YouTube Downloader

Download YouTube videos, extract audio, and get transcripts using yt-dlp - the most reliable YouTube extraction tool.

When to Use This Skill

• Competitor research - Download and analyze competitor videos

• Content repurposing - Extract audio for podcasts or transcripts for blogs

• Training material - Archive webinars and tutorials

• Quote extraction - Get transcripts for pulling quotable moments

• Offline access - Save videos for travel or presentations

What Claude Does vs What You Decide

Claude Does You Decide

Structures production workflow Final creative direction

Suggests technical approaches Equipment and tool choices

Creates templates and checklists Quality standards

Identifies best practices Brand/voice decisions

Generates script outlines Final script approval

Dependencies

pip install yt-dlp click

Optional for transcription:

pip install openai-whisper

Commands

Download Video

python scripts/main.py download "https://youtube.com/watch?v=..." --format mp4 python scripts/main.py download "https://youtube.com/watch?v=..." --quality 1080p

Extract Audio

python scripts/main.py audio "https://youtube.com/watch?v=..." --format mp3 python scripts/main.py audio "https://youtube.com/watch?v=..." --format wav

Get Transcript

python scripts/main.py transcript "https://youtube.com/watch?v=..." python scripts/main.py transcript "https://youtube.com/watch?v=..." --translate en

Download Playlist

python scripts/main.py playlist "https://youtube.com/playlist?list=..." --limit 10 python scripts/main.py playlist "https://youtube.com/playlist?list=..." --audio-only

Get Metadata

python scripts/main.py info "https://youtube.com/watch?v=..." python scripts/main.py info "https://youtube.com/watch?v=..." --format json

Examples

Example 1: Research Competitor Content

Get video metadata

python scripts/main.py info "https://youtube.com/watch?v=ABC123"

Output:

Title: How We Grew to $1M ARR

Channel: SaaS Founder

Duration: 15:32

Views: 45,230

Published: 2024-01-15

Tags: saas, growth, startup

Download transcript for analysis

python scripts/main.py transcript "https://youtube.com/watch?v=ABC123"

Output: how-we-grew-to-1m-arr.txt

Example 2: Create Podcast from Webinar

Download audio only

python scripts/main.py audio "https://youtube.com/watch?v=WEBINAR" --format mp3 --quality best

Output: webinar-title.mp3 (ready for podcast editing)

Get transcript for show notes

python scripts/main.py transcript "https://youtube.com/watch?v=WEBINAR"

Output: webinar-title.txt

Example 3: Archive Training Playlist

Download entire playlist

python scripts/main.py playlist "https://youtube.com/playlist?list=TRAINING"
--output ./training-videos/
--limit 20

Output:

./training-videos/

├── 01-introduction.mp4

├── 02-getting-started.mp4

└── ...

Quality Options

Option Resolution File Size Use Case

best

Highest available Largest Archival

1080p

1920x1080 ~1GB/hour Standard

720p

1280x720 ~500MB/hour Balance

480p

854x480 ~250MB/hour Mobile

audio

N/A ~100MB/hour Podcasts

Audio Formats

Format Quality Size Compatibility

mp3

Good Small Universal

m4a

Better Medium Apple/Modern

wav

Lossless Large Editing

opus

Best Smallest Modern apps

Legal Considerations

⚠️ Important: Only download content you have rights to use.

Generally OK:

• Your own videos

• Creative Commons content

• Content for personal research/reference

• Content with explicit download permission

Check First:

• Competitor content (fair use analysis)

• Content for derivative works

• Anything for commercial use

Skill Boundaries

What This Skill Does Well

• Structuring audio production workflows

• Providing technical guidance

• Creating quality checklists

• Suggesting creative approaches

What This Skill Cannot Do

• Replace audio engineering expertise

• Make subjective creative decisions

• Access or edit audio files directly

• Guarantee commercial success

Related Skills

• whisper-transcription - Transcribe downloaded audio

• video-processing - Process downloaded videos

• content-repurposer - Repurpose transcripts

Skill Metadata

• Mode: cyborg

category: automation subcategory: content-extraction dependencies: [yt-dlp] difficulty: beginner time_saved: 4+ hours/week