Skip to content

zarazhangrui/youtube-to-ebook

Repository files navigation

YouTube to Ebook

Transform YouTube videos from your favorite channels into beautifully formatted EPUB ebooks.

Features

  • Fetches latest videos from YouTube channels (automatically filters out Shorts)
  • Extracts transcripts from videos
  • Uses Claude AI to transform transcripts into polished magazine-style articles
  • Generates EPUB ebooks readable on any device
  • Optional: Email delivery with ebook attachment
  • Optional: Web dashboard for easy management

Quick Start

  1. Clone and install:

    git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/youtube-to-ebook.git
    cd youtube-to-ebook
    pip install -r requirements.txt
  2. Set up API keys:

    cp .env.example .env
    # Edit .env with your keys
  3. Add your channels:

    # Edit channels.txt with YouTube channel handles
    @mkbhd
    @veritasium
    @3blue1brown
  4. Generate your ebook:

    python main.py

Getting API Keys

YouTube Data API (Free)

  1. Go to Google Cloud Console
  2. Create a new project
  3. Enable "YouTube Data API v3"
  4. Create credentials → API Key
  5. Copy to .env

Anthropic API

  1. Go to Anthropic Console
  2. Create an API key
  3. Copy to .env

Web Dashboard

Launch a friendly web interface:

pip install streamlit
python -m streamlit run dashboard.py

Automation (Mac)

Run automatically every week:

# Copy the plist to LaunchAgents
cp com.youtube.newsletter.plist ~/Library/LaunchAgents/

# Load it
launchctl bootstrap gui/$(id -u) ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.youtube.newsletter.plist

Troubleshooting

"ModuleNotFoundError" when running automation

Your Mac may have multiple Python installations. The automation scripts use python3, but your packages might be installed in a different Python.

Fix: Find your Python path and update the scripts:

# Find where your Python is
which python3

# Update run_newsletter.sh and dashboard.py with the full path
# Example: /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.11/bin/python3

Known Issues & Solutions

This project documents several YouTube API quirks:

Problem Solution
Shorts not filtered by duration Check /shorts/ URL pattern
Search API not chronological Use uploads playlist instead
Transcript API syntax changed Use instance method ytt_api.fetch()
Cloud servers blocked Run locally, not GitHub Actions
Names misspelled in transcripts Include video description in Claude context
Articles truncated mid-sentence Increase max_tokens in write_articles.py

See SKILL.md for detailed explanations.

Project Structure

├── main.py              # Run the full pipeline
├── get_videos.py        # Fetch videos from YouTube
├── get_transcripts.py   # Extract video transcripts
├── write_articles.py    # Transform to articles with Claude
├── send_email.py        # Create EPUB & send email
├── dashboard.py         # Streamlit web dashboard
├── video_tracker.py     # Track processed videos
├── channels.txt         # Your channel list
├── .env                 # Your API keys (not committed)
└── newsletters/         # Archive of generated ebooks

License

MIT - Use freely, modify as needed.


Built with Claude AI

About

Claude skill for turning YouTube transcripts from your favorite channels into EPUB ebooks, delivered to your email inbox regularly

Resources

Stars

Watchers

Forks

Releases

No releases published

Packages

 
 
 

Contributors