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yt-fts, short for YouTube Full Text Search, is an open-source command-line tool that enables users to search the spoken content of YouTube videos by indexing their subtitles. The program automatically downloads subtitles from a specified YouTube channel using the yt-dlp utility and stores them in a local SQLite database. Once indexed, users can perform full-text searches across all transcripts to quickly locate keywords or phrases mentioned within the videos. The tool returns search results with timestamps and direct links to the exact moment in the video where the phrase occurs. In addition to traditional keyword search, the system supports experimental semantic search capabilities using embeddings from AI services and vector databases. This allows users to search videos by meaning rather than only exact keywords.
Features
- Command-line tool for searching YouTube video transcripts
- Automatic subtitle scraping using yt-dlp
- Local SQLite database storing indexed transcript content
- Timestamped search results linking directly to relevant video segments
- Optional semantic search using embedding models
- Support for vector databases such as ChromaDB
Project Samples
