AskVideo CLI
YouTube transcripts and AI video chat from your terminal. Built for developers and AI agents — every command has a --json flag.
bash
npm install -g askvideoQuick start
bash
# 1. Create a free account (email OTP, no password)
askvideo signup
# 2. Get the transcript of any video
askvideo transcript "https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ"
# 3. Or ask an AI question about it
askvideo ask "Summarise this" --url "https://youtu.be/..." --simpleNo password. No API key to manage manually. Your key lives in your OS config directory and is sent automatically on every call.
Commands
| Command | Alias | Description |
|---|---|---|
| askvideo signup | register | Create an account via email OTP (auto-signs you in) |
| askvideo login | — | Sign in to an existing account (OTP or --key) |
| askvideo logout | signout | Remove the stored API key from this machine |
| askvideo transcript <url> | yt | Fetch the transcript of a YouTube video |
| askvideo ask <question> | — | Ask an AI question about a video (RAG over transcript) |
| askvideo chat [url] | — | Interactive multi-turn chat with a video |
| askvideo videos | list | List videos you've indexed |
| askvideo credits | — | Show remaining credits on your plan |
transcript flags
| -o, --output <file> | Write transcript to a file |
| -f, --format <fmt> | Output format: txt (default), srt, or json |
| --no-timestamps | Plain text without [m:ss] prefixes (txt only) |
| -q, --quiet | Suppress decorative output |
| --json | Machine-readable JSON (implies --quiet) |
ask flags
| -u, --url <url> | YouTube URL to ask about |
| --id <videoId> | Already-indexed video ID (faster than URL) |
| -s, --simple | Non-streaming response (better for piping) |
| -q, --quiet | Just the answer, no decorative output |
| --json | JSON output with {success, answer, video} |
Use cases
Pipe a transcript into another tool
bash
askvideo yt "$URL" --no-timestamps --quiet | llm "summarise in 5 bullets"Export as SRT subtitles
bash
askvideo yt "$URL" -f srt -o subtitles.srtJSON for programmatic use
bash
askvideo yt "$URL" --json | jq -r '.segments[] | "\(.start) \(.subtitle)"'One-shot Q&A in a shell script
bash
SUMMARY=$(askvideo ask "Summarise in 3 bullets" --url "$URL" --simple --quiet)
echo "$SUMMARY" > summary.txtFor AI agents
Every command supports --json and non-interactive flags. Install as a skill in Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, or any skills.sh-compatible assistant — the agent will know to reach for AskVideo when a user shares a YouTube URL.
bash
# Install as a skill for Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, etc.
npx skills add IndianAppGuy/askvideo-cliNon-interactive signup flow (e.g. with AgentMail)
bash
# Non-interactive signup + transcript for agents
askvideo signup --email bot@agentmail.to --json
# ...read OTP from inbox API...
askvideo signup --email bot@agentmail.to --code 482193 --json
askvideo transcript "$URL" --jsonReady to go?
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