A specialized utility for programmatically retrieving, converting, and organizing YouTube video thumbnails in multiple resolutions.
Install & Download
1. ClawHub CLI
The fastest way to install a skill directly from the registry.
npx clawhub@latest install yt-thumbnail-grabber
2. Manual Installation
Copy the skill folder to one of these locations
~/.openclaw/skills/ <project>/skills/ Priority: Workspace > Local > Bundled
3. Prompt Installation
Copy this prompt to OpenClaw to install it automatically.
Help me install yt-thumbnail-grabber using Clawhub. If Clawhub is not installed, install it first (npm i -g clawhub).
Prefer to download?
Get the raw skill files in a ZIP archive.
What is YT Thumbnail Grabber?
The YT Thumbnail Grabber is a versatile technical utility designed to simplify the process of fetching preview images from YouTube videos. Leveraging the power of yt-dlp and direct CDN URL patterns, this tool allows developers and creators to programmatically access high-quality thumbnails without needing to download the entire video.
As a core component within the Openclaw Skills ecosystem, it provides a standardized way to integrate media asset retrieval into automated workflows. Whether you need the highest resolution available (maxresdefault) or specific frame captures for video analysis, this skill handles the logic of URL construction, resolution fallback, and image format conversion.
YT Thumbnail Grabber Use Cases
- Generating high-quality preview galleries for video-sharing platforms or blogs.
- Automating the collection of visual assets for video research and content documentation.
- Creating high-resolution social media assets using specific YouTube Video IDs.
- Integrating YouTube media previews into CMS or digital asset management systems.
- Batch processing playlists to extract visual branding and metadata for archival purposes.
How YT Thumbnail Grabber Works
- Identify the target YouTube Video URL or Video ID required for the thumbnail extraction process.
- Utilize yt-dlp to query the YouTube API or CDN for available thumbnail resolutions and associated metadata.
- Construct specific CDN URLs based on predefined patterns for resolutions such as 1280x720 or 640x480.
- Execute a download command using yt-dlp or curl to save the image asset to the local filesystem.
- Optionally convert image files from WebP to JPG and apply custom naming conventions for structured data organization.
YT Thumbnail Grabber Setup
To begin using this utility from the Openclaw Skills registry, you must first install the primary dependency.
pip install yt-dlp
Basic thumbnail download command:
yt-dlp --write-thumbnail --skip-download "VIDEO_URL"
To fetch a specific resolution using curl:
curl -o thumbnail.jpg "https://img.youtube.com/vi/VIDEO_ID/maxresdefault.jpg"
YT Thumbnail Grabber Data Schema & Taxonomy
The skill organizes downloaded assets and identifies sources based on standard YouTube thumbnail tiers and frame sequences.
| Resolution Name | Dimensions | Usage Notes |
|---|---|---|
| maxresdefault | 1280x720 | Highest quality; available for HD videos |
| sddefault | 640x480 | Standard Definition preview |
| hqdefault | 480x360 | High Quality preview |
| mqdefault | 320x180 | Medium Quality preview |
| default | 120x90 | Smallest thumbnail; always available |
| 0, 1, 2, 3 | 120x90 | Sequential frame captures from the video |
YT Thumbnail Grabber Advanced Features
- Batch processing support for downloading thumbnails from entire playlists or text files containing multiple URLs.
- Automated fallback logic to fetch the next best available resolution if maxresdefault is missing for a specific video.
- Metadata extraction via JSON dump to retrieve specific dimensions, width, height, and source URLs programmatically.
- Built-in format conversion using yt-dlp flags to ensure compatibility with standard JPG image viewers.
- Frame capture extraction to retrieve up to four different moments from a single video ID for diverse previews.
SKILL.md
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