YouTube Caption MCP Server

@iamyosuke

About YouTube Caption MCP Server

An MCP server for cursor to retrieve YouTube video captions without requiring an API key.

Config

Add this server to your MCP-compatible client using the configuration below.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube-caption-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "@iamyosuke/youtube-caption-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "LOG_LEVEL": "debug"
      }
    }
  }
}

Tools

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Overview

What is YouTube Caption MCP Server?

An MCP server for Cursor that retrieves YouTube video captions without requiring an API key. It uses the youtube-js library to access YouTube's internal API and supports multiple languages and caption formats.

How to use YouTube Caption MCP Server?

Install globally from npm with npm install -g @iamyosuke/youtube-caption-mcp or build from source. Configure in Cursor's .cursor/mcp.json by adding the server entry with command: "npx" and args: ["-y", "youtube-caption-mcp", "--stdio"]. Use the four available tools: get_video_info, get_captions_list, download_captions, and search_videos_with_captions.

Key features of YouTube Caption MCP Server

No API key required for caption access
Multilingual support with automatic language detection
Caption output in Raw, SRT, and VTT formats
In-memory caching for improved performance
Seamless integration via MCP protocol with Cursor
Search for videos with captions using queries

Use cases of YouTube Caption MCP Server

Retrieve basic information about a YouTube video
List all available caption languages for a video
Download captions in a specific language and format
Search for YouTube videos that have captions in a certain language

FAQ from YouTube Caption MCP Server

What is required to run the server?

Node.js and npm are required. Install the package globally or build from source.

Does it require a YouTube API key?

No, the server uses YouTube's internal API via the youtube-js library and does not require an API key.

How do I configure it for Cursor?

Add the server to .cursor/mcp.json with command: "npx" and args: ["-y", "youtube-caption-mcp", "--stdio"]. Environment variables like CACHE_ENABLED and LOG_LEVEL can be set in the env object.

What YouTube URL formats are supported?

Supported formats include https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID, https://youtu.be/VIDEO_ID, https://www.youtube.com/embed/VIDEO_ID, and the raw 11-character video ID.

What should I be cautious about?

Use the tool in accordance with YouTube's Terms of Service, handle copyrighted content appropriately, and be mindful of rate limits when sending many requests. The project was vibecoded and not thoroughly tested—use in production at your own risk.

Frequently asked questions