YouTube Chapter Writer

Yt chapters

by Jakeschincariol · MIT license · ★ 1,136 on GitHub

Write YouTube chapters from a transcript, validated against YouTube's own rules so they actually render. Use for "add chapters", "timestamps", break this video into sections".

---
name: yt-chapters
description: >-
  Write YouTube chapters from a transcript, validated against YouTube's own
  rules so they actually render. Use for "add chapters", "timestamps",
  "break this video into sections".
---

# yt-chapters

```bash
python3 chapters.py transcript.srt --target 8
```

## The rules, which are not optional

A chapter list that breaks any of these silently does not become chapters at all - the block just
sits in the description doing nothing:

Overview

A chapter list that breaks any of these silently does not become chapters at all - the block just sits in the description doing nothing:

Manual install (npx, ZIP)

Claude Codenpx skills add Jakeschincariol/youtube-agent-skill --skill yt-chapters -g -a claude-code

Claude Code (degit)npx degit Jakeschincariol/youtube-agent-skill/skills/yt-chapters#main ~/.claude/skills/yt-chapters

Claude.ai / desktopZip the folder and upload it under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.

Codex, Cursor, other agentsPoint them at SKILL.md. The other files are plain text.

Connects with Agent Alley MCP · agentalley.io/mcp

Files included

SKILL.md1.3 KB

Read SKILL.md here

Jakeschincariol/main1 file shown

SKILL.md1.3 KB

Browse every file on GitHub↗

SKILL.md

Show the full text40 lines

yt-chapters/SKILL.md40 lines · 1.3 KB

PreviewCode

Outline

RawView on GitHub

yt-chapters

python3 chapters.py transcript.srt --target 8

The rules, which are not optional

A chapter list that breaks any of these silently does not become chapters at all - the block just sits in the description doing nothing:

The first entry must be 00:00.
There must be at least three.
Each must be at least 10 seconds long.

The tool checks all three and tells you when a list is invalid rather than letting you paste it.

Retitle every line

chapters.py finds the BOUNDARIES well - it scores the pauses you actually took by how much the vocabulary shifts across them. The titles it emits are the topic words, and they are a draft. A chapter called "Thumbnails Titles Packaging" is a placeholder. Rewrite each one as the promise of that section, in the user's voice, three to five words.

Chapters are also a retention diagnostic: if a section cannot be named in five words, it is two sections or it is filler.

The gate

Nothing here publishes. This skill writes and you publish. Every output ends in a block the user copies, and the last line of every run is the question: ship it, or change it?

1	---
2	name: yt-chapters
3	description: >-
4	Write YouTube chapters from a transcript, validated against YouTube's own
5	rules so they actually render. Use for "add chapters", "timestamps",
6	"break this video into sections".
7	---
8
9	# yt-chapters
10
11	```bash
12	python3 chapters.py transcript.srt --target 8
13	```
14
15	## The rules, which are not optional
16
17	A chapter list that breaks any of these silently does not become chapters at all - the block just
18	sits in the description doing nothing:
19
20	- The first entry must be 00:00.
21	- There must be at least three.
22	- Each must be at least 10 seconds long.
23
24	The tool checks all three and tells you when a list is invalid rather than letting you paste it.
25
26	## Retitle every line
27
28	`chapters.py` finds the BOUNDARIES well - it scores the pauses you actually took by how much the
29	vocabulary shifts across them. The titles it emits are the topic words, and they are a draft. A
30	chapter called "Thumbnails Titles Packaging" is a placeholder. Rewrite each one as the promise of
31	that section, in the user's voice, three to five words.
32
33	Chapters are also a retention diagnostic: if a section cannot be named in five words, it is two
34	sections or it is filler.
35
36	## The gate
37
38	Nothing here publishes. This skill writes and you publish. Every output ends in a block the user
39	copies, and the last line of every run is the question: ship it, or change it?
40