video-transcript-downloader

Download videos, audio, subtitles, and clean paragraph-style transcripts from YouTube and any other yt-dlp supported site. Use when asked to “download this video”, “save this clip”, “rip audio”, “get subtitles”, “get transcript”, or to troubleshoot yt-dlp/ffmpeg and formats/playlists.

Quality

94%

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Securityby

Low

Low-risk findings worth noting

Quality

Content

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Reviews the quality of instructions and guidance provided to agents. Good implementation is clear, handles edge cases, and produces reliable results.

A lean, command-first skill body that documents a real bundled script with copy-paste-ready invocations, sensible defaults, and a clearly signaled troubleshooting section. The only weakness is the hardcoded personal setup path, which makes the install step non-portable.

Suggestions

Replace the machine-specific setup path (`~/Projects/agent-scripts/skills/video-transcript-downloader`) with a path relative to the skill directory (e.g. `cd "$(dirname "$0")"` guidance or just `npm ci` run from the skill root) so the setup command works on any machine.

Add a one-line note on where downloads land by default (and that `--output-dir` overrides it), so users can verify a successful download without re-reading the script.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Conciseness	The body is almost entirely executable commands plus terse notes ("Bracketed cues like `[Music]` are stripped by default; keep them via `--keep-brackets`") — no concepts Claude already knows are explained and every section earns its tokens. This matches the 'lean and efficient; assumes Claude's competence' anchor; score 4 would require noticeable padding, which is absent.	5 / 5
Actionability	Every documented command (`./scripts/vtd.js transcript --url 'https://…'`, `download`, `audio`, `subs`, `formats`) is copy-paste ready and the referenced `./scripts/vtd.js` exists in the bundle, but the setup command hardcodes a machine-specific path (`cd ~/Projects/agent-scripts/skills/video-transcript-downloader && npm ci`), which is a minor executable gap. This sits between anchor 4 (minor gaps) and anchor 5 (fully executable everywhere); the non-portable path keeps it at 4.	4 / 5
Workflow Clarity	This is a simple single-action-per-invocation CLI skill where each command is unambiguous, and the one implicit two-step flow (list formats, then download with `-- --format 137+140`) is explicitly sequenced in the Formats section, satisfying the simple-skill exception. There are no destructive or batch operations that would require validation checkpoints; the Troubleshooting section ('only when needed', `yt-dlp --version`, `ffmpeg -version`) supplies an on-demand error-recovery path.	5 / 5
Progressive Disclosure	The body is short and organized into clear sections (Setup, Transcript, Download, Formats, Notes, Troubleshooting) with all content appropriate to inline at this size, and the one referenced path, `./scripts/vtd.js`, is a real bundle file — no external references are needed. Under the under-50-lines/no-references-needed guidance, well-organized sections alone merit the top anchor.	5 / 5
	Total	19 / 20 Passed

Description

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Based on the skill's description, can an agent find and select it at the right time? Clear, specific descriptions lead to better discovery.

A strong description in imperative third-person voice that concretely covers all tool capabilities and pairs them with natural, explicit trigger phrases. The only improvement space is broadening trigger synonyms (captions, mp3/mp4) to fully match the top trigger-term anchor.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Specificity	"Download videos, audio, subtitles, and clean paragraph-style transcripts" plus the troubleshooting clause for "yt-dlp/ffmpeg and formats/playlists" names multiple specific concrete actions that comprehensively cover what the bundled script does (transcript, download, audio, subs, formats). This matches the top anchor; anchor 4 would require a coverage gap, and none is evident against the body's documented commands.	5 / 5
Completeness	The first sentence explicitly states what the skill does, and "Use when asked to…" explicitly states when to use it with concrete quoted trigger phrases — the exact shape of the top anchor. Anchor 4 would require the 'when' to be less explicit, which it is not.	5 / 5
Trigger Term Quality	The triggers "download this video", "save this clip", "rip audio", "get subtitles", "get transcript" are exactly the natural phrases a user would say, with good synonym coverage. It falls short of the top anchor only because common variations like "captions", "mp3"/"mp4" file extensions, and "YouTube" as a trigger word are absent — squarely the 'good keyword coverage; a few natural terms missing' anchor.	4 / 5
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk	The niche is clear and narrow (media downloading and transcript cleaning from YouTube and yt-dlp-supported sites) with distinct trigger phrases that no adjacent skill (e.g., generic file or document skills) would claim. Minimal conflict risk, matching the top anchor.	5 / 5
	Total	19 / 20 Passed

Validation

100%

Warnings & errors only

Checks the skill against the spec for correct structure and formatting. All validation checks must pass before discovery and implementation can be scored.

Validation — 16 / 16 Passed

Validation for skill structure

No warnings or errors.

Repository: marchatton/agent-skills
Path: .agents/skills/00-utilities/video-transcript-downloader/SKILL.md
Commit: a0eadb2

Reviewed: 7 days ago

Table of Contents

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