yt-dlp-mcp/README.md

yt-dlp-mcp

An MCP server implementation that integrates with yt-dlp, providing YouTube content download capabilities for LLMs.

Features

• YouTube Subtitles: Download subtitles in SRT format for LLMs to read
• Video Download: Save videos to your Downloads folder
• MCP Integration: Works with Dive and other MCP-compatible LLMs

Installation

Prerequisites

Install yt-dlp based on your operating system:

# Windows
winget install yt-dlp

# macOS
brew install yt-dlp

# Linux
pip install yt-dlp

With Dive Desktop

1. Click "+ Add MCP Server" in Dive Desktop
2. Copy and paste this configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "yt-dlp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@kevinwatt/yt-dlp-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

3. Click "Save" to install the MCP server

Tool Documentation

• download_youtube_srt

  • Download YouTube subtitles in SRT format
  • Inputs:
    • url (string, required): URL of the YouTube video

• download_youtube_video

  • Download YouTube video to user's Downloads folder
  • Inputs:
    • url (string, required): URL of the YouTube video

Usage Examples

Ask your LLM to:

"Download subtitles from this YouTube video: https://youtube.com/watch?v=..."
"Download this YouTube video: https://youtube.com/watch?v=..."

Manual Start

If needed, start the server manually:

npx @kevinwatt/yt-dlp-mcp

Requirements

• Node.js 20+
• yt-dlp in system PATH
• MCP-compatible LLM service

License

MIT

Author

Dewei Yen