solo-index-youtube

# /index-youtube

Index YouTube video transcripts into a searchable knowledge base. Supports two modes depending on available tools.

## Prerequisites

Check that yt-dlp is available:

```bash
which yt-dlp || echo "MISSING: install yt-dlp (brew install yt-dlp / pip install yt-dlp / pipx install yt-dlp)"
```

## Arguments

Parse `$ARGUMENTS` for channel handles or "all":
- If empty or "all": index all channels (from config or ask user)
- If one or more handles: index only those channels (e.g., `GregIsenberg ycombinator`)
- Optional flags: `-n <limit>` (max videos per channel, default 10), `--dry-run` (parse only)

## Mode Detection

Check which mode is available:

### Mode 1: With solograph MCP (recommended)

If MCP tools `source_search`, `source_list`, `source_tags` are available, use solograph for indexing and search.

**Setup (if not yet installed):**
```bash
# Install solograph
pip install solograph
# or
uvx solograph
```

**Indexing via solograph CLI:**
```bash
# Single channel
solograph-cli index-youtube -c GregIsenberg -n 10

# Multiple channels
solograph-cli index-youtube -c GregIsenberg -c ycombinator -n 10

# All channels (from channels.yaml in solograph config)
solograph-cli index-youtube -n 10

# Dry run (parse only, no DB writes)
solograph-cli index-youtube --dry-run
```

If `solograph-cli` is not on PATH, try:
```bash
uvx solograph-cli index-youtube -c <handle> -n 10
```

**Verification via MCP:**
- `source_list` — check that youtube source appears
- `source_search("startup idea", source="youtube")` — test semantic search
- `source_tags` — see auto-detected topics from transcripts
- `source_related(video_id)` — find related videos by tags

### Mode 2: Without MCP (standalone fallback)

If solograph MCP tools are NOT available, use yt-dlp directly to download transcripts and analyze them.

**Step 1: Download video list**
```bash
# Get recent video URLs from a channel
yt-dlp --flat-playlist --print url "https://www.youtube.com/@GregIsenberg/videos" | head...