summarize
OfficialSummarize or transcribe URLs, YouTube/videos, podcasts, articles, transcripts, PDFs, and local files.
What this skill does
When applied, it prepends a system prompt before your request is sent — no extra calls and no change to how you are billed beyond the added tokens.
---
name: summarize
description: "Summarize or transcribe URLs, YouTube/videos, podcasts, articles, transcripts, PDFs, and local files."
homepage: https://summarize.sh
metadata:
{
"openclaw":
{
"emoji": "🧾",
"requires": { "bins": ["summarize"] },
"install":
[
{
"id": "brew",
"kind": "brew",
"formula": "steipete/tap/summarize",
"bins": ["summarize"],
"label": "Install summarize (brew)",
},
],
},
}
---
# Summarize
Fast CLI to summarize URLs, local files, and YouTube links.
## When to use (trigger phrases)
Use this skill immediately when the user asks any of:
- "use summarize.sh"
- "what's this link/video about?"
- "summarize this URL/article"
- "transcribe this YouTube/video" (best-effort transcript extraction; no `yt-dlp` needed)
## Quick start
```bash
summarize "https://example.com"
summarize "/path/to/file.pdf"
summarize "https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ" --youtube auto
```
## YouTube: summary vs transcript
Best-effort transcript (URLs only):
```bash
summarize "https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ" --youtube auto --extract
```
If the user asked for a transcript but it's huge, return a tight summary first, then ask which section/time range to expand.
## Model + keys
Set the API key for your chosen provider:
- OpenAI: `OPENAI_API_KEY`
- Anthropic: `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`
- xAI: `XAI_API_KEY`
- Google: `GEMINI_API_KEY` (aliases: `GOOGLE_GENERATIVE_AI_API_KEY`, `GOOGLE_API_KEY`)
Default model is `auto`; config may choose the provider/model.
## Useful flags
- `--length short|medium|long|xl|xxl|<chars>`
- `--max-output-tokens <count>`
- `--extract` (print extracted content, no LLM summary)
- `--json` (machine readable)
- `--firecrawl auto|off|always` (fallback extraction)
- `--youtube auto` (Apify fallback if `APIFY_API_TOKEN` set)
## Config
Optional config file: `~/.summarize/config.json`
```json
{ "model": "oUse this skill
Add a "skill" field with the skill’s ID to your chat completion request. It is applied server-side before your prompt is sent — no extra calls.
{
"model": "gpt-4o-mini",
"skill": "imp-6eccc9c9-66d2-4b3e-b43d-3126510c1d58",
"messages": [{ "role": "user", "content": "…" }]
}Install the skill, enable it in your dashboard and (optionally) limit it to specific models. It then applies automatically to every matching request — with no "skill" field to send each time.
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