Last Verified: October 19, 2026 — a free AI Studio key read a YouTube URL directly through the Gemini API (no download); plugin commands checked against the watch README (v0.3.2) and Anthropic’s plugin marketplace
When you want to learn something, you search YouTube. Claude can do the same thing: watch the videos, take notes, and turn what it learned into a skill it follows every time. Three settings get you there.
Quick Start
- You get: Claude Code that can watch any YouTube link, and a skill built from what it watched.
- You need: Claude Code (paid Claude plan or Console key), Python 3.10+, ffmpeg, yt-dlp. Claude can install the last three.
- You bring: 3-5 good videos about one job you want done.
- Cost: the watch skill and skill-creator are free. The Gemini key has a free tier with daily limits.
| Setting | What it does | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Watch skill | Pulls the transcript and still frames from any video link into Claude Code | 5 min |
| 2. Free Gemini key | Gemini already understands YouTube, so it reads the whole video, picture and sound | 3 min |
| 3. Skill builder | skill-creator turns Claude’s notes into a skill with its own checks | 20 min |
Watching isn’t the same as knowing
Claude learns what the videos actually show. Pick videos where someone does the job on screen, not talks about it. Three solid videos beat ten vague ones, and you still review the SPEC before it becomes a skill.
On this page (6 sections)
Step-by-Step
Step 0: Set up Claude Code (first time only)
10 min
Install Claude Code from the official docs (or use the desktop app’s Code tab), sign in once, and make a new folder for this project. Open Claude Code in that folder.
Code, not Chat
The watch skill runs in Claude Code: the desktop app’s Code tab, VS Code, or the terminal. It does not work in regular Claude chat or Cowork, because it needs to run ffmpeg and yt-dlp on your computer.
Setting 1: Install the watch skill (and skill-creator while you’re there)
5 min
Inside a Claude Code session, type these one at a time:
/plugin marketplace add bradautomates/claude-video
/plugin install watch@claude-video
/plugin install skill-creator@claude-plugins-officialAlready at a normal terminal prompt instead? Same thing:
claude plugin marketplace add bradautomates/claude-video
claude plugin install watch@claude-video
claude plugin install skill-creator@claude-plugins-officialStart a new Claude Code session so the skills load. Then let Claude check the tools the watch skill needs:
Use the watch skill's bundled setup.py to check dependencies in this session.
Tell me which tools are missing and help me install them here.On Windows it uses Python, winget install Gyan.FFmpeg, winget install yt-dlp.yt-dlp and winget install DenoLand.Deno (YouTube needs Deno). It will ask before each install. In the desktop app you can also add the marketplace from Customize → Plugins → Add with https://github.com/bradautomates/claude-video.
Setting 2: Get a free Gemini API key
3 min
Open Google AI Studio → API keys, sign in with a Google account, and click Create API key. Then create this file and paste the key after the equals sign:
| System | File |
|---|---|
| Mac / Linux | ~/.config/watch/.env |
| Windows | C:\Users\YOU\.config\watch\.env |
GEMINI_API_KEY=paste-your-key-hereWith a key in place, the watch skill hands YouTube links straight to Gemini, which reads the whole video, picture and sound, without downloading it. Without a key it still works: it falls back to captions and still frames on your own computer.
Keep the key out of the chat
Paste the key into the file yourself rather than into Claude’s message box. Don’t commit that file to GitHub.
Test it with any public video:
Use the watch skill on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID
Summarize it in 5 bullet points with timestamps, then list every tool and setting it mentions.We ran the same request on our benchmark Short. Gemini returned five timestamped points and named every tool on screen (Claude Code, Google AI Studio, SKILL.md, the Gemini key) in one pass.
Setting 3: Study, write a SPEC, build the skill
20-40 min
First, have Claude study. Swap in your job and 3-5 video links:
I want you to learn [JOB, e.g. editing short-form videos].
Use the watch skill on these videos, one at a time:
1. [URL]
2. [URL]
3. [URL]
For each one, write notes/01.md, notes/02.md ... with: the steps shown, every tool and setting
named, exact numbers (sizes, timings, prices), mistakes to avoid, and a timestamp for each point.
Then merge the notes into SPEC.md:
- the job in one sentence, and what the input and the finished output look like
- one step-by-step workflow (the best version across all videos)
- a check for every step that proves it worked
- anything the videos disagree on, marked OPEN, so I can decideRead SPEC.md and settle anything marked OPEN. This is the part that makes the skill good, so take five minutes. Then hand it to the skill builder:
Use the skill-creator skill to build a skill from SPEC.md.
Name it after the job. Put the checks from SPEC.md at the end as a self-check list
that the skill must pass before it says it's done.
Then test it on one real example of mine and show me the result next to the SPEC.skill-creator writes a SKILL.md into .claude/skills/. From then on Claude loads it on its own whenever you ask for that job, or you can call it by name.
Make It Yours
| You want | Say to Claude |
|---|---|
| Add a new video later | Use the update prompt below |
| Several jobs | Run Setting 3 once per job. Each becomes its own skill: editing, ad copy, posting, and so on |
| Use it in every project | “Move this skill to my user skills folder so it works in every project.” |
| Only one long video | “Watch only 12:00 to 25:00 of this video.” (the watch skill takes a start and end time) |
| Your own recordings | Give it a local file path instead of a URL, e.g. a screen recording of how you do the job |
Found a better video? Update the skill instead of starting over:
Watch [URL] and compare it with SPEC.md.
Only add steps that are new or better, and tell me what you changed.
Then use skill-creator to update the skill and re-run the same test.Rights check
Learning from public videos for your own work is fine. Don’t republish someone’s video, transcript or course as your own, and skip paid or private courses unless you have the rights.
If Something Goes Wrong
| You see | Fix |
|---|---|
/watch doesn’t show up | Start a new Claude Code session. Then type /watch and pick /watch:watch |
| YouTube download errors | Update yt-dlp (yt-dlp -U or winget upgrade yt-dlp.yt-dlp) and install Deno |
| Gemini error about the key | Check the file path and that the line reads GEMINI_API_KEY= with no spaces or quotes |
| Quota or rate-limit error | The free tier has daily limits. Wait for the reset, or watch fewer videos per run |
| The SPEC is vague | Your videos talk instead of showing. Swap in ones where the job is done on screen |
FAQ
Is it free?
The watch skill and skill-creator are free and open source. Gemini’s free tier covers testing. Claude Code itself needs a paid Claude plan.
Do I need the Gemini key?
No. Without it, the watch skill reads captions and still frames on your computer. With it, Gemini reads the picture and sound together, which catches what’s shown but never said.
Does Claude remember the videos?
It remembers the skill. The notes and SPEC stay in your folder, and the skill is what Claude loads next time.
Mac or Windows?
Both. We tested the Gemini step on Windows 11.
Related guides
Edit Shorts with Claude Code · 5 Claude Code settings to change first
In One Line
Install the watch skill, add a free Gemini key, and have skill-creator turn what Claude watched into a skill it uses every time.
Sources
- claude-video (watch skill) by Bradley Bonanno, MIT license
- skill-creator in Anthropic’s official plugin marketplace
- Google AI Studio API keys
- Claude Code overview (official docs)
- Our own test: the Gemini API read a YouTube URL directly on October 19, 2026