YouTube MCP Server

@IA-Programming

About YouTube MCP Server

YouTube MCP Server is an AI-powered solution designed to revolutionize your YouTube experience. It empowers users to search for YouTube videos, retrieve detailed transcripts, and perform semantic searches over video content—all without relying on the official API. By integrating

#youtube #ai #mcp #transcripts #semantic-search

Config

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

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "Youtube-MCP": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "venv"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Tools

query: Search query string

video_url: URL of the YouTube video

query: Search query

Overview

What is YouTube MCP Server?

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides tools for searching YouTube videos, retrieving transcripts, and performing semantic search over video content. It uses a Google API key for embeddings and is designed for AI workflows.

How to use YouTube MCP Server?

Install dependencies with uv, create a .env file with your Google API key, and run uv run python server.py directly or configure the server in your MCP client (e.g., Claude Desktop) by providing the path to server.py and the API key. Once running, the client automatically discovers the tools.

Key features of YouTube MCP Server

Search YouTube videos without using the official API
Retrieve video transcripts
Store video information and transcripts in a vector database
Perform semantic search over stored transcripts

Use cases of YouTube MCP Server

Search for YouTube videos by query and get their transcripts
Build a local knowledge base of video content for research
Semantic search across multiple video transcripts
Integrate YouTube content into AI assistants like Claude Desktop

FAQ from YouTube MCP Server

What does YouTube MCP Server do?

It provides MCP tools to search YouTube, retrieve video transcripts, store them in a vector database, and perform semantic search over stored transcripts.

What are the prerequisites?

Python 3.8+, a Google API key for embeddings, and the uv package manager.

How do I run YouTube MCP Server?

You can start it directly with uv run python server.py or configure it in Claude.app settings by adding the server path and your API key to the MCP servers configuration.

What tools does YouTube MCP Server provide?

Four tools: search-youtube, get-transcript, store-video-info, and search-transcripts.

How do I troubleshoot issues?

Ensure your Google API key is correctly set in the .env file, all dependencies are installed, the server is running, and check for error messages in the server output.

Frequently asked questions

What does YouTube MCP Server do?

It provides MCP tools to search YouTube, retrieve video transcripts, store them in a vector database, and perform semantic search over stored transcripts.

What are the prerequisites?

Python 3.8+, a Google API key for embeddings, and the `uv` package manager.

How do I run YouTube MCP Server?

You can start it directly with `uv run python server.py` or configure it in Claude.app settings by adding the server path and your API key to the MCP servers configuration.

What tools does YouTube MCP Server provide?

Four tools: `search-youtube`, `get-transcript`, `store-video-info`, and `search-transcripts`.

How do I troubleshoot issues?

Ensure your Google API key is correctly set in the `.env` file, all dependencies are installed, the server is running, and check for error messages in the server output.