Download Transcripts from CSV

Overview

Download YouTube transcripts for videos tracked in a CSV file. Use after running extract-videos to build your video list, or with manually curated collections.

Command

transcript-download --csv <input.csv> --output-dir <directory>

Parameters

Instructions

1. Ensure you have a CSV file with video URLs (use extract-videos skill first)

2. Run the download command:

   transcript-download \
     --csv data/<conference-name>/videos.csv \
     --output-dir data/<conference-name>/transcripts
   

3. The command will:

   • Download transcripts as markdown with YAML frontmatter
   • Update the CSV transcript_downloaded column with status
   • Skip already-downloaded videos on re-run

Examples

# Download transcripts for AWS re:Invent
transcript-download \
  --csv data/aws-reinvent-2025/videos.csv \
  --output-dir data/aws-reinvent-2025/transcripts

# Faster processing (shorter delay)
transcript-download \
  --csv data/pycon-2024/videos.csv \
  --output-dir data/pycon-2024/transcripts \
  --delay 30

# Single video mode
transcript-download https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID --output transcript.md

Output Format

Transcripts are saved as markdown with YAML frontmatter:

---
video_id: abc123xyz
video_url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abc123xyz
title: Conference Talk Title
author: Speaker Name
published_date: 2025-01-15
length_minutes: 45.5
views: 1234
---

Full transcript text here...

Troubleshooting