YouTube Downloader
Downloads videos, audio, and subtitles from YouTube and other platforms using yt-dlp, enabling content analysis and processing through AI agents.
Integrates with YouTube using yt-dlp to enable downloading of videos and subtitles for content analysis and processing tasks.
What it does
- Search YouTube with pagination and filtering
- Download videos in various resolutions (480p-1080p)
- Extract audio-only files in M4A/MP3 format
- Download subtitles and generate text transcripts
- Extract comprehensive video metadata and statistics
- Trim video segments during download
Best for
About YouTube Downloader
YouTube Downloader is a community-built MCP server published by kevinwatt that provides AI assistants with tools and capabilities via the Model Context Protocol. Easily download videos or convert YouTube to MP3/MP4 with our YouTube downloader for quick content analysis using yt-dlp It is categorized under file systems, other.
How to install
You can install YouTube Downloader in your AI client of choice. Use the install panel on this page to get one-click setup for Cursor, Claude Desktop, VS Code, and other MCP-compatible clients. This server runs locally on your machine via the stdio transport.
License
YouTube Downloader is released under the MIT license. This is a permissive open-source license, meaning you can freely use, modify, and distribute the software.
🎬 yt-dlp-mcp
A powerful MCP server that brings video platform capabilities to your AI agents
Integrate yt-dlp with Claude, Dive, and other MCP-compatible AI systems. Download videos, extract metadata, get transcripts, and more — all through natural language.
Features • Installation • Tools • Usage • Documentation
✨ Features
🔍 Search & Discovery
📊 Metadata Extraction
📝 Transcript & Subtitles
|
🎥 Video Downloads
🎵 Audio Extraction
🛡️ Privacy & Safety
|
🚀 Installation
Prerequisites
Install yt-dlp on your system:
| Platform | Command |
|---|---|
| 🪟 Windows | winget install yt-dlp |
| 🍎 macOS | brew install yt-dlp |
| 🐧 Linux | pip install yt-dlp |
Getting Started
Add the following config to your MCP client:
{
"mcpServers": {
"yt-dlp": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@kevinwatt/yt-dlp-mcp@latest"]
}
}
}
MCP Client Configuration
Dive
- Open Dive Desktop
- Click "+ Add MCP Server"
- Paste the config provided above
- Click "Save" and you're ready!
Claude Code
Use the Claude Code CLI to add the yt-dlp MCP server (guide):
claude mcp add yt-dlp npx @kevinwatt/yt-dlp-mcp@latest
Claude Desktop
Add to your claude_desktop_config.json:
- macOS:
~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json - Windows:
%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json - Linux:
~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
{
"mcpServers": {
"yt-dlp": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@kevinwatt/yt-dlp-mcp@latest"]
}
}
}
Cursor
Go to Cursor Settings -> MCP -> New MCP Server. Use the config provided above.
VS Code / Copilot
Install via the VS Code CLI:
code --add-mcp '{"name":"yt-dlp","command":"npx","args":["-y","@kevinwatt/yt-dlp-mcp@latest"]}'
Or follow the MCP install guide with the standard config from above.
Windsurf
Follow the configure MCP guide using the standard config from above.
Cline
Follow Cline MCP configuration guide and use the config provided above.
Warp
Go to Settings | AI | Manage MCP Servers -> + Add to add an MCP Server. Use the config provided above.
JetBrains AI Assistant
Go to Settings | Tools | AI Assistant | Model Context Protocol (MCP) -> Add. Use the config provided above.
Manual Installation
npm install -g @kevinwatt/yt-dlp-mcp
🛠️ Available Tools
All tools are prefixed with ytdlp_ to avoid naming conflicts with other MCP servers.
🔍 Search & Discovery
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
ytdlp_search_videos |
Search YouTube with pagination and date filtering support
|
📝 Subtitles & Transcripts
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
ytdlp_list_subtitle_languages |
List all available subtitle languages for a video
|
ytdlp_download_video_subtitles |
Download subtitles in VTT format with timestamps
|
ytdlp_download_transcript |
Generate clean plain text transcript
|
🎥 Video & Audio Downloads
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
ytdlp_download_video |
Download video to Downloads folder
|
ytdlp_download_audio |
Extract and download audio only
|
📊 Metadata
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
ytdlp_get_video_metadata |
Extract comprehensive video metadata in JSON
|
ytdlp_get_video_metadata_summary |
Get human-readable metadata summary
|
💡 Usage Examples
Search Videos
"Search for Python programming tutorials"
"Find the top 20 machine learning videos"
"Search for 'react hooks tutorial' and show results 10-20"
"Search for JavaScript courses in JSON format"
Get Metadata
"Get metadata for https://youtube.com/watch?v=..."
"Show me the title, channel, and view count for this video"
"Extract just the duration and upload date"
"Give me a quick summary of this video's info"
Download Subtitles & Transcripts
"List available subtitles for https://youtube.com/watch?v=..."
"Download English subtitles from this video"
"Get a clean transcript of this video in Spanish"
"Download Chinese (zh-Hant) transcript"
Download Content
"Download this video in 1080p: https://youtube.com/watch?v=..."
"Download audio from this YouTube video"
"Download this video from 1:30 to 2:45"
"Save this Facebook video to my Downloads"
📖 Documentation
- API Reference - Detailed tool documentation
- Configuration - Environment variables and settings
- Cookie Configuration - Authentication and private video access
- Error Handling - Common errors and solutions
- Contributing - How to contribute
🔧 Configuration
Environment Variables
# Downloads directory (default: ~/Downloads)
YTDLP_DOWNLOADS_DIR=/path/to/downloads
# Default resolution (default: 720p)
YTDLP_DEFAULT_RESOLUTION=1080p
# Default subtitle language (default: en)
YTDLP_DEFAULT_SUBTITLE_LANG=en
# Character limit (default: 25000)
YTDLP_CHARACTER_LIMIT=25000
# Max transcript length (default: 50000)
YTDLP_MAX_TRANSCRIPT_LENGTH=50000
Cookie Configuration
To access private videos, age-restricted content, or avoid rate limits, configure cookies:
⚠️ Important: Cookie authentication requires a JavaScript runtime (deno) to be installed. When using cookies, YouTube uses authenticated API endpoints that require JavaScript challenge solving. Without deno, downloads will fail with "n challenge solving failed" error.
Install deno: https://docs.deno.com/runtime/getting_started/installation/
# Extract cookies from browser (recommended)
YTDLP_COOKIES_FROM_BROWSER=chrome
# Or use a cookie file
YTDLP_COOKIES_FILE=/path/to/cookies.txt
MCP Configuration with cookies:
{
"mcpServers": {
"yt-dlp": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@kevinwatt/yt-dlp-mcp@latest"],
"env": {
"YTDLP_COOKIES_FROM_BROWSER": "chrome"
}
---
*README truncated. [View full README on GitHub](https://github.com/kevinwatt/yt-dlp-mcp).*
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