Youtube Playlist

Browse YouTube playlists and fetch video transcripts. Use when the user shares a playlist link, asks "what's in this playlist", "list playlist videos", "browse playlist content", or wants to work with playlist videos and get their transcripts.

Security Scan

The skill is internally consistent: it needs a TranscriptAPI key, uses a small Node CLI to obtain and store that key in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json, and its instructions and files align with its stated purpose of listing playlist videos and fetching transcripts.

Purpose & Capability

The name/description (browse YouTube playlists and fetch transcripts) matches the declared requirements: TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY (primary credential), node binary for the included CLI, and a single OpenClaw config path to save the key. None of the declared requirements appear unrelated to the skill's purpose.

Instruction Scope

SKILL.md instructs a passwordless register/verify flow (ask user email, request OTP) and then running bundled node scripts which store the resulting API key. The instructions only reference the transcriptapi.com endpoints and the single config file; they do not request unrelated files, credentials, or system state.

Install Mechanism

There is no download/install spec — it's an instruction-only skill with one included script (scripts/tapi-auth.js). Requiring the node binary is appropriate for running the script. No external archives or unknown URLs are downloaded by the skill itself.

Credentials

Only TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY is required and marked as primaryEnv. The SKILL.md and the CLI only collect an email and OTP to obtain that API key and then save it to ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json. No unrelated credentials or broad environment access are requested.

Persistence & Privilege

always is false and model invocation is allowed (platform default). The script writes only to the agent's own config path (~/.openclaw/openclaw.json) and backs up the existing file; it does not modify other skills or system-wide settings. Writing to its own config is expected behavior.

Assessment

This skill appears to do what it says: it uses TranscriptAPI to list playlist videos and fetch transcripts. Before installing, note that the bundled Node CLI will ask for an email and OTP to create/verify an account and will save the returned TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY into ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json (the script backs up the existing file to .bak). Ensure you trust transcriptapi.com and are comfortable storing the API key in that config file. Confirm you have a suitable Node version (modern Node provides global fetch) and monitor your TranscriptAPI account for usage/credits. If you prefer not to store keys in the config file, obtain an API key manually and set TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY in your environment instead.

Browse playlists and fetch transcripts via TranscriptAPI.com.

Setup

If $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY is not set, help the user create an account (100 free credits, no card):

Step 1 — Register: Ask user for their email.

node ./scripts/tapi-auth.js register --email USER_EMAIL

→ OTP sent to email. Ask user: "Check your email for a 6-digit verification code."

Step 2 — Verify: Once user provides the OTP:

node ./scripts/tapi-auth.js verify --token TOKEN_FROM_STEP_1 --otp CODE

API key saved to ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json. See File Writes below for details. Existing file is backed up before modification.

Manual option: transcriptapi.com/signup → Dashboard → API Keys.

File Writes

The verify and save-key commands save the API key to ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json (sets skills.entries.transcriptapi.apiKey and enabled: true). Existing file is backed up to ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json.bak before modification.

To use the API key in terminal/CLI outside the agent, add to your shell profile manually: export TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY=<your-key>

API Reference

Full OpenAPI spec: transcriptapi.com/openapi.json — consult this for the latest parameters and schemas.

GET /api/v2/youtube/playlist/videos — 1 credit/page

Paginated playlist video listing (100 per page). Accepts playlist — a YouTube playlist URL or playlist ID.

# First page
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/playlist/videos?playlist=PL_PLAYLIST_ID" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"

# Next pages
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/playlist/videos?continuation=TOKEN" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"

Param	Required	Validation
playlist	conditional	Playlist URL or ID (PL/UU/LL/FL/OL prefix)
continuation	conditional	non-empty string

Provide exactly one of playlist or continuation, not both.

Accepted playlist ID prefixes:

• PL — user-created playlists
• UU — channel uploads playlist
• LL — liked videos
• FL — favorites
• OL — other system playlists

Response:

{
  "results": [
    {
      "videoId": "abc123xyz00",
      "title": "Playlist Video Title",
      "channelId": "UCuAXFkgsw1L7xaCfnd5JJOw",
      "channelTitle": "Channel Name",
      "channelHandle": "@handle",
      "lengthText": "10:05",
      "viewCountText": "1.5M views",
      "thumbnails": [{ "url": "...", "width": 120, "height": 90 }],
      "index": "0"
    }
  ],
  "playlist_info": {
    "title": "Best Science Talks",
    "numVideos": "47",
    "description": "Top science presentations",
    "ownerName": "TED",
    "viewCount": "5000000"
  },
  "continuation_token": "4qmFsgKlARIYVVV1...",
  "has_more": true
}

Pagination flow:

1. First request: ?playlist=PLxxx — returns first 100 videos + continuation_token
2. Next request: ?continuation=TOKEN — returns next 100 + new token
3. Repeat until has_more: false or continuation_token: null

Workflow: Playlist → Transcripts

# 1. List playlist videos
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/playlist/videos?playlist=PL_PLAYLIST_ID" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"

# 2. Get transcript from a video in the playlist
curl -s "https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/transcript\
?video_url=VIDEO_ID&format=text&include_timestamp=true&send_metadata=true" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY"

Extract playlist ID from URL

From https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOeiKm4sgNOknGvNjby9efdf, the playlist ID is PLrAXtmErZgOeiKm4sgNOknGvNjby9efdf. You can also pass the full URL directly to the playlist parameter.

Errors

Code	Meaning	Action
400	Both or neither params	Provide exactly one of playlist or continuation
402	No credits	transcriptapi.com/billing
404	Playlist not found	Check if playlist is public
408	Timeout	Retry once
422	Invalid playlist format	Must be a valid playlist URL or ID

1 credit per page. Free tier: 100 credits, 300 req/min.