AI-Powered YouTube Video Summarizer (Apify + OpenAI)

Overview

This workflow automates the process of summarizing YouTube videos. You simply submit a YouTube URL via a simple web form, and the workflow fetches the video transcript using Apify's YouTube Scraper API, then passes the transcript to OpenAI's language model to generate a concise, professional summary. It's perfect for content creators, researchers, marketers, or anyone who needs to quickly digest video content without watching the entire video.

Step-by-Step Node Breakdown

• YouTube video URL (formTrigger) — No auth. This node creates a public web form where users can paste a full YouTube URL. The form is accessible via a unique n8n webhook URL. Parameters: form title "Summarize YouTube video's", one field labeled "Full URL".
• Request YouTube Transcript (httpRequest) — API Key auth (the API key is embedded in the URL). This node sends a POST request to Apify's YouTube Scraper API endpoint. The URL placeholder Apify API_KEY Here ??? should be replaced with the actual Apify API endpoint including your API key. The request body contains the YouTube URL from the previous step wrapped in a startUrls array. It fetches the video transcript data.
• Summarization Engine (lmChatOpenAi) — API Key auth (OpenAI API key). This node configures the OpenAI chat model (e.g., GPT-4 or GPT-3.5) that will perform the summarization. You must provide your OpenAI API credentials in the n8n credential store.
• Summarization of a YouTube script (chainSummarization) — No auth (uses the connected language model). This node takes the transcript text from the HTTP request and automatically generates a summary using the connected OpenAI model. It works out-of-the-box without additional configuration.
• No Operation, do nothing (noOp) — No auth. This is an optional placeholder node. You can replace it with any action, such as sending the summary via email, Slack, or storing it in a database.

Setup Instructions

1. Apify Account: Sign up at apify.com and get your API key. Then find the YouTube Scraper API endpoint (e.g., https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/bernardo~youtube-scraper/runs?token=YOUR_API_KEY). Replace the placeholder URL in the Request YouTube Transcript node with this full endpoint.
2. OpenAI Account: Sign up at openai.com and generate an API key. In n8n, create an OpenAI credential (under Credentials > OpenAI) and paste your key. Then select that credential in the Summarization Engine node.
3. Deploy the Workflow: Activate the workflow. The form trigger will generate a unique webhook URL. Share that URL with anyone who wants to submit a YouTube video for summarization.

Use Cases & Variations

• Content Repurposing: Automatically generate summaries for your own YouTube videos to create blog posts, social media snippets, or newsletter content.
• Research & Learning: Quickly get the key points from educational or conference videos without watching the full recording.
• Team Collaboration: Send the summary to a Slack channel or email using additional nodes (e.g., Slack, Gmail) connected after the summarization node.
• Multi-Platform Support: Replace the Apify node with a different transcript service (e.g., YouTube Data API) or adapt it for other video platforms like Vimeo or Twitch.
• Batch Processing: Replace the form trigger with a schedule trigger or a webhook to process multiple videos in sequence.

{
  "nodes": [
    {
      "id": "6d908a58-8893-48da-8311-8c28ebd8ec62",
      "name": "Sticky Note",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.stickyNote",
      "position": [
        -520,
        -280
      ],
      "parameters": {
        "color": 7,
        "width": 1160,
        "height": 120,
        "content": "**Summarize YouTube videos**\n\nThis project automates the summarization of YouTube videos, transforming lengthy content into concise, actionable insights. By leveraging AI and workflow automation, it extracts video transcripts, analyzes key points, and generates summaries, saving time for content creators, researchers, and professionals. Perfect for staying informed, conducting research, or repurposing video content efficiently."
      },
      "typeVersion": 1
    },
    {
      "id": "98de613a-1b1e-4b46-915f-7bebcfd6a931",
      "name": "Sticky Note1",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.stickyNote",
      "position": [
        -540,
        120
      ],
      "parameters": {
        "width": 230,
        "height": 80,
        "content": "Add the full YouTube URL. ☝️\nYou can change this input to a webhook or anything else."
      },
      "typeVersion": 1
    },
    {
      "id": "064208d4-52c3-46a9-9f9f-d37258189d06",
      "name": "Request YouTube Transcript",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.httpRequest",
      "position": [
        -200,
        -20
      ],
      "parameters": {
        "url": "Apify API_KEY Here ???",
        "method": "POST",
        "options": {},
        "jsonBody": "={\n    \"startUrls\": [\n        \"{{ $json['Full URL'] }}\"\n    ]\n}",
        "sendBody": true,
        "specifyBody": "json"
      },
      "typeVersion": 4.2
// ... truncated (copy to see full JSON)