YouTube Chapter Builder
Drop in your video's caption file or paste your podcast link. Get chapters with timestamps where the conversation changes topic, title options for each, and a description draft that passes YouTube's chapter rules. Edit, then copy.
- Reads the transcript. Caption files, timestamped text, transcript pages or your podcast feed.
- Finds topic changes. Where the words shift, with extra weight on questions and spoken transitions.
- Offers titles, not guesses. The opening question, the chapter's key phrases or its first line, for you to pick or rewrite.
- Checks YouTube's rules. Starts at 0:00, at least three chapters, none under 10 seconds.
How do I add chapters to a YouTube video?
Put a list of timestamps and titles in the video's description. The first must be 0:00, there must be at least three, and each chapter must be at least 10 seconds long. YouTube then splits the progress bar into chapters. This tool writes that list from your transcript and checks those rules before you copy it.
How does it decide where chapters start?
It looks for points where the words people use change: when the vocabulary before a moment stops overlapping with the vocabulary after it, the topic has usually moved on. Questions and spoken transitions such as "let's talk about" or "my next question" count extra, and a chapter starts on the question rather than halfway into the answer. Choose fewer or more chapters, then move or remove any you disagree with.
Where do the chapter titles come from?
From the conversation itself: the question that opens the chapter when there is one, the phrases that chapter uses more than the rest of the video, and its opening line. They are drafts. Pick one, or type a short, specific title of your own; viewers scan these in the progress bar.
What do I need to give it?
A transcript with timestamps. The easiest is the video's caption file: download the .srt or .vtt from YouTube Studio under Subtitles, or export it from your editor or recording tool. If your podcast host publishes transcripts, paste the RSS feed or Apple Podcasts link and pick the episode. Plain text works too, but times are then estimated.
Does it write the whole description?
It drafts one: a first line naming the speakers and the main topics, your link if you add one, the chapter list and up to three hashtags. YouTube shows roughly the first 150 characters in search, so the tool shows you that part. Replace the first line with your own whenever you can say it better.
Is anything uploaded or stored?
Files you drop in and text you paste stay in your browser. When you paste a link, FDM's server reads that public file or feed once and sends it back to your browser; it is not stored.
Can FDM edit and publish the episodes?
Yes. FDM edits video podcasts and expert interviews, then cuts captioned short clips for LinkedIn, YouTube and your site.