YouTube Transcript Analyzer - Setup Guide

This guide will walk you through setting up an AI-powered system for summarizing YouTube videos. The system extracts video transcripts, analyzes key points, and generates actionable summaries specifically tailored for SaaS developers and entrepreneurs. The entire setup process takes approximately 5 minutes.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, you’ll need to create accounts with the following services:

n8n - Workflow automation platform
Google Cloud Platform - For Google Sheets API and OAuth credentials
Apify - Web scraping and automation for YouTube transcripts
Google AI Studio - Access to Gemini AI model

Setup Instructions

Step 1: Set up n8n

Create an account at n8n.io
Create a new workflow (it will be empty initially)
Import the system template:
- Click the 3 dots in the top right corner
- Choose “Import from file”
- Select the youtube-transcript-summariser.json file from this repository

Step 2: Set up Google Sheets

Create a Google Spreadsheet or use this template (click “Make a copy”)
Note the spreadsheet ID from the URL (the long string between /d/ and /edit in the URL)
Set up Google OAuth credentials:
- Go to Google Cloud Console
- Create a new project or select an existing one
- Enable the Google Sheets API for your project
- Create OAuth 2.0 credentials (Client ID and Client Secret)
- Configure the OAuth consent screen
- Add authorized redirect URIs for your n8n instance
In n8n, configure the Google Sheets node with your credentials:
- Use the Client ID and Client Secret when creating a new credential
- Authorize access to your Google account
- Update the document ID to your spreadsheet

Step 3: Set up Apify

Create an account at Apify.com
Create an Apify access token:
- Go to https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations
- Generate a new API token
Insert the Apify token inside the n8n HTTP Request node that calls the YouTube transcript scraper

Step 4: Set up OpenRouter

Create an OpenRouter account at https://openrouter.com/app/apikey
Create an API key for OpenRouter through the same link
Insert the OpenRouter API key inside the n8n OpenRouter nodes

Using the System

Open your n8n dashboard
Navigate to the imported workflow
Test the workflow by entering a YouTube URL when prompted
The system will:
- Extract the transcript from the YouTube video
- Analyze the content using Gemini AI
- Generate a summary with actionable insights
- Store the results in your Google Spreadsheet

Workflow Outputs

The system generates the following information for each YouTube video:

General summary of the video content
Bullet-point summary highlighting key points
Actionable plan with implementation steps
Practical examples tailored for SaaS developers and entrepreneurs

Troubleshooting

Common issues and their solutions:

API Connection Errors: Verify your API tokens are correctly entered and have the necessary permissions
Google Authentication Issues: Make sure your OAuth credentials are properly configured and the redirect URIs match your n8n instance
Missing Transcripts: Some YouTube videos may not have transcripts available or may be in a language not supported by the scraper
Workflow Timeout: For longer videos, you may need to adjust the timeout settings in n8n

Customization

You can customize the workflow in n8n:

Modify the Gemini AI prompt to focus on different aspects or industries
Adjust the Google Sheets template to capture different information
Add additional processing steps or integrations