YouTubeReader fetches the transcript for a YouTube watch URL and applies recursive chunking by default.
youtube_reader.py
from agno.agent import Agent
from agno.knowledge.knowledge import Knowledge
from agno.knowledge.reader.youtube_reader import YouTubeReader
from agno.models.openai import OpenAIResponses
from agno.vectordb.pgvector import PgVector
db_url = "postgresql+psycopg://ai:ai@localhost:5532/ai"
knowledge = Knowledge(
name="YouTube Knowledge Base",
description="Knowledge base from YouTube video transcripts",
vector_db=PgVector(
table_name="youtube_vectors",
db_url=db_url,
),
)
agent = Agent(
model=OpenAIResponses(id="gpt-5.2"),
knowledge=knowledge,
search_knowledge=True,
)
if __name__ == "__main__":
knowledge.insert(
url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLkBNnnA8Ac",
metadata={"source": "youtube", "type": "educational"},
reader=YouTubeReader(),
)
agent.print_response(
"What are the main topics discussed in the video?",
markdown=True,
)
Run the Agent
1
Set up your virtual environment
uv venv --python 3.12
source .venv/bin/activate
uv venv --python 3.12
.venv\Scripts\activate
2
Install dependencies
uv pip install -U "agno[youtube]" openai pgvector psycopg sqlalchemy
3
Export the API key
export OPENAI_API_KEY=your_openai_api_key_here
4
Run PgVector
docker run -d \
-e POSTGRES_DB=ai \
-e POSTGRES_USER=ai \
-e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=ai \
-e PGDATA=/var/lib/postgresql \
-v pgvolume:/var/lib/postgresql \
-p 5532:5432 \
--name pgvector \
agnohq/pgvector:18
docker run -d `
-e POSTGRES_DB=ai `
-e POSTGRES_USER=ai `
-e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=ai `
-e PGDATA=/var/lib/postgresql `
-v pgvolume:/var/lib/postgresql `
-p 5532:5432 `
--name pgvector `
agnohq/pgvector:18
5
Run the agent
python youtube_reader.py
Reader Parameters
| Parameter | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
chunking_strategy | Optional[ChunkingStrategy] | RecursiveChunking() | Strategy used to chunk documents |
YouTubeReader also accepts the base Reader constructor parameters.
Use
Knowledge.insert() with YouTubeReader in v2.7.2. Knowledge.ainsert() passes a document name to YouTubeReader.async_read(), which accepts only the URL, so asynchronous knowledge ingestion fails.Next Steps
| Task | Guide |
|---|---|
| Configure recursive chunking | Recursive Chunking |
| Inspect the complete API | YouTube Reader Reference |
| Compare available readers | Readers Overview |