Summarize a single YouTube video and create a note in my-vault.

Usage

/video-summarize <youtube-url> [folder]

• youtube-url : Full YouTube URL or video ID

• folder (optional): Subfolder under Videos/ (e.g., "Atlassian", "Ali Abdaal"). If not specified, uses channel name.

Workflow

Extract video ID from URL (supports youtube.com/watch?v=, youtu.be/, and bare IDs)

Fetch video metadata using the youtube-catchup helper script:

python3 .claude/skills/youtube-catchup/scripts/youtube_helper.py full <video_id>

Review the transcript and create a summary with:

• Bullet point summary of key concepts

• "Why Watch?" section with recommendation

Determine folder:

• Use provided folder if specified

• Otherwise use channel name from metadata

• Create folder if it doesn't exist

Create note at my-vault/06 Knowledge Base/Capture/Videos/<folder>/<title>.md

Assign tags:

• Check youtube-catchup/references/channels.json for channel's default tags

• If channel not in config, infer tags from the canonical list in my-vault/09 System/Tag Index.md

Tagging

Use tags from the canonical list in my-vault/09 System/Tag Index.md .

Common channel → tag mappings are in .claude/skills/youtube-catchup/references/channels.json . If the channel exists there, use its tags array. Otherwise, infer appropriate tags based on content.

Format tags as: tags: ["tag1", "tag2"]

Video Note Format

Use the exact template format:

class: Video media: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID publishDate: YYYY-MM-DD status: Summarized duration: Xm or Xh Ym reviewFrequency: lastReviewedDate: review: aliases: tags: ["tag1", "tag2"] cssclasses: archived:

Related:

Summary

• Key point - Details
• Key point - Details

Why Watch?

<Brief recommendation on whether/why to watch, target audience, length note>

Summary Guidelines

• Use bullet points with bold key concepts

• Adjust detail level based on video length:

• < 5 min: 3-5 bullets

• 5-15 min: 5-8 bullets

• 15-30 min: 8-12 bullets

• 30+ min: Use sections/headers, 12+ bullets

• Focus on actionable takeaways, not timestamps

• "Why Watch?" should help user decide if they need to actually watch it

Duration Formatting

• Under 60 min: Xm (e.g., 23m )

• 60+ min: Xh Ym (e.g., 1h 15m )

Title Sanitization

Remove or replace these characters for filenames:

• : → -

• / → -

• | → -

• ? → (remove)

• " → (remove)

• <

→ (remove)

Examples

/video-summarize https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abc123 /video-summarize abc123 "Tech Talks" /video-summarize https://youtu.be/xyz789 Atlassian

Path Handling

CRITICAL - Never escape spaces with backslashes:

• Use paths exactly as shown: my-vault/06 Knowledge Base/... (with literal spaces)

• The Write tool handles spaces correctly - backslash escaping creates literal
  characters in directory names

• When using Bash commands, wrap paths in double quotes: "my-vault/06 Knowledge Base/..."

Notes

• Reuses youtube_helper.py from youtube-catchup skill (no duplicate code)

• If transcript unavailable, note this in the summary and summarize from description/title only

• Check if note already exists before creating (search by video ID in media field)