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Recipe: summarise a YouTube video, with timestamps

Send Hermes the link of a YouTube video (a talk, a webinar, a product review) and get the main points in a few lines, each with the minute where it starts, so you can jump to the part you need.
Time needed 2 minutes
You need A Hermes agent connected to an AI model and the link of a public YouTube video that has subtitles
Result A short summary with timestamps

On YouTube, open the video and copy its address from the browser (or Share → Copy). It looks like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=....

Hermes reads the video's subtitles (the transcript), not the images. Most talks and interviews have subtitles, often created automatically by YouTube.

2. Ask for the summary

In CHAT, paste the link and say how you want the summary. We tested with a well-known public talk, Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford commencement speech (about 15 minutes):

Summarise this YouTube video in 5 bullet points, each with the timestamp where that part starts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc

Hermes summarises the video

  1. Your request with the link.
  2. Hermes uses its built-in youtube-content skill and downloads the transcript (fetch_transcript.py). You do not need to install anything.
  3. The summary: what the video is, then 5 points, each starting with the time (for example 5:38 - Love and loss). Hermes added two more timestamps inside the points (10:13 and 14:08).

The answer was ready in under a minute in our test.

Check that it worked

We downloaded the same transcript ourselves and compared every timestamp. All seven were right, to the second:

Hermes said In the transcript
0:55 Connecting the dots 0:55 "The first story is about connecting the dots."
5:38 Love and loss 5:38 "My second story is about love and loss."
8:12 Find what you love 8:12 "Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick."
9:05 Death as a decision tool 9:05 "My third story is about death."
10:13 cancer diagnosis 10:13 "About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer."
12:32 Don't live someone else's life 12:32 "Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life."
14:08 Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. 14:08 "Beneath it were the words: Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish."

The facts in the points (dropped out of Reed College, calligraphy class, Apple at 20, fired at 30, NeXT and Pixar) were also in the transcript.

To check your own summary, click one or two of the timestamps in the video and listen for a few seconds.

Make it yours

  • "Summarise it in Portuguese."
  • "I only have 2 minutes: what are the 3 things I should remember?"
  • "Write a LinkedIn post about this talk, with a link to minute 5:38."
  • Training videos for your staff: "Make a checklist from this video."

Common problems

Hermes says there is no transcript

The video has no subtitles (not even automatic ones). In this recipe Hermes reads only the subtitles: it does not watch the images or listen to the sound. Check on YouTube that the video has subtitles (the CC button in the player), or try another video.

The video is private or age-restricted

We tested with a public video. Private and restricted videos need a YouTube sign-in, and Hermes does not use your YouTube account, so use public videos.

The summary is in English but the video is in Portuguese

Ask for the language you want: "Summarise it in European Portuguese."

Next steps