YouTube Transcript

YouTube Transcript MCP Server

Get YouTube transcripts right inside Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, VS Code or any AI assistant that supports MCP. One line to install.

1Get your API key

Create an API key in your dashboard. You get a key and a secret - join them with a colon and use them as KEY:SECRET below.

Sign in to get an API key

2Connect your AI app

Run this one line in your terminal:

claude mcp add --transport http youtube-transcript https://youtube-transcript.com.pc.pl/mcp --header "Authorization: Bearer KEY:SECRET"

Or run it locally with npx:

claude mcp add youtube-transcript -e YT_TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY=KEY:SECRET -- npx -y youtube-transcript-com-mcp

Open Settings → Apps & Connectors → Advanced settings and turn on Developer mode.

Click Create connector, name it "YouTube Transcript" and paste this URL:

https://youtube-transcript.com.pc.pl/mcp?token=KEY:SECRET

Set Authentication to "No authentication" - your key is in the URL, so keep this URL private. If it is ever shared, delete the key in your dashboard and create a new one.

Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector, then paste this URL:

https://youtube-transcript.com.pc.pl/mcp?token=KEY:SECRET

Or add it to claude_desktop_config.json (Settings → Developer → Edit Config):

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "youtube-transcript": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "youtube-transcript-com-mcp"
            ],
            "env": {
                "YT_TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY": "KEY:SECRET"
            }
        }
    }
}

Add this to ~/.cursor/mcp.json (or Settings → MCP → Add new server):

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "youtube-transcript": {
            "url": "https://youtube-transcript.com.pc.pl/mcp",
            "headers": {
                "Authorization": "Bearer KEY:SECRET"
            }
        }
    }
}

Run this one line in your terminal:

code --add-mcp '{"name":"youtube-transcript","type":"http","url":"https://youtube-transcript.com.pc.pl/mcp","headers":{"Authorization":"Bearer KEY:SECRET"}}'

OpenAI Codex CLI:

codex mcp add youtube-transcript --env YT_TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY=KEY:SECRET -- npx -y youtube-transcript-com-mcp

Gemini CLI:

gemini mcp add -e YT_TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY=KEY:SECRET youtube-transcript npx -y youtube-transcript-com-mcp

Any other MCP client: command "npx", args "-y youtube-transcript-com-mcp", env YT_TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY=KEY:SECRET. Needs Node.js 18+.

Replace KEY:SECRET with your own API key and secret.

3Ask your assistant

Try: "Summarize this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=..."

  • get_transcript - full transcript of any YouTube video by URL or ID, with optional timestamps. Uses 1 credit.
  • get_usage - shows your remaining credits. Free.

MCP uses the same credits as the website and the API. Need more? Buy credits.

Server details

Endpoint: https://youtube-transcript.com.pc.pl/mcp (Streamable HTTP)

Auth header: Authorization: Bearer KEY:SECRET

npm package: youtube-transcript-com-mcp