youtube-transcript-extractor-api-skill

This skill helps users automatically extract YouTube video transcripts and metadata via the BrowserAct API. The Agent should proactively apply this skill whe...

Security Scan

The skill's requests, instructions, and code match its stated purpose (calling BrowserAct to extract YouTube transcripts) and do not ask for unrelated credentials or unusual system access.

Purpose & Capability

Name/description match the implemented behavior: the script calls BrowserAct workflow endpoints to run a YouTube transcript extractor template. Required env var (BROWSERACT_API_KEY) is appropriate for this API-based task.

Instruction Scope

SKILL.md instructs the agent to check for BROWSERACT_API_KEY, run the included Python script with a TargetURL, and handle a one-time retry on non-auth errors. The runtime instructions and script only perform network calls to BrowserAct and print results; they do not read unrelated files or collect unrelated credentials.

Install Mechanism

There is no install spec (instruction-only), which limits disk writes and is low risk. However, the included Python script imports the third-party 'requests' module but the skill does not document installing Python packages. Users/agents must ensure Python and required packages (requests) are present.

Credentials

Only BROWSERACT_API_KEY is required; that matches the API usage in the code. No other secrets, system config paths, or unrelated credentials are requested.

Persistence & Privilege

always is false and the skill does not request persistent system changes or modify other skills. It only performs one-off API calls when invoked.

Assessment

This skill appears coherent and does what it says: it sends the provided YouTube URL and your BrowserAct API key to BrowserAct and prints the transcript/metadata it returns. Before installing or running it, consider the following: (1) confirm you trust BrowserAct (api calls go to https://api.browseract.com), since transcripts and video data are sent to that external service; (2) keep your BROWSERACT_API_KEY secret and only set it as an environment variable in a trusted environment; (3) the Python script uses the third-party 'requests' package — ensure Python and requests are installed in the runtime environment; (4) transcripts may contain sensitive or PII data, so review how outputs are stored or forwarded by your agent; (5) check BrowserAct pricing, rate limits, and privacy policy for suitability. If you want stronger assurance, review the script yourself or run it in an isolated environment with a throwaway API key.

📖 Introduction

This skill provides a one-stop video transcript extraction service using BrowserAct's YouTube Transcript Extractor API template. It can directly extract full video transcripts and metadata from any YouTube video. By simply providing the TargetURL, you can get clean, ready-to-use transcript and metadata.

✨ Features

1. No hallucinations, ensuring stable and accurate data extraction: Pre-set workflows avoid generative AI hallucinations.
2. No CAPTCHA issues: No need to handle reCAPTCHA or other verification challenges.
3. No IP access restrictions or geofencing: No need to deal with regional IP limits.
4. Faster execution: Compared to pure AI-driven browser automation solutions, task execution is much faster.
5. High cost-effectiveness: Significantly reduces data acquisition costs compared to AI solutions that consume large amounts of tokens.

🔑 API Key Setup

Before running, you must check the BROWSERACT_API_KEY environment variable. If it is not set, do not take any other actions; you must request and wait for the user to provide it. The Agent must inform the user at this point:

"Since you haven't configured the BrowserAct API Key yet, please go to the BrowserAct Console to get your Key first."

🛠️ Input Parameters

The Agent should configure the following parameter based on the user's needs when calling the script:

1. TargetURL (Target URL)
   • Type: string
   • Description: The URL of the YouTube video you want to extract the transcript and metadata from.
   • Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=st534T7-mdE

🚀 Usage (Recommended)

The Agent should execute the following independent script to achieve "one command, get results":

# Example Call
python -u ./scripts/youtube_transcript_extractor_api.py "TargetURL"

⏳ Running Status Monitoring

Since this task involves automated browser operations, it may take a long time (several minutes). While running, the script will continuously output status logs with timestamps (e.g., [14:30:05] Task Status: running). Agent Instructions:

• While waiting for the script to return results, please keep an eye on the terminal output.
• As long as the terminal continues to output new status logs, it means the task is running normally. Do not misjudge it as a deadlock or unresponsiveness.
• Only if the status remains unchanged for a long time or the script stops outputting without returning a result, should you consider triggering the retry mechanism.

📊 Data Output Description

After successful execution, the script will parse and print the results directly from the API response. The results include:

• video_title: The title of the YouTube video
• video_url: The direct link to the original video
• publisher: The name of the channel publishing the video
• channel_link: The URL of the publisher's YouTube channel
• video_likes_count: The number of likes the video has received
• transcript: The complete extracted transcript/subtitles of the video

⚠️ Error Handling & Retry

During script execution, if an error occurs (such as network fluctuation or task failure), the Agent should follow this logic:

1. Check output content:

   • If the output contains "Invalid authorization", it means the API Key is invalid or expired. In this case, do not retry, and guide the user to check and provide the correct API Key.
   • If the output does not contain "Invalid authorization" but the task execution fails (for example, the output starts with Error: or returns an empty result), the Agent should automatically try to execute the script one more time.

2. Retry limits:

   • Automatic retry is limited to only once. If the second attempt still fails, stop retrying and report the specific error message to the user.