Skills youtube-archiver

Name: youtube-archiver
Author: openclaw

Archive YouTube playlists into markdown notes with metadata, transcripts, AI summaries, and tags. Use when a user asks to import/sync YouTube playlists, archive Watch Later or Liked videos, enrich YouTube notes, batch process video notes, or automate recurring YouTube-to-markdown sync jobs with cron.

install

source · Clone the upstream repo

git clone https://github.com/openclaw/skills

Claude Code · Install into ~/.claude/skills/

T=$(mktemp -d) && git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/openclaw/skills "$T" && mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r "$T/skills/benmillerat/youtube-archiver" ~/.claude/skills/openclaw-skills-youtube-archiver && rm -rf "$T"

OpenClaw · Install into ~/.openclaw/skills/

T=$(mktemp -d) && git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/openclaw/skills "$T" && mkdir -p ~/.openclaw/skills && cp -r "$T/skills/benmillerat/youtube-archiver" ~/.openclaw/skills/openclaw-skills-youtube-archiver && rm -rf "$T"

manifest: skills/benmillerat/youtube-archiver/SKILL.md

YouTube Archiver

Use this skill to import YouTube playlists into markdown files and optionally enrich notes with transcript, summary, and tagging.

Requirements

Python 3.7+

yt-dlp

(

pip install yt-dlp

brew install yt-dlp

)

A browser signed into YouTube (for private playlists like Liked/Watch Later)
macOS: terminal needs Full Disk Access to read browser cookies
Windows: browser cookie extraction can be flaky;
```
cookies_file
```
export is the safer path
Linux: works on desktop installs; headless servers need
```
cookies_file
```

First-run setup flow (interactive)

If no config exists at

<output>/.config.json

, ask these questions before running scripts.

Required questions

Where should archived notes be stored?
- Default:
```
./YouTube-Archive
```
Which playlists should be archived?
- Accept playlist IDs or URLs
- Default:
```
LL
```
  (Liked Videos),
```
WL
```
  (Watch Later)
Which browser is signed into YouTube for cookie auth?
- Default:
```
chrome
```

Optional enrichment questions

Ask only if the user wants summaries/tags.

Generate AI summaries? (yes/no)

Summary provider? (

openai

gemini

anthropic

openrouter

ollama

none

)

Summary model name?
API key env var name?
Enable auto-tagging? (yes/no)
Tagging provider/model/env var?
Keep default tags or define custom vocabulary?

First-run execution sequence

Run init:

python3 <skill>/scripts/yt-import.py --output <output-dir> --init

Edit
```
<output-dir>/.config.json
```
from the user’s answers.

Verify auth with dry run:

python3 <skill>/scripts/yt-import.py --output <output-dir> --dry-run

Run real import.

Run enrichment (optional):

python3 <skill>/scripts/yt-enrich.py --output <output-dir> --limit 10

One-shot quick start

Use this for immediate manual sync:

python3 <skill>/scripts/yt-import.py --output <output-dir>
python3 <skill>/scripts/yt-enrich.py --output <output-dir> --limit 10

Useful import flags:

```
--dry-run
```
```
--playlist <ID>
```
(repeatable)
```
--no-summary
```
```
--no-tags
```
```
--cookies <path/to/cookies.txt>
```
```
--browser <name>
```

Useful enrich flags:

```
--dry-run
```
```
--limit <N>
```
```
--strict-config
```

Idempotency and safety behavior

Import skips already archived videos by
```
video_id
```
.
Filenames include video ID:
```
Title [video_id].md
```
.
Enrichment skips notes where frontmatter has
```
enriched: true
```
.
Lockfile prevents concurrent runs:
```
<output-dir>/.yt-archiver.lock
```
.

Automation with cron (single-agent default)

Offer cron only after one successful manual run.

Example schedule (daily 11:00):

Import new videos
Enrich a bounded batch

Example task text:

Run yt-import.py for <output-dir>, then run yt-enrich.py --limit 10 for the same output.

Keep it single-agent by default. Do not assume multi-agent routing.

Troubleshooting and provider details

Read these references when needed:

Provider setup, model suggestions, cost:
```
references/providers.md
```
Common failures and fixes:
```
references/troubleshooting.md
```
Default summary prompt template:
```
references/default-summary-prompt.md
```