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

Clone and install:

git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/youtube-to-ebook.git
cd youtube-to-ebook
pip install -r requirements.txt

Set up API keys:

cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your keys

Add your channels:

# Edit channels.txt with YouTube channel handles
@mkbhd
@veritasium
@3blue1brown

Generate your ebook:
```
python main.py
```

Getting API Keys

YouTube Data API (Free)

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

Anthropic API

Go to Anthropic Console
Create an API key
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