export-chapters

Export MP4/MOV chapter markers into YouTube description–friendly text.

Features

• Default format: timestamp - Title (perfect for YouTube descriptions)
• --title-first to switch to Title - timestamp
• Output modes (mutually exclusive):
  • default: write to <input>.yt.txt
  • --copy: copy to clipboard (no file)
  • --stdout: print to stdout (no file)
• Cross-platform:
  • Requires ffprobe (FFmpeg) in PATH
  • Clipboard on Linux requires xclip or xsel

Install (pipx recommended)

pipx install export-chapters

Or locally:

pipx install .

Usage

export-chapters MyVideo.mp4            # writes MyVideo.yt.txt
export-chapters MyVideo.mp4 --copy     # copies to clipboard
export-chapters MyVideo.mp4 --stdout   # prints to terminal
export-chapters MyVideo.mp4 --title-first

Prerequisites

• FFmpeg (ffprobe in PATH)
  • macOS: brew install ffmpeg
  • Windows: install FFmpeg and add bin to PATH
  • Linux: sudo apt-get install ffmpeg
• For --copy on Linux: sudo apt-get install xclip (or xsel)

Sanity check

The formatter should produce:

• 83s -> 1:23
• 251s -> 4:11
• 485s -> 8:05