By name: add-video-to-collection description: Manually add individual YouTube URLs to a custom collection CSV. Use when adding one-off videos to folders like library-of-minds or random, not from a channel extraction.
Add Video to Collection
Why? Curated collections contain videos from multiple sources—manually editing CSVs causes formatting bugs and duplicates. This skill uses the CLI to add videos safely.
Quick Start
ytscriber add "<youtube-url>" --folder <collection>
[!IMPORTANT] Always quote URLs to prevent shell interpretation of
?and&characters.
| Collection | Description |
|---|---|
| library-of-minds | Thought leaders, interviews, educational content |
| random | Miscellaneous, one-off interesting content |
| (custom) | Any folder name you specify |
Workflow
1. Identify the Target Collection
Determine which collection the video belongs to:
| If the video is... | Use collection |
|---|---|
| Thought leader, interview, educational | library-of-minds |
| Miscellaneous, one-off interesting content | random |
| User specifies a collection | Use that collection |
2. Run the CLI Command
ytscriber add "<youtube-url>" --folder <collection>
[!CAUTION] NEVER manually edit CSV files to add videos. Always use
ytscriber addto ensure proper formatting and duplicate detection.
Examples:
# Add to library-of-minds
ytscriber add "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ" --folder library-of-minds
# Add to random collection
ytscriber add "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw" --folder random
# Verbose output for debugging
ytscriber add "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0" --folder random -v
3. Verify the Output
| Output | Meaning |
|---|---|
Added video XXX to ... |
Success — video was added |
Video XXX already exists in ... |
Duplicate — no action needed |
| Error message | See Troubleshooting below |
4. Offer Transcript Download (Optional)
After adding, ask the user if they want to download the transcript:
ytscriber download --folder <collection>
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
command not found: ytscriber |
CLI not installed | Run pip install -e . from project root |
Invalid YouTube URL |
Malformed URL | Use full URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID |
Permission denied |
File permissions | Check write access to data directory |
| Video not appearing in CSV | Silent failure | Run with -v flag to see debug output |
Common Mistakes
- Unquoted URLs — Shell interprets
?as glob. Always wrap URLs in double quotes. - Editing CSV directly — Causes newline corruption and duplicate entries. Always use CLI.
- Using short URLs —
youtu.be/XXXworks, but fullyoutube.com/watch?v=XXXis preferred. - Wrong collection — Double-check the collection name matches an existing folder or will be created.
- Forgetting to download transcript — Adding to CSV doesn't download content. Run
ytscriber downloadseparately.
Reference
What the CLI handles automatically:
- Duplicate detection (skips existing URLs)
- URL normalization to canonical format
- Proper CSV escaping and formatting
- Header creation for new CSV files
- Folder creation if it doesn't exist
Metadata populated during transcript download:
- Video title
- Duration
- Upload date
- Channel name