n8n YouTube Transcript to Executive Briefs (GPT-4o-mini)

Turn any YouTube video into an executive brief—automatically

This n8n workflow exposes a webhook that takes a YouTube URL, fetches the video transcript, uses OpenAI (Chat Completions) to generate a structured executive summary, and returns the result as a JSON response—so you can brief stakeholders in minutes, not hours.

What this workflow does

• Accepts input via webhook: Sends a POST request containing a JSON body with url set to a YouTube link (or video ID).
• Extracts and validates the YouTube video ID: The workflow parses the URL, validates the input, and prepares the ID for transcript retrieval.
• Fetches the transcript: Retrieves the transcript from youtubetranscript.com. If that primary source fails, it can fall back to an optional local transcript bridge by updating FALLBACK_URL.
• Generates an executive summary with OpenAI: Sends the transcript to the OpenAI Chat Completions API to produce a structured executive brief.
• Returns structured JSON output: Parses the AI response, formats the final payload with video details and word count, and returns it to the webhook caller.

Use cases

• Brief your team on product updates from YouTube interviews, releases, or webinars.
• Summarize conference talks for internal stakeholders and decision-makers.
• Speed up research workflows by converting long-form videos into actionable summaries.
• Power SaaS ops and automation pipelines that need transcript-to-summary reporting.

Technical details

• Workflow type: n8n automation workflow
• Nodes / components: Code, Webhook, HTTP Request, Respond to Webhook
• External services: youtubetranscript.com (transcripts) and OpenAI Chat Completions API (executive briefs)

Setup: Create an OpenAI API key and replace YOUR_OPENAI_API_KEY in the HTTP request Authorization header. (Optional) Run and configure the local fallback transcript bridge, then update FALLBACK_URL. Activate the workflow and use the provided webhook URL to send your POST request.