🎬 yt-dlp-mcp

✨ Features

🔍 Search & Discovery

• Search YouTube with pagination
• JSON or Markdown output formats
• Filter by relevance and quality

📊 Metadata Extraction

• Comprehensive video information
• Channel details and statistics
• Upload dates, tags, categories
• No content download required

📝 Transcript & Subtitles

• Download subtitles in VTT format
• Generate clean text transcripts
• Multi-language support
• Auto-generated captions

🎥 Video Downloads

• Resolution control (480p-1080p)
• Video trimming support
• Platform-agnostic (YouTube, Facebook, etc.)
• Saved to Downloads folder

🎵 Audio Extraction

• Best quality audio (M4A/MP3)
• Direct audio-only downloads
• Perfect for podcasts & music

🛡️ Privacy & Safety

• No tracking or analytics
• Direct downloads via yt-dlp
• Zod schema validation
• Character limits for LLM 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

1. Open Dive Desktop

2. Click "+ Add MCP Server"

3. Paste the config provided above

4. 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

• Parameters: `query`, `maxResults`, `offset`, `response_format`, `uploadDateFilter`
• Date Filter: `hour`, `today`, `week`, `month`, `year` (optional)
• Returns: Video list with titles, channels, durations, URLs
• Supports: JSON and Markdown formats

📝 Subtitles & Transcripts

Tool

Description

ytdlp_list_subtitle_languages

List all available subtitle languages for a video

• Parameters: `url`
• Returns: Available languages, formats, auto-generated status

ytdlp_download_video_subtitles

Download subtitles in VTT format with timestamps

• Parameters: `url`, `language` (optional)
• Returns: Raw VTT subtitle content

ytdlp_download_transcript

Generate clean plain text transcript

• Parameters: `url`, `language` (optional)
• Returns: Cleaned text without timestamps or formatting

🎥 Video & Audio Downloads

Tool

Description

ytdlp_download_video

Download video to Downloads folder

• Parameters: `url`, `resolution`, `startTime`, `endTime`
• Resolutions: 480p, 720p, 1080p, best
• Supports: Video trimming

ytdlp_download_audio

Extract and download audio only

• Parameters: `url`
• Format: Best quality M4A/MP3

📊 Metadata

Tool

Description

ytdlp_get_video_metadata

Extract comprehensive video metadata in JSON

• Parameters: `url`, `fields` (optional array)
• Returns: Complete metadata or filtered fields
• Includes: Views, likes, upload date, tags, formats, etc.

ytdlp_get_video_metadata_summary

Get human-readable metadata summary

• Parameters: `url`
• Returns: Formatted text with key information

💬 Comments

Tool

Description

ytdlp_get_video_comments

Extract comments in flat JSON, threaded JSON, or AI-friendly Markdown

• Parameters: `url`, `maxComments`, `sortOrder`, `view`, `responseFormat`, `maxParents`, `maxReplies`, `maxRepliesPerThread`, `maxDepth`
• Views: `flat` (default) or `threaded`
• Formats: `json` (default) or `markdown_tree` (`markdown_tree` requires threaded view)
• Returns: Comment objects with `depth`, `reply_count`, `root_threads`, `reply_comments`, `orphan_comments`
• Graceful Degradation: On platforms without parent metadata, threaded mode falls back to root-only comments

ytdlp_get_video_comments_summary

Get a human-readable summary of comments

• Parameters: `url`, `maxComments`, `view`
• Views: `flat` (linear summary) or `threaded` (grouped reply trees)
• Returns: Readable comment digest with author badges, time, likes, and grouped replies

💡 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"

Get Comments

"Get the top 20 comments for https://youtube.com/watch?v=..."
"Get comments as threaded JSON for this video"
"Extract comments as markdown_tree so the reply branches stay intact"
"Get newest comments with maxDepth 1 and maxRepliesPerThread 0"
"Summarize comments in threaded view"

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

See the Configuration Guide for the full list.

Proxy and yt-dlp Config File

All tools read your yt-dlp config file (`~/.config/yt-dlp/config`), so any

`--proxy`, `--cookies` or other options set there apply automatically. This is

the only channel available to MCP clients that cannot pass environment

variables to the server process.

These are alternatives — set only the one you need:

Supported proxy schemes: `http`, `https`, `socks4`, `socks5`, `socks5h`.

> `YTDLP_IGNORE_CONFIG=1` is not a straight revert to 0.9.x. The search,

> metadata and comments tools always read the config file, so this setting

> stops them from doing so as well.

MCP Configuration with a proxy:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "yt-dlp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@kevinwatt/yt-dlp-mcp@latest"],
      "env": {
        "YTDLP_PROXY": "socks5://127.0.0.1:1080"
      }
    }
  }
}

If your MCP client cannot pass environment variables to the server, put the

options in `~/.config/yt-dlp/config` instead — every tool reads that file:

--proxy socks5://127.0.0.1:1080
--cookies /path/to/cookies.txt

> Note: Your config file applies to downloads as well. Options that change

> the output format (`-x`, `--remux-video`, `--recode-video`) change what the

> download tools produce; the tools report the file yt-dlp actually wrote, so

> the reported name stays correct. Output-location options (`-o`, `-P`) have no

> effect, because the tools always pass an absolute `--output` on the command

> line, which takes precedence.

>

> Note: yt-dlp config files can contain options that execute commands

> (`--exec`, `--postprocessor-args`, `--ffmpeg-location`). These now run on

> tool invocations too, including ones triggered by an AI assistant. Set

> `YTDLP_IGNORE_CONFIG=1` if you would rather the server ignore your config

> file entirely.

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"
      }
    }
  }
}

Supported browsers: `brave`, `chrome`, `chromium`, `edge`, `firefox`, `opera`, `safari`, `vivaldi`, `whale`

See Cookie Configuration Guide for detailed setup instructions.

🏗️ Architecture

Built With

• **yt-dlp** - Video extraction engine
• **MCP SDK** - Model Context Protocol
• **Zod** - TypeScript-first schema validation
• TypeScript - Type safety and developer experience

Key Features

• ✅ Type-Safe: Full TypeScript with strict mode
• ✅ Validated Inputs: Zod schemas for runtime validation
• ✅ Character Limits: Automatic truncation to prevent context overflow
• ✅ Tool Annotations: readOnly, destructive, idempotent hints
• ✅ Error Guidance: Actionable error messages for LLMs
• ✅ Modular Design: Clean separation of concerns

📊 Response Formats

JSON Format

Perfect for programmatic processing:

{
  "total": 50,
  "count": 10,
  "offset": 0,
  "videos": [...],
  "has_more": true,
  "next_offset": 10
}

Markdown Format

Human-readable display:

Found 50 videos (showing 10):

1. **Video Title**
   📺 Channel: Creator Name
   ⏱️  Duration: 10:30
   🔗 URL: https://...

Comment Markdown Tree

Useful for LLM analysis when reply context matters:

# AI-Ready Comment Threads

source_title: "Sample Video"
comments_detected: 20
root_threads: 6
reply_comments: 14

## Threads

### Thread 1

- comment_id: "abc123"
  parent_id: "root"
  depth: 0
  reply_count: 2
  text:
    | Root comment text
  - comment_id: "reply456"
    parent_id: "abc123"
    depth: 1
    reply_count: 0
    text:
      | Reply text

Comment Limits

YouTube comment extraction supports the full extractor tuple:

youtube:comment_sort=;max_comments=,,,,

Examples:

• Default behavior: `maxComments=20` yields `max_comments=20,20,20,20,2`
• Root-only comments: `maxDepth=1`, `maxRepliesPerThread=0`
• Limited branching: `maxReplies=40`, `maxRepliesPerThread=5`, `maxDepth=2`

🔒 Privacy & Security

• No Tracking: Direct downloads, no analytics
• Input Validation: Zod schemas prevent injection
• URL Validation: Strict URL format checking
• Character Limits: Prevents context overflow attacks
• Read-Only by Default: Most tools don't modify system state

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please check out our Contributing Guide.

1. Fork the repository

2. Create a feature branch (`git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature`)

3. Commit your changes (`git commit -m 'Add amazing feature'`)

4. Push to the branch (`git push origin feature/amazing-feature`)

5. Open a Pull Request

📝 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🙏 Acknowledgments

• yt-dlp - The amazing video extraction tool
• Anthropic - For the Model Context Protocol
• Dive - MCP-compatible AI platform

📚 Related Projects

• MCP Servers - Official MCP server implementations
• yt-dlp - Command-line video downloader
• Dive Desktop - AI agent platform