Youtube Mcp Server

YouTube MCP Server

A comprehensive Model Context Protocol server for the YouTube Data API v3, Analytics API, and Reporting API. Gives AI assistants full access to your YouTube channel — analytics, video management, comments, and more.

40 tools covering:

• Channel & video data
• YouTube Analytics (performance, audience, retention, revenue)
• Video publishing & playlist management
• Transcript extraction
• YouTube SEO (search suggestions, trending)
• Comments
• Bulk reporting

Why This Server?

Existing YouTube MCP servers focus narrowly on transcript scraping or basic search. This server covers three YouTube APIs and is the only open-source MCP server that provides:

• YouTube Analytics API — channel performance, top videos/Shorts, audience retention curves, traffic sources, demographics, revenue, day-of-week analysis
• YouTube Reporting API — schedule and download bulk CSV reports
• Full Data API coverage — not just read, but also upload videos, manage playlists, post comments, set thumbnails
• YouTube SEO tools — autocomplete suggestions, trending videos, category discovery
• Dual transcript strategy — official captions API for your own videos, youtube-transcript-api fallback for any public video
• Quota tracking — client-side tracking with hard-fail protection so you don't silently exhaust your daily quota

| Feature | This server | Others | |---------|------------|--------| | Analytics API (watch time, retention, CTR) | Yes | No | | Reporting API (bulk CSV exports) | Yes | No | | Video upload & management | Yes | Rare | | Playlist management | Yes | Rare | | Comments (read + write) | Yes | No | | SEO / trending / suggestions | Yes | No | | Transcript extraction | Yes | Yes | | Quota tracking | Yes | No | | Total tools | 40 | 1-5 |

Prerequisites

• Python 3.11+
• A Google Cloud project with YouTube APIs enabled
• OAuth 2.0 credentials

Google Cloud Setup

1. Create a Google Cloud Project

1. Go to Google Cloud Console
2. Create a new project (or use an existing one)

2. Enable APIs

Enable all three APIs in APIs & Services > Library:

• YouTube Data API v3
• YouTube Analytics API
• YouTube Reporting API

3. Configure OAuth Consent Screen

1. Go to APIs & Services > OAuth consent screen
2. Set User Type to External
3. Fill in the app name and required fields
4. Add the Google account that owns your YouTube channel as a test user

> Important: You must sign in with the Google account that owns the YouTube channel, not a manager. Only the owner account can access Analytics data.

4. Create OAuth Credentials

1. Go to APIs & Services > Credentials
2. Click Create Credentials > OAuth client ID
3. Application type: Desktop app
4. Download the JSON file
5. Save it as ~/.youtube-mcp/client_secret.json

Alternatively, set the YOUTUBE_MCP_CLIENT_SECRET environment variable to the path of your credentials file.

Installation

pip install youtube-studio-mcp

Or with uv:

uv pip install youtube-studio-mcp

MCP Client Configuration

Claude Desktop

Add to your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube": {
      "command": "youtube-studio-mcp"
    }
  }
}

Claude Code

Add to your MCP settings:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube": {
      "command": "youtube-studio-mcp"
    }
  }
}

With environment variables

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube": {
      "command": "youtube-studio-mcp",
      "env": {
        "YOUTUBE_MCP_CLIENT_SECRET": "/path/to/client_secret.json",
        "YOUTUBE_API_KEY": "your-api-key-for-public-data"
      }
    }
  }
}

First Run

On first use, the server will open a browser window for Google OAuth consent. Sign in with the account that owns your YouTube channel and grant the requested permissions. The token is saved to ~/.youtube-mcp/token.json and auto-refreshes.

Tools Reference

Auth & Setup (2 tools)

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | youtube_auth | Initiate OAuth 2.0 flow | | youtube_auth_status | Check auth state and quota usage |

Channel & Video (3 tools)

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | youtube_get_channel | Get channel details by ID, handle, or mine=True | | youtube_list_videos | List videos from a channel or playlist | | youtube_get_video | Get detailed video metadata and stats |

Search & SEO (4 tools)

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | youtube_search | Search YouTube (100 quota units per call) | | youtube_search_suggestions | Get autocomplete suggestions (no quota cost) | | youtube_trending | Get trending videos by region/category | | youtube_get_categories | List video categories for a region |

Transcripts (2 tools)

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | youtube_get_transcript | Get video transcript (official API or scraping fallback) | | youtube_list_captions | List caption tracks for own videos |

Analytics — Performance (4 tools)

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | youtube_analytics_overview | Channel summary (views, watch time, subs, likes) | | youtube_analytics_top_videos | Top videos by views (excludes Shorts) | | youtube_analytics_top_shorts | Top Shorts by views | | youtube_analytics_video_detail | Daily metrics for a specific video |

Analytics — Audience (3 tools)

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | youtube_analytics_traffic_sources | Traffic source breakdown | | youtube_analytics_demographics | Age and gender breakdown | | youtube_analytics_geography | Views by country |

Analytics — Schedule & Reach (3 tools)

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | youtube_analytics_daily | Daily performance over time | | youtube_analytics_day_of_week | Average performance by weekday | | youtube_analytics_content_type_breakdown | Shorts vs long-form vs live comparison |

Analytics — Revenue & Retention (3 tools)

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | youtube_analytics_revenue | Revenue breakdown (requires YouTube Partner Program) | | youtube_analytics_revenue_by_video | Per-video revenue | | youtube_analytics_retention | Audience retention curve for a video |

Publishing (4 tools)

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | youtube_upload_video | Upload a video (1,600 quota units) | | youtube_update_video | Update video metadata | | youtube_set_thumbnail | Upload custom thumbnail | | youtube_delete_video | Delete a video |

Playlists (4 tools)

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | youtube_list_playlists | List playlists for a channel | | youtube_create_playlist | Create a new playlist | | youtube_add_to_playlist | Add a video to a playlist | | youtube_remove_from_playlist | Remove a video from a playlist |

Comments (3 tools)

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | youtube_list_comments | List comments on a video | | youtube_post_comment | Post a top-level comment | | youtube_reply_to_comment | Reply to a comment |

Bulk Reporting (5 tools)

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | youtube_reporting_list_types | List available report types | | youtube_reporting_create_job | Schedule a daily report job | | youtube_reporting_list_jobs | List active reporting jobs | | youtube_reporting_list_reports | List generated reports for a job | | youtube_reporting_download | Download a report CSV |

Quota Management

The YouTube Data API v3 has a default daily quota of 10,000 units. This server tracks quota usage client-side and hard-fails when the quota is exhausted.

Key costs:

• Most read operations: 1 unit
• Search: 100 units
• Write operations: 50 units
• Video upload: 1,600 units

Use youtube_auth_status to check current quota usage.

Environment Variables

| Variable | Description | |----------|-------------| | YOUTUBE_MCP_CLIENT_SECRET | Path to client_secret.json | | YOUTUBE_MCP_CONFIG_DIR | Config directory (default: ~/.youtube-mcp) | | YOUTUBE_API_KEY | API key for public-only operations |

Development

git clone https://github.com/pauling-ai/youtube-studio-mcp.git
cd youtube-studio-mcp
uv venv && uv pip install -e ".[dev]"
.venv/bin/python -m pytest tests/ -v

License

MIT

Source & license

This open-source MCP server is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: pauling-ai
• Source: pauling-ai/youtube-mcp-server
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.