YouTube AI chapters that jump to the exact moment
Claras builds YouTube AI chapters from what is actually said in a video, each with a specific title and a short note. Click one and the player jumps there.
Chapters named after what was said
Titles name the real claim, person or number in two to six words, and each chapter has a line or two on what happens there. A topic mentioned in passing does not get its own chapter.
- Each chapter starts on a real spoken line from the transcript
- Stretches left without a chapter get a second look, so the back half of a long video is not left empty
Click to jump, in the app or on YouTube
In the web app, the Contents tab sits beside the player and a click moves the video to that moment. In the Chrome extension, the side panel does the same for the YouTube tab.
- The extension also adds chapter markers to YouTube's own progress bar. Hover one to read it, click to jump
- Chapters can carry a label: Potential sponsor, Potential ad, or Likely to answer the title
Paste them into your own description
Making chapters for your own video? In the web app, choose Copy, then Chapters for YouTube. You get one line per chapter, the time then the title, and the list starts at 0:00, which YouTube needs before it will show chapters.
- You can upload the video file before you publish and get the same list
- YouTube has automatic chapters of its own. Claras does not change those, it makes a separate list
How the chapters are made, step by step
- Open a video. Paste a link in the web app, upload a file, or click Summarize under a YouTube video with the Chrome extension. Chapters come with every summary, at no extra cost.
- Claras proposes chapters for each 20-minute stretch. It asks for at least one every five minutes, and more where topics change quickly. Each needs a specific title of two to six words and a short note naming the claim, person or number. Generic titles like "Introduction" or "Deep Dive" are ruled out.
- Every time is checked against the transcript. Each chapter is moved to the nearest line that was really spoken, so a time can't be a plausible guess.
- Short-lived chapters are folded in. A chapter has to hold its topic for a minimum time, or it merges into the one before. The minimum grows with the video: 45 seconds for anything up to an hour and a half, a minute for a two-hour video, and two and a half minutes for five hours or more.
- Gaps get a second look. If more than five minutes still has no chapter, Claras reads that stretch again, up to the three biggest gaps.
- Labels are added. A final pass marks chapters that look like a sponsor read or an ad. When the title makes a big promise, it also marks the chapter most likely to answer it.
A worked example: from a long debate to a description
This uses the 2 hour 24 minute video from our home page demo, "AI Experts Debate: The AI Labs Are Lying To Everyone". The chapter titles are the demo's samples, cut down to a few, so real ones will differ.
In the Contents tab
At this length, no chapter can be shorter than about 72 seconds, so brief asides fold into the topic around them. Among the chapters in the demo:
- 4:05 How AI could cause extinction
- 15:01 Can we control smarter AI?
- 29:16 Will AI keep accelerating?
- 1:00:12 How much job disruption?
- 1:43:47 What are AI logs?
Click 1:00:12 and the player jumps to the job discussion. With the extension, the same chapters appear as dots on YouTube's progress bar.
Copied for a description
The demo's first chapter starts at 0:42, after the intro. Copy, then Chapters for YouTube, changes that first time to 0:00, because YouTube ignores a chapter list that doesn't start there. Everything after keeps its real time, one line each, like "1:00:12 How much job disruption?". The notes are left out, since a description only needs times and titles.
Your own video, before you publish
Say you've edited a 25-minute tutorial and want chapters ready for upload day. Upload the file in the web app's Video tab instead of waiting for YouTube's captions. You get the same chapters, and the Copy menu's Chapters option gives the same list starting at 0:00. A file uses your monthly transcription hours.
What it does well, and where it stops
Where chapters work best
- Long talks with clear topics. Podcasts, lectures, interviews and panels, where the subject changes every few minutes.
- Videos with no chapters of their own. Most long uploads have none, and these give you a way around.
Where they stop
- Only what was said. Chapters come from the transcript. A silent demo, a montage or a long music break has nothing to name, so it folds into a chapter nearby.
- Brief asides. Passing mentions are skipped on purpose. To find a 30-second aside, search the transcript or use Ask AI.
- Exact start times. A chapter starts on the caption line where the AI judged the topic begins. Caption lines last a few seconds, and the judgement can be a line early or late.
- Gaps. Claras aims for no stretch over five minutes without a chapter, but it re-reads only the three biggest gaps, so a very long video can still have a long chapter.
- Labels are guesses. Potential sponsor and Potential ad come from the AI reading the transcript. It can miss a sponsor read, or mark one that isn't.
- No editing. You can't rename or move a chapter in Claras. Edit the copied list in your description instead.
Short videos, Instagram and TikTok
Instagram, TikTok and uploaded files under three minutes get no Contents tab, since there is little to navigate. Longer Instagram and TikTok videos do get chapters, but those sites don't let Claras move their player, so use the times with the Watch on Instagram or Watch on TikTok link. An uploaded file plays in the app and chapters jump through it, but the file isn't stored: reopen it from History and you choose it again.
On YouTube itself
Claras never changes a video on YouTube. The markers on the progress bar are drawn in your browser, and nobody else sees them. YouTube needs at least three chapters, each at least 10 seconds long, before it shows a list. Claras chapters are always well over 10 seconds, but a short video can come back with only two, so add one by hand.
How it fits the rest of Claras
Chapters are how you move around a video. The rest of Claras tells you what is in each part.
To share a link that opens at one chapter, use the timestamp link tool. See all features or compare plans.
Questions about AI chapters
Are these the same as YouTube's own automatic chapters?
No. YouTube adds automatic chapters to some videos itself. Claras makes a separate list from the transcript, for any video, and doesn't change or remove YouTube's.
Will other people see the chapters Claras makes?
No. They show in Claras and, with the extension, as markers on your own screen. If it's your video, paste the copied list into the description and YouTube shows it to everyone.
Can I use these AI timestamps for YouTube descriptions?
Yes. In the web app, choose Copy, then Chapters for YouTube, and paste. Check that you have at least three chapters. The extension's Download timeline is made for reading: each time is in brackets with a note under it, so it isn't ready to paste.
Can I edit the chapters?
Not in Claras. Copy the list, then change titles or times in your description or notes. Running the video again gives a fresh set, which can count as another video.
Why did my video get only a few chapters?
Claras skips topics that are only mentioned in passing, and each chapter has to last a minimum time. A video that stays on one subject for a long stretch gets fewer, longer chapters.
Do chapters work on videos without captions?
Yes. AI transcribes the audio first, within your plan's limits: up to 30 minutes on the free plan and up to 3 hours on a paid plan for YouTube videos.
Can I turn off the markers on YouTube's progress bar?
Yes. In the extension, open Settings and switch off Chapter markers on YouTube.
Watch less. Learn more.
Paste a video link and get the summary, chapters and answers in seconds.