What are the requirements for Open CLAW Knowledge Distiller?

Open CLAW Knowledge Distiller requires the following environment variables: API_KEY (optional). You'll also need a compatible MCP client like Claude Desktop or Claude Code.

Is Open CLAW Knowledge Distiller free to use?

Yes, Open CLAW Knowledge Distiller is open source and free to use. You can find the source code on GitHub.

What MCP clients support Open CLAW Knowledge Distiller?

Open CLAW Knowledge Distiller works with any MCP-compatible client including Claude Desktop (Anthropic's official desktop app), Claude Code (CLI tool), Cursor, and other editors with MCP support.

How do I configure Open CLAW Knowledge Distiller?

Configure Open CLAW Knowledge Distiller by adding it to your MCP client's config file. For Claude Desktop, edit claude_desktop_config.json and add the server configuration. See the Configuration section above for a ready-to-use example.

Open CLAW Knowledge Distiller MCP Server

Q: What tools does Open CLAW Knowledge Distiller provide?

process_video: Processes a video URL to extract subtitles or transcribe audio and generate a structured summary.. list_styles: Lists all available summary styles for knowledge articles..

Q: How do I install Open CLAW Knowledge Distiller?

Install Open CLAW Knowledge Distiller by running: pip install openclaw-knowledge-distiller

Local setup required. This server has to be cloned and prepared on your machine before you register it in Claude Code.

Set the server up locally

Run this once to clone and prepare the server before adding it to Claude Code.

Run in terminal

pip install openclaw-knowledge-distiller

Register it in Claude Code

After the local setup is done, run this command to point Claude Code at the built server.

Run in terminal

claude mcp add openclaw-knowledge-distiller -- node "<FULL_PATH_TO_OPENCLAW_KNOWLEDGE_DISTILLER>/dist/index.js"

Replace <FULL_PATH_TO_OPENCLAW_KNOWLEDGE_DISTILLER>/dist/index.js with the actual folder you prepared in step 1.

README.md

Turn YouTube, Bilibili, and Facebook videos into structured knowledge articles

Open CLAW Knowledge Distiller 🦞📚

龙虾知识蒸馏器 · 龍蝦知識蒸餾器

English · 繁體中文 · 简体中文

Turn YouTube, Bilibili, and Facebook videos into structured knowledge articles in seconds — locally, for free. 秒速将 YouTube、Bilibili、Facebook 视频转化为结构化知识文章 — 本地运行，完全免费。

English

What is Open CLAW Knowledge Distiller?

Open CLAW Knowledge Distiller（龍蝦知識蒸餾器，kd）is an open-source CLI tool and MCP server built for the Open CLAW AI agent ecosystem. It converts YouTube, Bilibili, and Facebook videos into structured knowledge articles — automatically, locally, and for free.

How it works:

If the video has subtitles → extracts them directly (no transcription needed, faster)
If no subtitles → downloads audio and transcribes locally with Qwen3-ASR MLX on Apple Silicon (no API key, no cloud cost)
Optionally generates a multi-layer AI summary: one-sentence essence + key points + cleaned transcript

Who is it for?

Researchers and students who need to digest hours of video content quickly
AI agent users (Claude Code / Open CLAW 龍蝦) who want to process videos programmatically
Anyone who wants structured notes from videos without watching them in full

Features

Feature	Details
🎙️ Local ASR	Qwen3-ASR MLX runs entirely on-device (Apple Silicon). No API key, no cloud, free forever.
📝 Smart subtitle detection	Auto-detects existing subtitles — skips ASR for faster processing
🤖 AI summarization	Supports Google Gemini, OpenAI, and Anthropic as summary providers
🎨 8 summary styles	Standard, Academic, Action List, News Brief, Investment Analysis, Podcast Digest, ELI5, Bullet Notes
🔌 MCP Server	Connect from Claude Code, Open CLAW, or any MCP-compatible AI agent
🌏 Multilingual	Cantonese (粵語), Mandarin, English, Japanese, Korean, and 50+ languages
⚡ Zero API key mode	`--no-summary`: pure local transcription, no external services needed

Installation

Prerequisites:

brew install ffmpeg    # audio extraction

Install:

pip install openclaw-knowledge-distiller
# or with uv:
uv add openclaw-knowledge-distiller

Qwen3-ASR model (~1-2 GB) downloads automatically from Hugging Face on first use.

Install from source (for development):

git clone https://github.com/destinyfrancis/openclaw-knowledge-distiller.git
cd openclaw-knowledge-distiller
uv sync

Quick Start

# ── No API key needed (100% local) ────────────────────────────────
kd process "https://youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ" --no-summary

# Cantonese video with dialect hint
kd process "https://youtube.com/watch?v=..." \
  --language yue \
  --asr-prompt "這是粵語口語對話，請保留懶音" \
  --no-summary

# ── With AI summary ────────────────────────────────────────────────
kd config set api-key "AIzaSy..."   # Google Gemini (default provider)
kd process "https://youtube.com/watch?v=..."

# Save as Markdown file
kd process "https://youtube.com/watch?v=..." --output notes.md

# ── Choose a summary style ─────────────────────────────────────────
kd process "https://youtube.com/watch?v=..." --style investment
kd process "https://youtube.com/watch?v=..." --style academic
kd process "https://youtube.com/watch?v=..." --style podcast
kd process "https://youtube.com/watch?v=..." --style eli5

# List all available styles
kd styles

# ── Other AI providers ─────────────────────────────────────────────
kd process "..." --provider openai --model gpt-4o-mini
kd process "..." --provider anthropic --model claude-haiku-4-5-20251001

Summary Styles

Run kd styles to list all styles. Choose with --style <key>:

Key		Name	Best For
`standard`	📋	Standard Summary	General videos (default)
`academic`	🎓	Academic Notes	Lectures, research talks, conference papers
`actions`	✅	Action List	Tutorials, how-to guides, step-by-step videos
`news`	📰	News Brief	Interviews, current events, news commentary
`investment`	📈	Investment Analysis	Finance, stocks, crypto, macro economics
`podcast`	🎙️	Podcast Digest	Conversations, talk shows, Q&A sessions
`eli5`	🧒	Explain Like I'm 5	Tech, science, academic topics for a general audience
`bullets`	⚡	Bullet Notes	Ultra-concise, fast scanning, quick reference

CLI Reference

`kd process `

Full pipeline: detect subtitles → transcribe (if needed) → summarize.

Flag	Default	Description
`--language`, `-l`	auto-detect	Language code: `zh`, `yue` (Cantonese), `en`, `ja`, `ko`…
`--style`, `-s`	`standard`	Summary style preset (run `kd styles` to list all)
`--provider`, `-p`	`google`	AI provider: `google` \| `openai` \| `anthropic`
`--model`, `-m`	provider default	AI model name (e.g. `gemini-2.5-flash`, `gpt-4o-min

Tools (2)

process_videoProcesses a video URL to extract subtitles or transcribe audio and generate a structured summary.

list_stylesLists all available summary styles for knowledge articles.

Environment Variables

API_KEYAPI key for the chosen AI provider (Google, OpenAI, or Anthropic) if summarization is enabled.

Configuration

claude_desktop_config.json

{"mcpServers": {"openclaw-knowledge-distiller": {"command": "kd", "args": ["mcp"]}}}

Try it

→Process this YouTube video URL and generate an academic summary.

→Summarize the video at this link using the investment analysis style.

→Transcribe this Bilibili video locally without using an AI summary provider.

→List all available summary styles I can use for my video notes.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the key features of Open CLAW Knowledge Distiller?

Local ASR transcription using Qwen3-ASR MLX on Apple Silicon. Automatic subtitle detection to skip transcription when possible. Supports 8 distinct summary styles including academic, investment, and ELI5. Multi-provider AI summarization support (Google, OpenAI, Anthropic). Zero API key mode for pure local transcription.

What can I use Open CLAW Knowledge Distiller for?

Researchers digesting long lecture or conference videos into structured notes. Students creating concise study guides from educational video content. AI agent users processing video information programmatically for knowledge bases. Finance professionals extracting key insights from market analysis videos.

How do I install Open CLAW Knowledge Distiller?

Install Open CLAW Knowledge Distiller by running: pip install openclaw-knowledge-distiller

What MCP clients work with Open CLAW Knowledge Distiller?

Open CLAW Knowledge Distiller works with any MCP-compatible client including Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, and other editors with MCP support.

Turn this server into reusable context

Keep Open CLAW Knowledge Distiller docs, env vars, and workflow notes in Conare so your agent carries them across sessions.

Need the old visual installer? Open Conare IDE.

Open Conare

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