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

1. Clone and install:

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

2. Set up API keys:

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

3. Add your channels:

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

4. Generate your ebook:

   python main.py
   

Getting API Keys

YouTube Data API (Free)

1. Go to Google Cloud Console
2. Create a new project
3. Enable “YouTube Data API v3”
4. Create credentials → API Key
5. Copy to .env

Anthropic API

1. Go to Anthropic Console
2. Create an API key
3. 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:

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.

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Built with Claude AI