TubeAlfred Youtube MCP

npx add-mcp 'https://mcp.tubealfred.com/'

TubeAlfred — YouTube MCP Server: Transcripts, Comments & Channel Data for Claude, ChatGPT & Cursor

https://mcp.tubealfred.com/

Paste this into Claude → Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector, then sign in. You can also find TubeAlfred in Claude's connector directory.

TubeAlfred brings YouTube transcripts, comments and channel data into Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor. No YouTube API key required.

Get a YouTube transcript in Claude

After connecting TubeAlfred, try:

Get the available transcript for this YouTube video: [paste a video URL]. Summarize its five main points and cite the timestamps. If captions are unavailable, tell me rather than guessing.

TubeAlfred is a hosted YouTube MCP server for Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Claude Code, and other compatible MCP clients. Retrieve available YouTube transcripts with timestamps, language metadata, and automatic or manual caption tracks. List a channel's videos and retrieve their available transcripts, or explore comments & replies, channel videos/shorts/streams, YouTube search, video details, playlists, and trending. 34 read-only tools.

Connect Claude in 30 seconds — paste the remote MCP URL or find TubeAlfred in Claude's connector directory, then sign in. No YouTube API key required. No YouTube Data API quota to manage. 50 free credits on signup, valid for 14 days. Most successful tool calls cost 1 credit.

Connection options

• Hosted MCP: use https://mcp.tubealfred.com/ with a compatible remote MCP client and follow the OAuth sign-in flow.
• npm / stdio bridge (@tubealfred/mcp): connect Claude Desktop, Cursor, Continue, Claude Code, Zed, or another stdio client using a TubeAlfred API key. See the installation options below.

The bridge uses the same TubeAlfred API key as the REST API. It does not require a YouTube API key.

Agent Plugin

This repository is also a portable Agent Plugin. Import or clone the repository root in a compatible client: plugin.json identifies the plugin, mcp.json connects the hosted Streamable HTTP server, and skills/ contains focused video, audience, and discovery research workflows.

Coding agents and contributors should read AGENTS.md before changing generated contracts, tool metadata, or release files.

Install

Claude Desktop one-click extension

Download the latest Desktop Extension:

https://github.com/tubealfred/youtube-mcp/releases/latest/download/tubealfred-youtube.mcpb

Double-click tubealfred-youtube.mcpb, approve the Claude Desktop install prompt, then paste your TubeAlfred API key when prompted. Use this option if you prefer the API-key desktop extension.

For clients using a local stdio server, use the npx bridge below.

Claude Desktop

Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tubealfred": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@tubealfred/mcp"],
      "env": {
        "TUBEALFRED_API_KEY": "ta_live_..."
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop. The TubeAlfred YouTube tools for video, transcript, comments, replies, related videos, channels, streams, Shorts, playlists, community posts, search, hashtags, suggestions, trending, batch lookups, and URL resolution will appear in the tool list.

Cursor

Settings → Cursor Settings → MCP → Add new MCP server. Paste the same JSON.

Continue (VS Code / JetBrains)

In ~/.continue/config.json (or per-workspace config.yaml):

{
  "experimental": {
    "modelContextProtocolServers": [
      {
        "transport": {
          "type": "stdio",
          "command": "npx",
          "args": ["-y", "@tubealfred/mcp"],
          "env": { "TUBEALFRED_API_KEY": "ta_live_..." }
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

Claude Code

claude mcp add tubealfred -- npx -y @tubealfred/mcp

Then export the key in the same shell:

export TUBEALFRED_API_KEY=ta_live_...

Smithery

npx -y @smithery/cli install tubealfred/youtube --client claude

Smithery prompts for the API key and writes the config for you.

Configuration

Env var	Required	Description
TUBEALFRED_API_KEY	yes	Your TubeAlfred team key. Create at tubealfred.com/app/api-keys.
TUBEALFRED_MCP_URL	no	Override the upstream MCP URL. Defaults to https://mcp.tubealfred.com/.

What you get

Every public tool published at mcp.tubealfred.com appears in your MCP client. The current 34-tool inventory, REST operation mapping, parameters, costs, and visibility are published in the versioned operation manifest; MCPB metadata is generated from its public capability set.

Tool	What it does
youtube_channel_get
youtube_channel_about
youtube_channel_videos
youtube_channel_videos_page
youtube_channel_streams
youtube_channel_streams_page
youtube_channel_shorts
youtube_channel_shorts_page
youtube_channel_playlists
youtube_channel_playlists_page
youtube_channel_community
youtube_channel_community_page
youtube_playlist_metadata
youtube_playlist_get
youtube_playlist_page
youtube_search_suggest
youtube_search_hashtag
youtube_search_hashtag_page
youtube_search_page
youtube_trending
youtube_trending_shorts
youtube_video_get
youtube_video_enhanced
youtube_comments_list
youtube_comments_page
youtube_replies_list
youtube_replies_page
youtube_related_videos
youtube_related_videos_page
youtube_video_transcript
youtube_url_resolve
youtube_videos_batch
youtube_channels_batch
youtube_search_query

Full pricing details: https://tubealfred.com/pricing.md.

License

MIT