Automatic transcript capture
Every YouTube video you watch gets its full transcript stored locally — no manual action needed.
YouTube transcript + AI
Turn every YouTube video you watch into a searchable knowledge base.
YouTube AI Assistant captures the full transcript of every video you play, indexes it locally, and lets you search and chat with the content. Free, local-first, no account required for capture.
Free download. Works in Chrome, Edge, Brave, Arc, Opera, Vivaldi.
About
What YouTube AI does.
YouTube AI Assistant is a Chrome extension that runs silently in the background while you watch YouTube. Every video you play has its full transcript captured and stored locally on your device. Months later, when you remember "that thing the AI engineering podcast guy said about RAG," you can search by phrase across every video you have ever watched and jump straight to the timestamp. The optional AI chat layer indexes the transcript library so you can ask questions in plain English: "summarize the Andrew Huberman episode on cold exposure," "what did Lex Fridman ask about consciousness?" AI responses are markdown-formatted with source video links. AI requires an API key and consumes credits; transcript capture and search work without any account. Privacy-first by design: data lives in chrome.storage on your device unless you explicitly enable cloud features. Export/import the full library as JSON at any time.
Features
Everything in YouTube AI.
Search by what was said
Find any video by phrase, even months later. Click the result to jump to that timestamp.
AI chat with your library
Ask questions across every transcript you have captured. Markdown responses with source links.
24-hour conversation sessions
AI chat keeps context for a full day so you can come back to the same line of thought.
JSON export / import
Documented format. Backup or move between devices in one click.
PIN protection
Optional PIN for the transcript library — useful on shared machines.
Privacy-first storage
Transcripts stay on your device. AI chat is opt-in and requires your own API key.
Credit tracking
Built-in usage display so you always know how much AI budget remains.
FAQ
YouTube AI — questions
Does it record YouTube videos?
No. Only the publicly available text transcript is captured — the same transcript YouTube already shows when you click "Show transcript." Video and audio are never stored.
Is the transcript capture free?
Yes. Capture, search, export, and import are all free with no account. AI chat is the only feature that requires an API key and consumes credits.
What if a video has no transcript?
If YouTube hasn't generated a transcript for the video yet (typically takes a few minutes after upload), the extension skips it gracefully. No errors, no broken state.
Does it work on YouTube Shorts?
Yes. Transcript capture works on regular videos, Shorts, and Premieres — anything YouTube provides a transcript for.