mcp-youtubeThis server lets your chat assistant read YouTube videos through their captions. It pulls subtitle files from any link and sends the text to Claude so you can get quick, accurate summaries right in yo

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Reviewed by Daniel Nikulshyn·Updated July 2026

Overview

mcp-youtube is a server that allows a chat assistant to read YouTube videos through their captions. It uses yt-dlp to download subtitles from YouTube and connects them to claude.ai via Model Context Protocol. The server enables users to get quick and accurate summaries of YouTube videos. To use it, users need to install yt-dlp locally and then install the server using mcp-installer. The tool is available under the MIT license.

Key features

Downloads subtitles from YouTube
Connects to Claude via Model Context Protocol
Provides quick and accurate summaries

Pricing

Model: Free
Category: MCP Servers
Rating: No reviews yet

Use cases

Quick Video Summaries

Users can ask Claude to summarize a YouTube video by providing the video link, allowing them to quickly understand the content without watching the entire video.

Research and Analysis

mcp-youtube can be used to quickly gather information from multiple YouTube videos, making it useful for research and analysis tasks.

Pros & Cons

Pros

Enables quick summaries of YouTube videos
Accurate summaries through captions
Simple installation via mcp-installer

Cons

Requires local installation of yt-dlp
Dependent on Claude for summarization

Reviews

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Q&A

What are the main limitations?

mcp-youtube depends on having subtitles available on YouTube and on Claude for the actual summarization; it also requires a local installation of yt-dlp, so it may not work on systems where that tool cannot be installed.

Asked by Aaliyah Johnson · Jun 6, 2026

How does it summarize YouTube videos?

The server downloads the video’s subtitle file using yt-dlp, sends the caption text to Claude through the Model Context Protocol, and returns a quick, accurate summary from Claude.

Asked by Diego Fernández · May 23, 2026

What does mcp-youtube need to work?

You must install yt-dlp locally (e.g., via Homebrew or WinGet) and then install the server with mcp-installer using the name @anaisbetts/mcp-youtube. After that, it can be connected to Claude via Model Context Protocol.

Asked by Dmitri Volkov · May 10, 2026

Is mcp-youtube free to use?

Yes, mcp-youtube is released under the MIT license, so it can be used, modified, and distributed freely.

Asked by Halime Yalcin · Apr 1, 2026