You'd rather read than watch
A whole playlist of videos becomes a folder of clean transcripts.
Point PlaylistPipeline at any YouTube playlist. It lists every video, pulls the transcript for each one, and writes it out — one file per video, plus a single combined markdown with a table of contents. You stop watching. You start searching, quoting, and keeping notes.
$ node src/index.mjs "https://youtube.com/playlist?list=…" --format md
[+] Found 24 videos.
[+] Wrote out/01-video.md … 24 transcripts + playlist.md
[+] Found 24 videos.
[+] Wrote out/01-video.md … 24 transcripts + playlist.md
Prerequisites (read before buying)
- Node.js 18+ and one
npm install(two pinned deps). - No YouTube API key needed — transcripts come from the caption track directly.
- AI summaries (
--summarize) are optional and need your own Groq API key (free tier works). - Consent-wall fallback: if YouTube's GDPR consent wall blocks the fast path, the CLI falls back to a headless browser, which needs
npm i playwright && npx playwright install chromium. Not required for most home machines.
Who it's for
- Researchers & students — turn a course playlist into a searchable corpus.
- Podcast fans who prefer reading — pull the backlog into plain text in minutes.
- Writers & makers — quote sources accurately without re-watching.
- AI-tool builders — clean transcripts are the input to every summarizer and RAG pipeline.
How it works
- Install Node (18+) and run
npm install. - Run one command with a playlist URL.
- Get
out/01-title.md … playlist.md, plus optional.srtand per-video AI summaries (bring your own key).
Transcripts are pulled from YouTube's own caption track — no YouTube API key, no account, no cost.
Why it's €19.99 and not "free with a catch"
- No subscription, no per-video fee, no upload of your playlist anywhere.
- Runs entirely on your machine. Your watch history is your business.
- One payment funds the whole pipeline: the CLI, updates, and the extensions in the toolbox.
FAQ
- Does it work on every video?
- Any video with captions enabled. Videos with auto-captions disabled simply get skipped with a warning; the rest of the playlist still processes.
- Do I need a YouTube API key?
- No. Transcripts come from the caption track directly.
- What about AI summaries?
- Optional. Add your own Groq/OpenAI-compatible key and pass
--summarize; we never see it. - Refunds?
- 30 days, no questions, email via the studio.