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YouTube Transcript Server for Claude Desktop: Setup & Config

Claude Desktop: YouTube Transcript Server retrieves video captions through a single MCP tool.

What you can do with YouTube Transcript in Claude Desktop

Pick it for focused YouTube caption access with language and timestamp controls.

  • Retrieve caption text for a YouTube video or Short
  • Collect timestamped passages for moment-specific references

Before you start: YouTube Transcript in Claude Desktop

  • Node.js 18 or later
  • npm or yarn
  • An MCP-compatible client

The server communicates over stdio. No runtime API key is specified for transcript retrieval.

YouTube Transcript Claude Desktop configuration

  1. Choose Claude Desktop configuration scope

    For YouTube Transcript Server, open macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json. Merge under mcpServers via Settings → Developer → Edit Config when available.

  2. Add YouTube Transcript Server to Claude Desktop

    Use the mcp-server-youtube-transcript entry below in mcpServers. Keep YouTube Transcript Server's documented stdio connection fields and your other Claude Desktop entries.

  3. Check YouTube Transcript Server in Claude Desktop

    YouTube Transcript Server: Fully quit and reopen Claude Desktop; check developer diagnostics.

Config file · macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

JSON
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-server-youtube-transcript": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@kimtaeyoon83/mcp-server-youtube-transcript"
      ],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

YouTube Transcript tools available to Claude Desktop

YouTube Transcript's stored tool list documents 1 tool; compare it with Claude Desktop's connected tool list, because the stored list is not a live check.

get_transcript

When Claude Desktop requests get_transcript from YouTube Transcript, review the action before approving it.

Retrieve video captions with language, timestamp, and chapter-based promotional-filter options.

YouTube Transcript: full stored tool descriptions

Troubleshooting YouTube Transcript in Claude Desktop

  • Fully quit and reopen Claude Desktop for YouTube Transcript Server. If npx @kimtaeyoon83/mcp-server-youtube-transcript (Node.js/npm) is missing, check the desktop process's PATH, which may differ from your terminal.
  • YouTube Transcript Server uses stdio here: Claude Desktop must keep the configured process running; protocol output belongs on stdout and diagnostics on stderr.
  • Known limitation: Unavailable transcripts still produce errors
  • Known limitation: Promotional filtering depends on chapter markers
  • General Claude Desktop troubleshooting lives in the /clients/claude-desktop guide.

YouTube Transcript Server — details. Claude Desktop guide

Frequently asked questions

Claude Desktop loads YouTube Transcript Server from claude_desktop_config.json: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/ on macOS, or %APPDATA%\Claude\ on Windows. Open it via Settings → Developer → Edit Config when available.

Claude Desktop's mcp-server-youtube-transcript example uses stdio.

YouTube Transcript Server's Claude Desktop configuration invokes npx @kimtaeyoon83/mcp-server-youtube-transcript (Node.js/npm).

YouTube Transcript Server's stored list contains 1 tool, including get_transcript. Compare those names with Claude Desktop's connected tool list; the stored list is not a live check.

Yes. Shorts URLs, standard video links, and video IDs are accepted.

Yes. Set include_timestamps to true; it defaults to false.