YouTube to Knowledge Documentation Skill

Transform YouTube videos into structured Knowledge Framework documents with automatic transcript extraction, intelligent folder placement, and proper academic attribution.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

• User wants to preserve video knowledge in repository structure
• Converting external learning materials into internal knowledge base
• Creating structured documentation from video content

Quick Start Checklist

When user provides YouTube URL:

[ ] 1. Extract transcript with yt-dlp (--write-auto-sub)
[ ] 2. Get video metadata (title, description, upload date)
[ ] 3. Analyze content and propose folder location
[ ] 4. Confirm folder with user before creating file
[ ] 5. Get Claude Code session ID (get_session_id.py --quiet)
[ ] 6. Generate Knowledge Framework doc (Thesis, Overview, Mermaid, MECE)
[ ] 7. Include clickable timestamp links ([timestamp MM:SS](URL?t=SECONDS))
[ ] 8. [OPTIONAL] Upload to Notion using youtube_to_notion.py library (NO temp scripts!)
[ ] 9. Add Author Checklist at end

5-Second Decision Tree:

• User provides YouTube URL? → Extract transcript + analyze content
• Content about AI agents? → algorithms/product_div/Ai Agent/
• Content about market research? → algorithms/product_div/market_research/

Practical Workflow

BEFORE creating documentation:

1. Extract content: yt-dlp --skip-download --write-auto-sub --sub-lang en
2. Analyze topic: AI agents? Architecture? Market research?
3. Propose location: Use folder-finder logic (algorithms/product_div/...)
4. Get session ID: python get_session_id.py --quiet
5. Generate doc: Thesis + Overview + Mermaid (TD+LR) + MECE sections
6. Add citations: Clickable timestamp links with ?t=SECONDS format

Example rapid application:

User: "Document https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABC123 about AI agent security"

Agent thinks:
- Extract transcript using yt-dlp
- Topic: AI agent security patterns
- Folder: algorithms/product_div/Ai Agent/
- Check last file: 01_xxx.md → new: 02_ai_agent_security.md
- Get session ID: 21fc9ab9-7ffd-40b7
- Generate with clickable timestamps: [23:11](URL?t=1391)

How It Works

Step 1: Extract Video Content

¶1 Get transcript using yt-dlp:

# Download transcript
yt-dlp --skip-download --write-auto-sub --sub-lang en --sub-format vtt \
  --output "/tmp/video_title" "YOUTUBE_URL"

# Clean and deduplicate
cat /tmp/video_title.en.vtt | \
  grep -v "^WEBVTT" | grep -v "^Kind:" | grep -v "^Language:" | \
  grep -v "^[0-9][0-9]:" | grep -v "^$" | \
  sed 's/<[^>]*>//g' | \
  awk '!seen[$0]++' > /tmp/video_clean.txt

¶2 Extract video metadata:

yt-dlp --skip-download --print "%(title)s|%(description)s|%(upload_date)s" "YOUTUBE_URL"

Step 2: Analyze Content and Determine Folder

¶1 Use folder-finder skill logic:

• AI Agent development/research → algorithms/product_div/Ai Agent/
• Architecture/design patterns → algorithms/product_div/00_Architecture/
• Market research/industry → algorithms/product_div/market_research/
• Multi-agent systems → algorithms/product_div/Multi_agent_framework/
• Personal learning/exploration → algorithms/A8_G&A_div/Daniel Personal/

¶2 Ask user for confirmation:

Based on video content about [TOPIC], I recommend:
**Folder:** algorithms/product_div/[subfolder]/
**Reasoning:** [Why this location fits]
**Filename:** NN_descriptive_title.md

Proceed? Or prefer different location?

Step 3: Generate Knowledge Framework Document

¶1 Required structure (MANDATORY):

1. Thesis: One sentence previewing all MECE sections with specific outcome
2. Overview paragraph: Introduces each major section
3. Mermaid diagrams: BOTH Continuant (TD) and Occurrent (LR) for complex topics
4. MECE sections: 3-7 numbered sections (1.0, 2.0, 3.0)
5. Paragraph numbering: ¶1, ¶2, ¶3 within sections
6. Ground truth attribution: Primary source in Overview + inline citations

¶2 Get Claude Code session ID:

# Get current session ID
SESSION_ID=$(~/project/claude_venv/bin/python \
  ~/project/data_sources/claude_code/get_session_id.py --quiet)

¶3 Attribution template for YouTube sources:

**Primary source:** [Video Creator] "[Video Title]" YouTube (YYYY-MM-DD) [URL]
**Transcript extracted:** yt-dlp (YYYY-MM-DD)
**Generated by:** Claude Code session `SESSION_ID` by Daniel Kravtsov (YYYY-MM-DD)

¶3 Inline timestamp citations (MUST be clickable links):

❌ WRONG - Not clickable:

**Source:** Video timestamp 23:11-23:32
**Quote:** "Direct quote from video" (timestamp 23:11)

✅ CORRECT - Clickable YouTube links:

**Source:** [Video timestamp 23:11-23:32](https://youtu.be/VIDEO_ID?t=1391)
**Quote:** "Direct quote from video" ([timestamp 23:11](https://youtu.be/VIDEO_ID?t=1391))

Timestamp URL Format:

• Pattern: https://youtu.be/VIDEO_ID?t=SECONDS
• Calculation: MM:SS → (MM × 60) + SS = SECONDS
• Example: 23:11 → (23 × 60) + 11 = 1391 seconds
• Full URL: https://youtu.be/LAwBdRR4wQk?t=1391

Rules:

1. ALWAYS use markdown link syntax for timestamps: [text](URL)
2. Include timestamp in link text (MM:SS or MM:SS-MM:SS)
3. Calculate seconds for ?t= parameter
4. Use same VIDEO_ID from original YouTube URL

Step 3.5: Upload to Notion (Optional)

¶1 Using the youtube_to_notion.py library (CRITICAL - No temporary scripts!):

❌ WRONG - Creating temporary Python scripts:

# DON'T DO THIS - Creates files that clutter repo
with open("upload_to_notion.py", "w") as f:
    f.write("# Script code...")

✅ CORRECT - Using reusable library:

from data_sources.notion.youtube_to_notion import create_youtube_notion_page

# Runtime mode - create directly from memory, no temp files
create_youtube_notion_page(
    page_id="abc123",
    video_id="DxL2HoqLbyA",
    video_title="Entropy and Life",
    content_sections=[
        {
            "type": "heading",
            "level": 1,
            "content": "Энтропия и Жизнь"
        },
        {
            "type": "paragraph",
            "content": "Энтропия - это тенденция энергии рассеиваться.",
            "timestamps": [("04:19", "[таймкод 04:19]")]
        },
        {
            "type": "mermaid",
            "mermaid_code": "graph TD\n  A[Start] --> B[End]"
        },
        {
            "type": "callout",
            "icon": "💡",
            "color": "yellow_background",
            "content": "Важный инсайт!"
        },
        {
            "type": "list",
            "items": ["Пункт 1", "Пункт 2"]
        }
    ],
    language="ru",
    session_id="a725304d-8bb9-42d5-9a0e-95258889f959"
)

¶2 Library Architecture:

• Location: data_sources/notion/youtube_to_notion.py
• Mode 1 - Runtime: Create Notion page directly from structured data (recommended)
• Mode 2 - File: Convert existing MD file to Notion (TODO - not yet implemented)
• No temp files: All operations in memory
• Proper blocks: Automatically adds "object": "block" to all blocks
• Mermaid support: Native Notion Mermaid code blocks

¶3 Helper functions available:

from data_sources.notion.youtube_to_notion import (
    add_block,                  # Add any block type
    create_mermaid_block,       # Create Mermaid diagram
    create_timestamp_link,      # Create clickable timestamp
    create_youtube_notion_page  # Main function (runtime mode)
)

¶4 When to use Notion upload:

• User explicitly says "upload to Notion" or "создай в Notion"
• User provides Notion page URL alongside YouTube URL
• User has existing Notion page they want to populate

¶5 Notion Page ID extraction:

# From URL: https://www.notion.so/improvado-home/Entropy-VS-life-2ad9aec621258187b81edc7e0144d38a
# Page ID is the last part: 2ad9aec621258187b81edc7e0144d38a

Step 4: File Naming Convention

¶1 Determine next number in sequence:

# List existing files in target folder
ls -1 algorithms/product_div/Ai\ Agent/ | grep "^[0-9][0-9]_" | tail -1

# If last file is 01_xxx.md, new file is 02_yyy.md

¶2 Create descriptive filename:

• Pattern: NN_key_topic_from_video.md
• Example: 02_anthropic_introspection_research.md
• Use underscores, lowercase, descriptive (3-5 words)

Step 5: Quality Validation

¶1 Run through Author Checklist:

**Structure:**
- [ ] Thesis previews all sections
- [ ] Overview introduces each section
- [ ] Mermaid diagrams present (TD + LR for complex docs)
- [ ] MECE sections (3-7 top-level)
- [ ] Ordering principle stated
- [ ] Paragraph numbering (¶1, ¶2, ¶3)

**Ground Truth:**
- [ ] Primary source in Overview with URL and date
- [ ] Section sources attributed
- [ ] Inline citations with timestamps
- [ ] LLM analysis flagged where applicable
- [ ] Session ID included

Usage Pattern

Example 1: AI Research Video

User: "Create documentation from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABC123"

Assistant workflow:
1. Extract transcript using yt-dlp
2. Get session ID: python get_session_id.py --quiet → 21fc9ab9-7ffd-40b7
3. Analyze: "Video discusses Claude's introspection capabilities (Anthropic research)"
4. Recommend: algorithms/product_div/Ai Agent/ (AI agent development topic)
5. Check last file number: 01_dual_llm_security_pattern.md
6. Create: 02_anthropic_introspection_research.md
7. Generate document with:
   - Thesis covering methodology, consciousness, implications
   - Continuant diagram (research structure) + Occurrent diagram (experimental flow)
   - 3 MECE sections with ¶-numbered paragraphs
   - YouTube URL + timestamps in citations
   - Session ID `21fc9ab9-7ffd-40b7` in Overview

Example 2: Market Research Video

User: "Document this Gartner webinar on AI agents: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYZ789"

Assistant workflow:
1. Extract transcript
2. Analyze: "Industry analysis of AI agent market trends"
3. Recommend: algorithms/product_div/market_research/
4. Create: 03_gartner_ai_agent_market_2025.md
5. Structure with competitive landscape (Continuant) + adoption process (Occurrent)

Example 3: Personal Learning

User: "I want to document this tutorial I watched"

Assistant workflow:
1. Extract transcript
2. Ask: "Is this for personal learning or team knowledge?"
3. If personal → algorithms/A8_G&A_div/Daniel Personal/
4. If team → determine appropriate product_div subfolder

Technical Requirements

Dependencies

• yt-dlp: YouTube transcript extraction
  • Install: brew install yt-dlp (macOS)
  • Already available in chrome-extension-tcs environment
• get_session_id.py: Claude Code session ID extraction
  • Location: ~/project/data_sources/claude_code/get_session_id.py
  • Python: ~/project/claude_venv/bin/python

File Locations

• Temporary transcripts: /tmp/ (auto-cleaned)
• Target folders: algorithms/ hierarchy (see folder-finder skill)
• Knowledge Framework guide: ~/project/How to organize documents_knowladge_framework.md
• Session ID script: ~/project/data_sources/claude_code/get_session_id.py

Command Reference

¶1 Download transcript:

yt-dlp --skip-download --write-auto-sub --sub-lang en --sub-format vtt \
  --output "/tmp/video_$(date +%s)" "URL"

¶2 Clean transcript:

cat FILE.vtt | \
  grep -v "^WEBVTT" | grep -v "^Kind:" | grep -v "^Language:" | \
  grep -v "^[0-9][0-9]:" | grep -v "^$" | \
  sed 's/<[^>]*>//g' | \
  awk '!seen[$0]++'

¶3 Get metadata:

yt-dlp --skip-download --print "%(title)s|%(description)s" "URL"

¶4 Get Claude Code session ID (MANDATORY):

~/project/claude_venv/bin/python \
  ~/project/data_sources/claude_code/get_session_id.py --quiet

Quality Standards

Mermaid Diagram Requirements

¶1 Continuant (TD) diagram shows structure:

graph TD
    Research[Main Topic] --> Component1[Subtopic 1]
    Research --> Component2[Subtopic 2]
    Research --> Component3[Subtopic 3]

¶2 Occurrent (LR) diagram shows process:

graph LR
    A[Step 1] --> B[Step 2]
    B --> C[Step 3]
    C --> D[Result]

MECE Section Principles

¶1 Mutually Exclusive: Sections don't overlap in content

• ❌ BAD: "1.0 Methods" + "2.0 Experiments" (experiments are methods)
• ✅ GOOD: "1.0 Methodology" + "2.0 Results" + "3.0 Implications"

¶2 Collectively Exhaustive: Sections cover entire topic

• ❌ BAD: Only covering "positive results" (missing limitations)
• ✅ GOOD: Cover methods, findings, limitations, implications

Attribution Standards

¶1 YouTube-specific patterns (ALL timestamps MUST be clickable):

❌ WRONG - Plain text timestamps:

**Source:** [Creator Name], "Video Title", YouTube (YYYY-MM-DD) URL
**Quote:** "Exact quote" (timestamp 23:11)
**Visual reference:** Diagram shown at timestamp 15:30

✅ CORRECT - Clickable timestamp links:

**Source:** [Creator Name], "Video Title", YouTube (YYYY-MM-DD) [Full video](https://youtu.be/VIDEO_ID)
**Quote:** "Exact quote" ([timestamp 23:11](https://youtu.be/VIDEO_ID?t=1391))
**Visual reference:** Diagram shown at [timestamp 15:30](https://youtu.be/VIDEO_ID?t=930)
**Key insight from:** Explanation at [15:30-17:45](https://youtu.be/VIDEO_ID?t=930)

Timestamp Calculation Reference:

Time	Calculation	Seconds
5:30	(5×60)+30	330
15:30	(15×60)+30	930
23:11	(23×60)+11	1391
1:05:45	(1×3600)+(5×60)+45	3945

¶2 LLM synthesis flagging:

**LLM Analysis:** Based on video segment MM:SS (topic A) combined with MM:SS (topic B)
**Reasoning:** Connection drawn between [concept 1] and [concept 2] from video

Anti-Patterns to Avoid

❌ No folder confirmation: Creating doc without asking user about location ❌ Missing diagrams: Skipping Mermaid visualizations (MANDATORY) ❌ Flat structure: Not using MECE sections with numbering ❌ No timestamps: Generic attribution without video timestamp citations ❌ Plain text timestamps: Using "(timestamp 23:11)" instead of clickable [timestamp 23:11](URL?t=1391) ❌ Duplicate content: Repeating facts instead of cross-referencing §X.Y ❌ Vague thesis: Not previewing all major sections in opening sentence ❌ No session ID: Missing Claude Code session attribution (CRITICAL - MUST use get_session_id.py) ❌ Wrong session format: Using "by Daniel Kravtsov" instead of session UUID by Daniel Kravtsov

Success Criteria

✅ User can find document later using folder structure ✅ Document standalone readable without watching video ✅ All claims traceable to specific video timestamps ✅ Structure follows Knowledge Framework (MECE, diagrams, ¶ numbering) ✅ Filename follows NN_descriptive_name.md convention ✅ Author Checklist completed and included at document end

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Meta Note: This skill automates preservation of external video knowledge into chrome-extension-tcs repository with proper academic rigor and organizational structure.