Overview

This PR adds a new scripts/update.py script that combines the functionality of both download.py and convert_transcripts.py, streamlining the workflow for managing YouTube transcripts. The script downloads transcripts directly into the Jekyll site structure, eliminating the need to run two separate scripts.

Key Features

Combined Download + Convert Workflow

The new script integrates the YouTube download functionality from download.py with the Jekyll post generation from convert_transcripts.py. Instead of:

1. Running download.py to fetch transcripts into ./transcripts/
2. Running convert_transcripts.py to convert them to Jekyll format

You can now simply run:

python3 scripts/update.py

This will:

• Fetch video metadata and transcripts from the YouTube channel
• Directly create Jekyll posts in _posts/ with proper YAML front matter
• Copy VTT caption files to _includes/captions/ named by YouTube ID

Update Mode with --update Flag

The script now supports updating existing posts with current view and like counts:

python3 scripts/update.py --update

This feature:

• Scans all existing posts in _posts/ to extract YouTube IDs
• For new videos: Downloads and creates new posts with VTT files
• For existing videos: Fetches current metadata and updates only view_count and like_count fields

Additional Options

# Start processing from a specific video (useful for resuming interrupted runs)
python3 scripts/update.py --offset 50

Documentation Updates

Updated scripts/README.md with comprehensive documentation for both download.py and update.py, following the same structure as the existing convert_transcripts.py section. Each section includes:

• What the script does
• Usage examples with commands
• Available options
• Output format descriptions
• Important notes and requirements

Testing

All core functionality has been thoroughly tested:

• ✅ Correctly identifies 349 existing posts by scanning for youtube_id values
• ✅ Successfully updates view_count and like_count in YAML front matter
• ✅ Properly creates Jekyll posts with escaped special characters
• ✅ Handles multi-line descriptions using YAML literal block syntax
• ✅ CodeQL security scan passed with zero vulnerabilities

Files Changed

• scripts/update.py (NEW) - 392 lines combining download and convert functionality
• scripts/README.md - Added documentation sections for download.py and update.py
• .gitignore - Added Python cache file patterns (__pycache__/, *.py[cod], etc.)

This enhancement significantly improves the maintainability of the transcript site by providing a single, unified tool for both initial downloads and ongoing updates.

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