YouTube Transcript MCP

[YouTubeTranscript.dev]

YouTube Transcript MCP Server

MCP server for YouTubeTranscript.dev — extract transcripts, manage history, and power AI assistants with YouTube content.

Website • Hosted MCP • API Docs • Pricing • Quick Start • Tools

[API Version] [License]

[Add to Claude] [ChatGPT MCP setup] [Add to Cursor]

Why This MCP Server?

Connect Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, or any MCP client to YouTubeTranscript.dev — no custom code. Your AI assistant gets tools to extract transcripts, list history, and manage content at scale.

• ⚡ Fast caption extraction — Manual or auto captions, returns in seconds
• 📚 Transcript history — List, search, and paginate your transcripts
• 🎯 Full control — Get stats, delete transcripts, fetch by video ID
• 🔌 One config — Works with Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, VS Code, Cline
• 🔒 User-owned keys — API key per connection, no server-side secrets

→ Get your free API key

Quick Start

Remote MCP URL: https://mcp.youtubetranscript.dev

Claude, Cursor, and VS Code can add this as a remote MCP connector. ChatGPT users must enable Developer mode and create a custom app with this URL; availability depends on the workspace plan. OAuth-capable clients sign in once, so no API key is needed in the chat.

Full walkthrough: youtubetranscript.dev/resources/mcp-server

API key clients (if the tool has no OAuth): send Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY. x-api-token still works. Get a key from the account page.

Run locally (optional): npm install && npm run build && npm run start:http — then connect to http://localhost:8080.

MCP Connection Settings

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http youtubetranscript https://mcp.youtubetranscript.dev

Claude Desktop

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{  "mcpServers": {    "youtubetranscript": {      "url": "https://mcp.youtubetranscript.dev",      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" }    }  }}

Cursor

.cursor/mcp.json:

{  "mcpServers": {    "youtubetranscript": {      "url": "https://mcp.youtubetranscript.dev",      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" }    }  }}

Windsurf

~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json:

{  "mcpServers": {    "youtubetranscript": {      "serverUrl": "https://mcp.youtubetranscript.dev",      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" }    }  }}

VS Code + Copilot

settings.json:

{  "mcp": {    "servers": {      "youtubetranscript": {        "url": "https://mcp.youtubetranscript.dev",        "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" }      }    }  }}

Cline

Add to your Cline MCP config (format may vary by Cline version):

{  "youtubetranscript": {    "url": "https://mcp.youtubetranscript.dev",    "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" }  }}

Replace YOUR_API_KEY with your API key from youtubetranscript.dev/dashboard/account.

Configuration

Server Environment (for deployment)

Note: HTTP mode uses OAuth where the client supports it, including compatible Claude, Cursor, VS Code, and Grok clients. ChatGPT requires Developer mode and a custom MCP app. API-key clients can send Authorization: Bearer / x-api-token from the client. Do not put user keys in server env. For stdio mode, set YTSM_API_KEY. Always set YTSM_BASE_URL to https://www.youtubetranscript.dev — the apex host 301s and breaks POST/auth.

Tools Reference

get_stats

Credits left, transcripts created, plan, rate limit. No parameters.

transcribe_v2

Fast caption-based transcript (no ASR). Uses manual or auto captions only.

list_transcripts

List transcript history for the authenticated user.

get_transcript

Get full transcript by video_id.

delete_transcript

Delete transcript records.

*Provide at least one of ids or video_id.

Deployment (Optional)

For production, deploy to a service that supports long-lived connections (e.g. Cloud Run, Railway, Fly.io). Avoid serverless (Vercel, Lambda) for MCP — timeouts and concurrency limits cause issues.

docker build -f Dockerfile.cloudrun -t gcr.io/YOUR_PROJECT/youtube-transcript-mcp .docker push gcr.io/YOUR_PROJECT/youtube-transcript-mcpgcloud run deploy youtube-transcript-mcp --image gcr.io/YOUR_PROJECT/youtube-transcript-mcp ...

Stdio (Alternative)

Run as a subprocess instead of HTTP. Required: set YTSM_API_KEY in env (API key is not passed per-request for stdio).

{  "mcpServers": {    "youtubetranscript": {      "command": "node",      "args": ["dist/index.js"],      "env": { "YTSM_API_KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY" }    }  }}

Run from the project directory after npm run build. For globally installed package, use the path to dist/index.js in the package.

Development

npm installnpm run buildnpm testnpm run start:http   # Local HTTP server (port 8080)

Quick test all tools (requires YTSM_API_KEY in env):

npm install && npm run buildexport YTSM_API_KEY=your_key   # bash/mac$env:YTSM_API_KEY="your_key"   # PowerShellnpm run test:all

See QUICK_TEST.md for full testing instructions.

Links

• 🌐 YouTubeTranscript.dev
• 🔌 Hosted MCP
• 📖 API Documentation
• 💰 Pricing

License

MIT License — see LICENSE for details.