What this skill does
Fetch and read transcripts from YouTube videos. Use when you need to summarize a video, answer questions about its content, or extract information from it.
YouTube Watcher is part of the Developer Tools category — developer tools that help your agent write, review, debug, and ship code. You can install it on its own or alongside other developer tools skills from the OpenClaw catalog.
How to install YouTube Watcher
The easiest path is via the OpenClaw Easy desktop app — one click, no terminal required:
- Download OpenClaw Easy for macOS or Windows (free, one-click installer, ~30 seconds).
- Open the in-app Skills panel.
- Search for
youtube-watcherand click Install. - The skill activates automatically when an incoming message matches its description.
Install from the command line
If you already run the OpenClaw CLI, add YouTube Watcher with a single command:
openclaw skills add youtube-watcher
This pulls youtube-watcher from ClawHub and installs it into ~/.openclaw/skills/youtube-watcher/. Restart the OpenClaw gateway afterwards so the new skill is discovered.
How to use YouTube Watcher
Once installed, YouTube Watcher activates on its own: when an incoming message on WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord, Feishu or Line matches the skill's description, your OpenClaw agent loads it and runs the workflow. You can also trigger it explicitly by describing the task in chat. No extra configuration is required after install.
Turning video into a finished short
YouTube Watcher works with video. Getting from there to something postable is a separate job: ViralMint — an open-source video pipeline — reframes to vertical, cleans the audio, cuts dead air, burns animated captions, and exports a version sized for TikTok, Reels, and Shorts.
It runs as an MCP server, so an OpenClaw agent can drive it from the same chat you already use: ask for a short, and the render comes back finished. See how to connect a video pipeline to your agent.
Manual install (advanced)
If you prefer manual installation:
- Click the Download .zip button above to grab
youtube-watcher-1.0.0.zipdirectly from our S3 mirror. - Unzip into
~/.openclaw/skills/youtube-watcher/(create the directory if it does not exist). - Restart OpenClaw Easy (or the OpenClaw CLI gateway) so the new skill is discovered.
Frequently asked questions
How do I install YouTube Watcher?
Install YouTube Watcher in the OpenClaw Easy desktop app by opening the Skills panel, searching for youtube-watcher, and clicking Install. From a terminal you can run: openclaw skills add youtube-watcher. Either way the skill is placed in ~/.openclaw/skills/youtube-watcher/.
Is YouTube Watcher free?
Yes. YouTube Watcher is free and open-source, distributed under the Apache-2.0 license through ClawHub. No account or payment is required to download or run it.
What does YouTube Watcher do?
Fetch and read transcripts from YouTube videos. Use when you need to summarize a video, answer questions about its content, or extract information from it.
Related: more developer tools skills
If YouTube Watcher looks useful, you may also want to check out other developer tools skills in the OpenClaw catalog:
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Free, open-source · Apache-2.0 · Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or local Ollama models