YouTube Transcript + Search MCP 🎬

A remote MCP server for YouTube — transcripts, video/channel search, channel browsing, in-channel search, and playlist extraction. API-key or OAuth 2.1 sign-in. Free tier, no card required.

Six tools, one hosted endpoint, no local install — for Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf, and 15+ other MCP-compatible clients.

https://getyoutubetranscript.com/api/mcp

Why this MCP

	This MCP	Typical single-purpose YouTube MCP
Hosting	✅ Remote (no local install, no build step)	❌ Local stdio process to manage
Tools	✅ 6 (transcript, search, channel latest/search/videos, playlist)	❌ Usually 1 (transcript only)
YouTube search (video and channel)	✅ Yes	❌ No
Full channel upload history, paginated	✅ Yes	❌ No
In-channel search	✅ Yes	❌ No
Auth	✅ API key and OAuth 2.1 (DCR + CIMD)	❌ Usually neither
Agent-friendly errors	✅ Stable error codes, human-readable messages	❌ Bare HTTP codes

Quick Install

Requirements: a free getyoutubetranscript.com account (sign up — 100 credits, no card) and an API key from your dashboard — or just connect via OAuth and skip the key entirely (see Authentication below).

Claude Code (CLI)

claude mcp add --transport http youtube-transcript https://getyoutubetranscript.com/api/mcp --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Claude Desktop / Claude Web (OAuth)

Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector
Name: YouTube Transcript · URL: https://getyoutubetranscript.com/api/mcp
Click Add, then Connect and sign in via browser — no API key needed.

Cursor

Settings → Features → MCP → Add New MCP Server — Type: SSE/HTTP, URL: https://getyoutubetranscript.com/api/mcp.

Or edit ~/.cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube-transcript": {
      "url": "https://getyoutubetranscript.com/api/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" }
    }
  }
}

VS Code

"mcp.servers": {
  "youtube-transcript": {
    "type": "http",
    "url": "https://getyoutubetranscript.com/api/mcp",
    "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" }
  }
}

ChatGPT

Enable Developer Mode, then Settings → Connected Apps → Add → URL https://getyoutubetranscript.com/api/mcp. Leave Client ID/Secret blank for Dynamic Client Registration, or use OAuth sign-in directly.

Windsurf

Add to ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube-transcript": {
      "serverUrl": "https://getyoutubetranscript.com/api/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" }
    }
  }
}

Cline

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube-transcript": {
      "url": "https://getyoutubetranscript.com/api/mcp",
      "type": "streamableHttp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" }
    }
  }
}

Zed

{
  "context_servers": {
    "youtube-transcript": {
      "source": "remote",
      "url": "https://getyoutubetranscript.com/api/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" }
    }
  }
}

Roo Code

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube-transcript": {
      "type": "streamable-http",
      "url": "https://getyoutubetranscript.com/api/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" }
    }
  }
}

Amp

amp mcp add youtube-transcript https://getyoutubetranscript.com/api/mcp --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Augment Code

"augment.advanced": {
  "mcpServers": [
    {
      "name": "youtube-transcript",
      "url": "https://getyoutubetranscript.com/api/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" }
    }
  ]
}

Kilo Code

In .kilocode/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube-transcript": {
      "type": "streamable-http",
      "url": "https://getyoutubetranscript.com/api/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" }
    }
  }
}

JetBrains AI Assistant

Settings → Tools → AI Assistant → MCP:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube-transcript": {
      "url": "https://getyoutubetranscript.com/api/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" }
    }
  }
}

30-second example

Summarize this video for me: https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ

The agent calls get_youtube_transcript and summarizes the result. If you connected via OAuth, there's no key to configure at all — just approve the connection once.

Authentication

API Key

Universal, works with every MCP client. Get one free (100 credits, no card) at the dashboard, then send it as a Bearer token:

"headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer sk_live_your_key_here" }

OAuth 2.1

No manual key management — sign in via browser, the server handles the rest.

Dynamic Client Registration (DCR): supported for clients that self-register at connect time (Claude Desktop/Web, ChatGPT, and most others).
Client ID Metadata Documents (CIMD): supported per the current MCP spec (2026-07-28) for clients that host their own metadata document — the more modern alternative to DCR, no shared secret required.
First connection opens a consent screen showing exactly what access is being granted; approve once and you're connected.

Both methods issue a token scoped and audience-bound to this specific MCP server — it can't be replayed against any other API.

Available Tools

All six tools are exposed automatically once you connect. 1 credit = 1 successful request. Failed or rate-limited calls never consume credits.

1. `get_youtube_transcript`

Fetch the full transcript for a YouTube video, plus its title/author/thumbnail metadata.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`video_url`	string	required	YouTube URL (full or short) or an 11-character video ID
`language`	string	optional	Language code, e.g. `en`, `es`. Defaults to `en`
`send_metadata`	boolean	optional	Include title/author/thumbnail. Defaults to `true`

Cost: 1 credit. Note: this returns the full transcript as one text block — there's no per-segment timestamp breakdown.

2. `search_youtube`

Search YouTube for videos or channels, paginated.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`query`	string	required unless `continuation` set	Search query
`search_type`	`"video"` \| `"channel"`	optional	Defaults to `"video"`
`continuation`	string	optional	Opaque token from a previous response — fetches the next page

Cost: 1 credit/page.

3. `get_channel_latest_videos` _{· FREE}

Get a channel's metadata plus its most recent uploads.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`channel`	string	required	`@handle`, channel URL, or `UC…` channel ID

Cost: Free.

4. `search_channel_videos`

Search within one specific channel's videos.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`channel`	string	required unless `continuation` set	`@handle`, channel URL, or `UC…` ID
`query`	string	required unless `continuation` set	Query to search within the channel
`continuation`	string	optional	Opaque token — fetches the next page

Cost: 1 credit/page.

5. `list_channel_videos`

List every video a channel has ever uploaded (the full /videos tab, not just recent ones).

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`channel`	string	required unless `continuation` set	`@handle`, channel URL, or `UC…` ID
`continuation`	string	optional	Opaque token — fetches the next page

Cost: 1 credit/page.

6. `list_playlist_videos`

Get every video in a YouTube playlist.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`playlist`	string	required unless `continuation` set	Playlist URL or ID
`continuation`	string	optional	Opaque token — fetches the next page

Cost: 1 credit/page.

Use Cases & Prompts

Use Case	Example Prompt
📝 Summarize a video	"Summarize the key points from this video: [URL]"
🔍 Research a topic	"Search YouTube for the 5 most-watched videos on neural radiance fields; summarize each."
🧠 Study notes	"Create study notes from this MIT lecture series playlist: [PLAYLIST URL]"
📡 Monitor a creator	"Each morning, list new uploads from @hubermanlab and tell me which to watch."
🏛️ Build a content database	"Pull every video from @veritasium and store title + transcript."
🎯 Channel research	"Search inside @MKBHD for any video about [topic] and summarize the takeaways."
✍️ Repurpose content	"Turn this video into a 1,500-word blog post: [URL]"

Pricing & Rate Limits

Plan	Price	Credits	Rate Limit
Free	$0	100 credits on signup	60 req/min
Monthly	$5/month	1,000 credits/month	200 req/min
Annual	$4.50/mo ($54/yr)	1,000 credits/month	300 req/min

1 credit = 1 successful request. Failed/rate-limited requests don't consume credits.
get_channel_latest_videos is always free.
Manage billing →

Troubleshooting

Authentication errors (401)

If using an API key: confirm it starts with sk_live_ and has no extra whitespace
If using OAuth: try disconnecting and reconnecting the connector
Confirm the key/connection is still active in your dashboard

No credits (402)

Check your balance and top up or upgrade at the dashboard.

Video not available (404)

The video may not have captions enabled
It may be private, age-restricted, or region-locked
Confirm it plays in a real browser first

Rate limiting (429)

Back off and retry after a short delay — don't hammer it in a tight loop.

OAuth connection issues

Clear cookies for getyoutubetranscript.com and retry
Ensure popup/redirect blockers aren't interfering with the consent screen
If your client supports both DCR and CIMD, try the other registration method

Also available as a REST API

Building an app instead of an agent? The same backend is a plain JSON REST API — see the Agent Skill repo for the full endpoint reference, or the dashboard to get a key directly.

Base URL: https://getyoutubetranscript.com/api/v1

Connect

🌐 Website: getyoutubetranscript.com
🔑 Dashboard: getyoutubetranscript.com/dashboard
🧩 Agent Skill version: tubeagentkit/youtube-transcript-skills

Disclosure

getyoutubetranscript.com is an independent product and is not affiliated with or endorsed by YouTube or Google.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.

YouTube Transcript + YouTube Search MCP

Links

README

YouTube Transcript + Search MCP 🎬

Why this MCP

Quick Install

30-second example

Authentication

API Key

OAuth 2.1

Available Tools

1. `get_youtube_transcript`

2. `search_youtube`

3. `get_channel_latest_videos` _{· FREE}

4. `search_channel_videos`

5. `list_channel_videos`

6. `list_playlist_videos`

Use Cases & Prompts

Pricing & Rate Limits

Troubleshooting

Also available as a REST API

Connect

Disclosure

License

Config for your environment

YouTube Transcript + YouTube Search MCP

Links

README

YouTube Transcript + Search MCP 🎬

Why this MCP

Quick Install

30-second example

Authentication

API Key

OAuth 2.1

Available Tools

1. get_youtube_transcript

2. search_youtube

3. get_channel_latest_videos · FREE

4. search_channel_videos

5. list_channel_videos

6. list_playlist_videos

Use Cases & Prompts

Pricing & Rate Limits

Troubleshooting

Also available as a REST API

Connect

Disclosure

License

Config for your environment

1. `get_youtube_transcript`

2. `search_youtube`

3. `get_channel_latest_videos` _{· FREE}

4. `search_channel_videos`

5. `list_channel_videos`

6. `list_playlist_videos`