AI summaries that tell you what a video actually says
Claras reads the whole transcript and writes a short overview, the key takeaways and a summary of each section. You see what the video says, then decide if it deserves your time.
Read as far as you need
Every summary comes in the same order, so you can stop as soon as you have what you came for.
- An opening of two to four sentences: what the video covers and who it is for
- Key Takeaways: four to eight points, each naming a claim, number or framework from the video
- A summary of each section, in the order things happen, with names and numbers in bold and standout lines quoted
Often, the opening is enough to tell you whether to keep going.
The end of a long video counts too
Claras cuts a long video into 20-minute stretches and reads each one in full, so the last hour gets the same attention as the first ten minutes. The overview at the top is written from those section summaries.
It also checks the title. When a title makes a big promise and the video never delivers, you may see a Potential clickbait note at the top of the Contents tab, with one line on what is missing.
Shape it, then take it with you
Add your own instructions in Settings, under Summary prompt, and they shape the style of every summary you make after that. "Use short bullets" or "Skip sponsor segments" both work.
- Copy it, or download it as a text file
- Send it to Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Gemini Notebook or Perplexity
- Share a public link, except for files you uploaded, which get no public link
What happens after you press the button
The button shows each step as it goes: Downloading, Reading video, Writing chapters, Finishing up. Here is what each one means.
- Add a video. Sign in, then paste a YouTube, Instagram or TikTok link, or upload a video or audio file. With the Chrome extension, click Summarize under any YouTube video. In the web app, choose the summary language from the menu beside the link box first. YouTube Shorts and live links don't work yet.
- Claras gets the transcript. For YouTube it uses the video's captions when there are any. For Instagram, TikTok, your own files and YouTube videos with no captions, AI transcribes the audio first, which takes longer.
- It reads the video in stretches. The transcript is cut into 20-minute stretches, and up to four are read at the same time. Each is read in full, along with the last minute of the stretch before it and the first lines of the video, so it has the context. Each one comes back with its own summary and chapters.
- It fills the gaps. If more than five minutes of the video ended up with no chapter, Claras reads that stretch again, up to the three biggest gaps.
- It writes the overview. A last pass reads the chapter list and the section summaries, not the whole transcript again, and writes the opening and the Key Takeaways. It also suggests three questions for Ask AI, checks the title against what was said, and marks likely sponsor reads among the chapters.
- Read it in the Summary tab. Copy it from the top of the tab, or download it or send it to another AI from the bar at the bottom. The video is saved to History, and reopening it later is free.
A worked example: a long debate
Say you paste the video from our home page demo, "AI Experts Debate: The AI Labs Are Lying To Everyone", which runs 2 hours 24 minutes. The text quoted below is the demo's sample, so a real summary will differ.
What Claras does with it
The video is cut into eight stretches: seven of 20 minutes and a last one of about four and a half. Each gets its own summary. The overview is written last, from those eight summaries and the chapter list.
The opening
"Four experts debate whether AI could end humanity. They split on halting research now versus regulating the big labs, and on whether a superintelligence can be contained at all."
That is enough to decide whether the debate deserves your evening. If you only wanted the gist, you can stop here.
Key Takeaways
Next come the main points. In the demo they cover how AI could cause extinction, whether smarter AI can be controlled, and how many jobs are at risk.
Section summaries
Then the section summaries follow in time order, under topic headings. The discussion of jobs starts at 1:00:12, so you'll find it a little under halfway down. To watch that part, click the 1:00:12 chapter in the Contents tab.
Where to go next
If a takeaway makes you curious, ask about it in Ask AI rather than rewatching. A good question uses the speakers' own words: "What do they say about regulating the labs?"
What it does well, and where it stops
Where summaries work best
- Talk-heavy videos. Lectures, interviews, podcasts, explainers and debates, where what matters is said out loud.
- Long videos. Reading in stretches is what keeps a three-hour podcast from being summarized as its first twenty minutes.
- Deciding what to watch. The opening and takeaways usually tell you whether a video deserves its full runtime.
Where they fall short
- Anything only shown on screen. Claras reads the transcript. Slides, code, charts and a recipe's measurements on screen are invisible to it, so a silent demo gets a thin summary.
- Caption mistakes. YouTube's automatic captions often mishear names and technical terms, and the summary repeats them. Check a name against the transcript before you quote it.
- Who said what. Captions rarely say who is speaking, so in a panel or an interview a point can be pinned on the wrong person.
- Details lost on the way up. The opening and takeaways are written from the section summaries, not from the full transcript, so a detail that didn't make a section summary can't reach the top. If that last step fails, you still get the section summaries, without the opening or takeaways.
- Length. There is no short or long setting. Each 20-minute stretch gets its own section, so a three-hour video makes a long summary. Read the opening when you're short of time, or add an instruction like "Keep each section to five bullets".
About your own instructions
The box takes up to 500 characters. It is added to the rules for the section summaries, so it changes their style but not the opening or the takeaways, and it doesn't apply to Bulk Summaries. It is saved in your browser, so set it again on another computer. In the Chrome extension the same box sits in the paid part of Settings, next to your own API key.
The clickbait note is cautious
It only appears when a title makes an outsized promise and the summary clearly doesn't deliver. The check is told never to flag descriptive titles, like tutorials, interviews and lectures. No note doesn't prove a title is honest, only that nothing clearly failed.
How many you get
Each summary uses one video from your plan: 3 a month on the free plan, 50 a day on Pro, and no limit on Unlimited. Changing the language means running the video again, which can count as another one. See the plans.
How it fits the rest of Claras
A summary is the quick read. Everything else in Claras works from the same transcript, so it is all ready when the summary is.
Want to see one first? The free summary tool shows a result for one YouTube video with no account. See all features or compare plans.
Questions about AI summaries
Can I make summaries shorter or longer?
There is no length setting. The opening is the short version, and the section summaries are the long one. To change their style, add an instruction in Settings under Summary prompt, such as "Keep each section to five bullets". It changes the section summaries, not the opening.
Does Claras summarize videos without captions?
Yes. AI transcribes the audio first. For YouTube that works on videos up to 30 minutes on the free plan, if Claras can check the length, and up to 3 hours on a paid plan. Instagram and TikTok links up to 30 minutes and your own files up to 6 hours use your monthly transcription hours.
Where are my summaries saved?
In History, in the web app, which keeps your last 50 videos and bulk summaries. Reopening one is free. An uploaded file is never stored, so to play it again you choose the file again.
Can I share a summary?
Yes. In the web app, choose Share to copy a public link or post it to X, LinkedIn, WhatsApp or email. The link opens the summary. Files you uploaded get no public link.
Is it the same in the Chrome extension?
The steps are the same. The extension adds a PDF download and Copy as Markdown, and on a paid plan you can use your own OpenAI, Anthropic or Gemini key to choose the model. The web app adds Instagram, TikTok and file uploads.
Can I summarize a whole playlist at once?
Yes, with Bulk Summaries. It works differently: you get one combined summary or one per video, with no chapters, and with many videos it reads less of each one.
Watch less. Learn more.
Paste a video link and get the summary, chapters and answers in seconds.