steipete/summarize

What is it?

Key features

• 01Extracts readable text from web pages, PDFs, text files, and images.
• 02Pulls YouTube and podcast transcripts, falling back to transcription when none are published.
• 03Supports multiple model providers, Ollama, and authenticated coding CLIs.
• 04Produces scene-based video slides with optional OCR and timestamps.
• 05Offers a Chrome and Firefox side panel for summarizing the active tab and chatting with its content.

Use cases

• Skimming long articles or reports before deciding whether to read them in full.
• Summarizing YouTube lectures or podcast episodes without watching or listening to the whole thing.
• Extracting clean article text from a page with no API key configured.
• Feeding summaries or extracted content into scripts through JSON output.

Quick start

1. 1

   Run it once without installing (requires Node.js 24 or newer)

   npx -y @steipete/summarize --version
2. 2

   Install the CLI with npm

   npm install --global @steipete/summarize
3. 3

   Extract readable content from a web page without an API key

   summarize "https://example.com" --extract --plain

Things to know

• !Model-generated summaries require configuring an API provider or an authenticated coding CLI.
• !The npm package requires Node.js 24 or newer.
• !Some features such as codec support, YouTube slides and OCR need optional native tools like ffmpeg, yt-dlp and tesseract.

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FAQ

What is summarize?

CLI and browser extension that extracts clean text and generates summaries from web pages, PDFs, YouTube videos, podcasts, and audio or video files. Summarize takes a URL or local file and returns either the readable body text or a model-generated summary. It handles web pages, PDFs, images, text files, YouTube videos, podcasts, and other audio or video, preferring published transcripts before falling back to local or cloud transcription.

Is summarize free to use? What license does it have?

summarize is open source under the MIT license. Check the license terms before using it in commercial products.

Is summarize still maintained?

Actively maintained. The last commit to summarize was on Nov 5, 2026.

What can I use summarize for?

Skimming long articles or reports before deciding whether to read them in full. Summarizing YouTube lectures or podcast episodes without watching or listening to the whole thing. Extracting clean article text from a page with no API key configured. Feeding summaries or extracted content into scripts through JSON output.

How do I install summarize?

Run it once without installing (requires Node.js 24 or newer): npx -y @steipete/summarize --version Install the CLI with npm: npm install --global @steipete/summarize Extract readable content from a web page without an API key: summarize "https://example.com" --extract --plain

Where can I get summarize?

The source code and installation instructions are on GitHub: https://github.com/steipete/summarize