YouTube Data MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for extracting YouTube video transcripts and comments. This server provides tools to get transcripts and comments from YouTube videos for analysis and summarization.

Features

• getTranscript: Extract subtitles/transcripts from YouTube videos
• getVideoInfo: Get basic information about a YouTube video
• getReplies: Fetch comments for YouTube videos (using SerpAPI)
• getCommentReplies: Get replies to specific YouTube comments

Requirements

• Node.js 16+
• TypeScript
• SerpAPI API key (for comments functionality)

Installation(for Developer)

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/diasm3/serpapi-youtube-mcp-server.git
cd youtube-data-mcp

# Install dependencies
npm install

Configuration

Create a .env file in the root directory with your SerpAPI key:

SERPAPI_KEY=your_serpapi_key_here

You can get a SerpAPI key by signing up at SerpAPI.

Build and Run

# Build the project
npm run build

# Run the server
npm start

The server will start running and listening for commands via stdin/stdout.

Using with Claude

To use this MCP server with Claude:

1. Add the server to your Claude configuration file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube-data": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y","youtube-data-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "SERPAPI_KEY": "your_serpapi_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

2. Restart Claude to apply the configuration.

3. Now you can ask Claude to:

   • "Get the transcript for this YouTube video: [URL]"
   • "Show me the comments for this YouTube video: [URL]"
   • "Get replies to specific comments"

API Tools

searchYoutube

Search for videos, channels, and playlists on YouTube.

Parameters:

• query: Search query for YouTube (required)
• limit: Maximum number of results to return (optional, default: 10)
• gl: Country code for search results (optional, e.g., 'us', 'kr', 'jp')
• hl: Language code for search results (optional, e.g., 'en', 'ko', 'ja')
• sp: Special parameter for filtering or pagination (optional)
• pageToken: Token for pagination from previous response (optional)

Example (via Claude):

Search for "JavaScript tutorial" on YouTube and show me the top 5 results

getVideoInfo

Retrieve basic information about a YouTube video.

Parameters:

• url: YouTube video URL or video ID (required)

Returns:

• videoId: The video's ID
• title: The video's title
• viewCount: Number of views
• publishDate: Date when the video was published
• channelName: Name of the channel that published the video
• commentCount: Number of comments on the video
• commentsNextPageToken: Token for fetching comments
• commentsSortingTokens: Tokens for different comment sorting options

Example (via Claude):

Get information about this YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ

getTranscript

Extracts transcripts/subtitles from YouTube videos.

Parameters:

• url: YouTube video URL or video ID (required)
• lang: Language code for transcript (optional, default: 'en')

Example (via Claude):

Please get the transcript for this YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ

getReplies

Retrieves comments from a YouTube video using SerpAPI.

Parameters:

• url: YouTube video URL or video ID (required for initial page, optional for pagination)
• limit: Maximum number of comments to retrieve (optional, default: 100)
• sort: Sort order for comments ('relevance' or 'time', optional, default: 'relevance')
• pageToken: Token for pagination from previous response (optional)

Example (via Claude):

Show me comments for this YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ

getCommentReplies

Gets replies for a specific YouTube comment.

Parameters:

• pageToken: Reply token from a comment to get its replies (required)

This function is typically used programmatically after getting the repliesToken from a comment.

Understanding SerpAPI Integration

This MCP server uses SerpAPI's YouTube Search API and YouTube Video API to fetch search results, comments, and other data. SerpAPI provides a way to scrape YouTube data without directly using YouTube's official API.

Key points about SerpAPI usage:

• The server uses the youtube_video engine with the v parameter (YouTube video ID)
• Comments are paginated using tokens returned in the API response
• Comment replies are fetched separately using their specific tokens
• API calls are limited by your SerpAPI subscription plan

Troubleshooting

• If you encounter a 400 Bad Request error, verify your SerpAPI key is valid and properly set in the .env file
• Check the server logs for detailed error messages and debugging information
• For comment-related issues, ensure SerpAPI still supports the YouTube Video API format used

License

MIT