# Summarize — Point at Any URL and Get the Gist via CLI

> A command-line tool and Chrome extension that extracts and summarizes content from URLs, YouTube videos, podcasts, and local files using AI.

## Install

Save in your project root:

# Summarize — Point at Any URL and Get the Gist via CLI

## Quick Use
```bash
npx summarize https://example.com/long-article
npx summarize https://youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
npx summarize ./local-document.pdf
```

## Introduction
Summarize is a developer-focused CLI that extracts content from any URL, video, podcast, or file and produces a concise summary. It handles the complexity of content extraction across different media types so you can quickly understand any resource without reading or watching it in full.

## What Summarize Does
- Extracts readable content from web pages, stripping ads and navigation
- Transcribes YouTube videos and podcast episodes for text-based summarization
- Processes local files including PDFs, markdown, and plain text
- Produces structured summaries with key points and takeaways
- Works as both a CLI tool and a Chrome browser extension

## Architecture Overview
The tool uses a content extraction pipeline that selects the appropriate parser based on input type. Web pages go through a readability algorithm, videos use transcript APIs, and files are parsed by format-specific readers. Extracted text is then passed to an LLM for summarization with configurable detail levels.

## Setup & Configuration
- Run directly via npx or install globally with npm install -g summarize
- Configure your preferred AI provider API key in environment variables
- Set default summary length and format via config file or CLI flags
- Install the Chrome extension for one-click summarization in the browser
- Supports multiple output formats including markdown, plain text, and JSON

## Key Features
- Automatic content type detection for URLs, files, and media
- YouTube and podcast transcript extraction without manual setup
- Configurable summary depth from one-liner to detailed outline
- Chrome extension with keyboard shortcut for instant page summaries
- Pipe-friendly output for integration with other CLI tools

## Comparison with Similar Tools
- **tldr-pages** — community-written command summaries; Summarize handles arbitrary web content with AI
- **Reader by Jina** — focused on converting URLs to markdown; Summarize adds AI summarization on top
- **Kagi Universal Summarizer** — web service; Summarize runs locally with your own API keys
- **yt-dlp** — downloads video/audio; Summarize extracts and summarizes the transcript directly

## FAQ
**Q: Which AI providers are supported?**
A: It supports OpenAI, Anthropic, and local models via compatible APIs.

**Q: Does it work with paywalled content?**
A: It can only summarize content accessible to your browser session or provided as a local file.

**Q: How long can the input content be?**
A: The tool chunks long content automatically to fit within model context limits.

**Q: Can I customize the summary prompt?**
A: Yes. Custom system prompts can be provided via CLI flags or configuration.

## Sources
- https://github.com/steipete/summarize

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Source: https://tokrepo.com/en/workflows/asset-29a71a66
Author: AI Open Source