Summarize a YouTube video
Summarize a captioned video, choose a format, add optional video details, and generate timestamped Moments.
Open a captioned video, invoke Reduz, and choose a summary format. Saved transcripts can also be turned into timestamped Moments.
Check captions first
Section titled “Check captions first”Confirm that YouTube provides captions for the active video. Reduz summarizes the caption transcript, so a video without an accessible caption track may have no source text to work with. A provider key does not create missing captions.
Choose your format
Section titled “Choose your format”- Bullets gives a short overview.
- Post creates a compact paragraph.
- Full gives more detailed notes.
The same configured provider model handles each format.
Add video details (optional)
Section titled “Add video details (optional)”A YouTube Data API key adds the video’s title, channel, description,
duration, and view and like counts to the summary request. Your prompts can use
them through the {metadata} placeholder. You do not need this key to summarize
a video. Transcripts always come from the open watch page.
- In the Google Cloud console, choose or create a project and enable the YouTube Data API v3.
- Create an API key under APIs & Services > Credentials. Restricting it to the YouTube Data API v3 is a good idea.
- In Reduz, open Settings, paste the key into YouTube Data API Key, and click Test.
Reduz requests the details directly from Google when you summarize a video from the popup or side panel. The key stays in this browser, and exports never include it. Google counts each request against the project’s daily quota. If a request fails, Reduz shows the error and summarizes from the transcript without the extra details. To stop using the key, clear it in Settings.
Return to the recording
Section titled “Return to the recording”Generate Moments from saved transcript text and use their timestamps to jump back to relevant passages. Check important names, numbers, and claims against the video itself.