youtube-catchup

Fetch new YouTube videos and generate concise transcript summaries.

69|7|Updated Jan 19, 2026

Search Tags:#automation #obsidian #notes #transcripts #YouTube #summarize

Ready to run

npx skills add https://github.com/TaylorHuston/local-life-manager --skill youtube-catchup

💬 Prompt for ChatGPT / Claude Chat▼

Please help me install this Agent Skill.
Skill: youtube-catchup
Source: https://github.com/TaylorHuston/local-life-manager/tree/main/.claude/skills/youtube-catchup
Command: npx skills add https://github.com/TaylorHuston/local-life-manager --skill youtube-catchup

SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION & REQUIREMENTS

💡 This Skill includes scripts (resource) and references (resource) components.

What problem does it solve?

This Skill helps you stay up-to-date with multiple YouTube channels by automatically fetching new videos, extracting transcripts, and turning them into concise notes so you don't have to watch every video.

Core Features & Use Cases

Automated channel monitoring: Periodically checks prioritized channels and identifies new uploads.
Transcript-based summaries: Retrieves transcripts and generates structured bullet-point notes.
Backfill and de-dup: Supports backfill mode for older content and avoids duplicates by comparing against existing notes.
Obsidian vault integration: Writes notes to your vault path for easy organization and retrieval.

Quick Start

Trigger the youtube-catchup skill with a command like "youtube catchup" to start processing enabled channels. The produced notes are saved under my-vault/07 Knowledge Base/Capture/Videos/{channel}/{video title}.md and state is updated in references/state.json.

Frequently Asked Questions about youtube-catchup

High-intent search queries and answers about installing and using this skill.

FAQPage Schema

How do I automatically summarize YouTube videos into notes?▼

To generate YouTube video summaries, the skill fetches new uploads via yt-dlp, extracts transcripts, and spawns summarization agents to produce structured bullet-point notes saved directly to an Obsidian vault path.

How does transcript-based summarization work for YouTube channels?▼

Transcript-based summarization works by fetching video lists for prioritized channels, filtering new items, retrieving transcripts via yt-dlp, and producing structured notes while comparing against existing files to avoid duplicates.

Can I backfill older YouTube videos and avoid duplicate notes?▼

Yes, you can backfill older YouTube content and avoid duplicate notes. The skill compares newly fetched video items against existing notes in your vault state to ensure no redundant summaries are generated.

Does YouTube video summarization work with Obsidian vaults?▼

Yes, YouTube video summarization integrates with Obsidian vaults by writing generated notes to a specified path. Notes are organized under a defined folder structure by channel and video title.

Do I need yt-dlp to fetch YouTube transcripts and video data?▼

Yes, you need yt-dlp to fetch YouTube transcripts and video data. The skill relies on it to retrieve video lists and extract the transcript text required for generating notes.

What is the best way to catch up on YouTube subscriptions without watching every video?▼

The best way to catch up on YouTube subscriptions without watching every video is automating channel monitoring to fetch new uploads, extract transcripts, and generate concise summaries saved as notes.