stdio MCP server in server/ (tool definitions, input validation, API calls, error mapping), plus the manifests for the hosted endpoint. The hosted endpoint and the REST API behind both are run by getyoutubetranscript.com and are not open source. To check either one yourself:

• Run the local server's live test — GYT_API_KEY=sk_live_... npm test --prefix server starts server/index.js over stdio, lists all 7 tools, and calls the free ones.
• Run verify.js against the hosted endpoint — zero dependencies, zero auth required:
  shCopy

  node verify.js
  

  It performs the real MCP handshake (initialize then tools/list) against the live endpoint and prints the server's actual response, including all 7 real tool schemas. Tool discovery is public; only tool calls require an API key or OAuth token (see Authentication).
• Independently verified by four third-party MCP directories, each of which connected to the live endpoint and confirmed the tools themselves (not just took our word for it):
  • Official MCP Registry — com.getyoutubetranscript/youtube-transcript-and-youtube-search, published via domain-ownership-verified HTTP mcp-publisher
  • Smithery — its own scanner connected and discovered all 6 tools
  • Glama
  • LobeHub
• Live since 2026-09-12 — the OAuth 2.1 (DCR + CIMD) flow has also been exercised end-to-end by a real third-party client (Smithery) connecting via CIMD, which surfaced and got a real interop fix along the way (see commit history).

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.

Related projects

Other ways to use the GetYouTubeTranscript API:

• youtube-transcript-api: YouTube Transcript API docs, endpoint reference, OpenAPI spec and examples in curl, Python, JavaScript, Go and PHP
• youtube-transcript-api-python: YouTube Transcript API SDK for Python
• youtube-transcript-api-node: YouTube Transcript API SDK for Node.js / TypeScript
• youtube-transcript-skills: YouTube transcript Agent Skill for Claude Code, Cursor, Codex and OpenClaw
• youtube-transcript-cursor-plugin: YouTube Transcript Cursor plugin bundling the MCP server, skills, commands and a research agent
• n8n-nodes-getyoutubetranscript: YouTube transcript n8n community node, also usable as an AI Agent tool

License

MIT — see LICENSE.