/summarize

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
metadata:
  {
    "velaclaw":
      {
        "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

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):

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`

{ "model": "openai/gpt-5.2" }

Optional services:

• `FIRECRAWL_API_KEY` for blocked sites
• `APIFY_API_TOKEN` for YouTube fallback