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summarize

Author:openclaw
Category:
Productivity
330.8k
64.4k
name: summarize
description: Summarize or extract text/transcripts from URLs, podcasts, and local files (great fallback for “transcribe this YouTube/video”).
homepage: https://summarize.sh

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" --model google/gemini-3-flash-preview
summarize "/path/to/file.pdf" --model google/gemini-3-flash-preview
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-only

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 google/gemini-3-flash-preview if none is set.

Useful flags

  • --length short|medium|long|xl|xxl|<chars>
  • --max-output-tokens <count>
  • --extract-only (URLs only)
  • --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": "openai/gpt-5.2" }

Optional services:

  • FIRECRAWL_API_KEY for blocked sites
  • APIFY_API_TOKEN for YouTube fallback

Actions

install --global skills.sh
npx skills add openclaw/openclaw/skills/summarize

Usage Guide

  1. 1. Run Install Command

    Copy the installation command above and run it in your terminal to install globally.

  2. 2. Configure Environment

    Add the required environment variables to your MCP client according to the skill description.

  3. 3. Use in Client

    Configure and enable this skill in any MCP-compatible app (e.g. Claude or Cursor).