Youtube API - Uploading a local video without OAuth 2.0

[Wilann]

I'm trying to upload a local video using a modified version of the script from the Youtube Data API Guide

Running upload_video.py from the terminal, I'm getting:

python upload_video.py --file="test_vid.mp4" --privacyStatus="private" --description="Test description"
The client secrets were invalid: 
('Error opening file', 'client_secrets.json', 'No such file or directory', 2)

WARNING: Please configure OAuth 2.0

To make this sample run you will need to populate the client_secrets.json file
found at:

   /.../Version 6/client_secrets.json

with information from the API Console
https://console.developers.google.com/

For more information about the client_secrets.json file format, please visit:
https://developers.google.com/api-client-library/python/guide/aaa_client_secrets

I don't need any security for my app/script, since I'm the only one that will be using it.
How can I remove the requirement for the OAuth 2.0?

Additionally, what am I supposed to put in client_secrets.json?

Sorry if this is a beginner's question - I have no knowledge of this process.

Python Version : 3.7.4

(Slightly) modified upload_video.py:

import http.client
import httplib2
import os
import random
import sys
import time

from apiclient.discovery import build
from apiclient.errors import HttpError
from apiclient.http import MediaFileUpload
from oauth2client.client import flow_from_clientsecrets
from oauth2client.file import Storage
from oauth2client.tools import argparser, run_flow


# Explicitly tell the underlying HTTP transport library not to retry, since we are handling retry logic ourselves.
httplib2.RETRIES = 1

# Maximum number of times to retry before giving up.
MAX_RETRIES = 10

# Always retry when these exceptions are raised.
RETRIABLE_EXCEPTIONS = (httplib2.HttpLib2Error, IOError, http.client.NotConnected,
                        http.client.IncompleteRead, http.client.ImproperConnectionState,
                        http.client.CannotSendRequest, http.client.CannotSendHeader,
                        http.client.ResponseNotReady, http.client.BadStatusLine)

# Always retry when an apiclient.errors.HttpError with one of these status
# codes is raised.
RETRIABLE_STATUS_CODES = [500, 502, 503, 504]

# The CLIENT_SECRETS_FILE variable specifies the name of a file that contains
# the OAuth 2.0 information for this application, including its client_id and
# client_secret. You can acquire an OAuth 2.0 client ID and client secret from
# the Google API Console at
# https://console.developers.google.com/.
# Please ensure that you have enabled the YouTube Data API for your project.
# For more information about using OAuth2 to access the YouTube Data API, see:
#   https://developers.google.com/youtube/v3/guides/authentication
# For more information about the client_secrets.json file format, see:
#   https://developers.google.com/api-client-library/python/guide/aaa_client_secrets
CLIENT_SECRETS_FILE = "client_secrets.json"

# This OAuth 2.0 access scope allows an application to upload files to the
# authenticated user's YouTube channel, but doesn't allow other types of access.
YOUTUBE_UPLOAD_SCOPE = "https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtube.upload"
YOUTUBE_API_SERVICE_NAME = "youtube"
YOUTUBE_API_VERSION = "v3"

# This variable defines a message to display if the CLIENT_SECRETS_FILE is
# missing.
MISSING_CLIENT_SECRETS_MESSAGE = """
WARNING: Please configure OAuth 2.0

To make this sample run you will need to populate the client_secrets.json file
found at:

   %s

with information from the API Console
https://console.developers.google.com/

For more information about the client_secrets.json file format, please visit:
https://developers.google.com/api-client-library/python/guide/aaa_client_secrets
""" % os.path.abspath(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__),
                                   CLIENT_SECRETS_FILE))

VALID_PRIVACY_STATUSES = ("public", "private", "unlisted")


def get_authenticated_service(args):
    flow = flow_from_clientsecrets(CLIENT_SECRETS_FILE,
                                   scope=YOUTUBE_UPLOAD_SCOPE,
                                   message=MISSING_CLIENT_SECRETS_MESSAGE)

    storage = Storage("%s-oauth2.json" % sys.argv[0])
    credentials = storage.get()

    if credentials is None or credentials.invalid:
        credentials = run_flow(flow, storage, args)

        return build(YOUTUBE_API_SERVICE_NAME, YOUTUBE_API_VERSION, http=credentials.authorize(httplib2.Http()))

    
def initialize_upload(youtube, options):
    tags = None
    
    if options.keywords:
        tags = options.keywords.split(",")

        body=dict(
            snippet=dict(
                title=options.title,
                description=options.description,
                tags=tags,
                categoryId=options.category),
            status=dict(
                privacyStatus=options.privacyStatus
            )
        )

    # Call the API's videos.insert method to create and upload the video.
    insert_request = youtube.videos().insert(
        part=",".join(body.keys()),
        body=body,
        # The chunksize parameter specifies the size of each chunk of data, in
        # bytes, that will be uploaded at a time. Set a higher value for
        # reliable connections as fewer chunks lead to faster uploads. Set a lower
        # value for better recovery on less reliable connections.
        #
        # Setting "chunksize" equal to -1 in the code below means that the entire
        # file will be uploaded in a single HTTP request. (If the upload fails,
        # it will still be retried where it left off.) This is usually a best
        # practice, but if you're using Python older than 2.6 or if you're
        # running on App Engine, you should set the chunksize to something like
        # 1024 * 1024 (1 megabyte).
        media_body=MediaFileUpload(options.file, chunksize=-1, resumable=True)
    )
    
    resumable_upload(insert_request)

    
# This method implements an exponential backoff strategy to resume a
# failed upload.
def resumable_upload(insert_request):
    response = None
    error = None
    retry = 0
    
    while response is None:
        try:
            print("Uploading file...")
            status, response = insert_request.next_chunk()
      
            if response is not None:
                if 'id' in response:
                    print("Video id '%s' was successfully uploaded." % response['id'])
                else:
                    exit("The upload failed with an unexpected response: %s" % response)

        except HttpError as e:
            if e.resp.status in RETRIABLE_STATUS_CODES:
                error = "A retriable HTTP error %d occurred:\n%s" % (e.resp.status, e.content)
            else:
                raise
        
        except RETRIABLE_EXCEPTIONS as e:
            error = "A retriable error occurred: %s" % e

        if error is not None:
            print(error)
            retry += 1
            if retry > MAX_RETRIES:
                exit("No longer attempting to retry.")

            max_sleep = 2 ** retry
            sleep_seconds = random.random() * max_sleep
            print("Sleeping %f seconds and then retrying..." % sleep_seconds)
            time.sleep(sleep_seconds)

            
if __name__ == '__main__':
    argparser.add_argument("--file", required=True, help="Video file to upload")
    argparser.add_argument("--title", help="Video title", default="Test Title")
    argparser.add_argument("--description", help="Video description", default="Test Description")
    argparser.add_argument("--category", default="22", help="Numeric video category. " + "See https://developers.google.com/youtube/v3/docs/videoCategories/list")
    argparser.add_argument("--keywords", help="Video keywords, comma separated", default="")
    argparser.add_argument("--privacyStatus", choices=VALID_PRIVACY_STATUSES, default=VALID_PRIVACY_STATUSES[0], help="Video privacy status.")
    args = argparser.parse_args()

    if not os.path.exists(args.file):
        exit("Please specify a valid file using the --file= parameter.")

    youtube = get_authenticated_service(args)
    try:
        initialize_upload(youtube, args)
    except HttpError as e:
        print("An HTTP error %d occurred:\n%s" % (e.resp.status, e.content))

[busunkim96]

Hi @Wilann,

API calls need to be attributable to someone so the API owner can do things like enforce quota. There are two ways to do this for the YouTube API: an API Key or an OAauth2 credential.

API keys let requests be associated specific applications.

The key identifies your project and provides API access, quota, and reports.
https://developers.google.com/youtube/registering_an_application

When you use an API to modify a user's data, you need to prove that you have permission to do this from the user. This is done through the OAuth2 flow, which requires a user (even if that's just you :)) to authorize the application to do certain actions against the API.

Whenever your application requests private user data, it must send an OAuth 2.0 token along with the request. Your application first sends a client ID and, possibly, a client secret to obtain a token. You can generate OAuth 2.0 credentials for web applications, service accounts, or installed applications.
https://developers.google.com/youtube/registering_an_application

Looking at https://developers.google.com/youtube/v3/guides/uploading_a_video it looks like you must use OAuth2 for this script since you need to modify a YouTube user's data to upload a video.

https://developers.google.com/identity/protocols/oauth2/web-server#creatingcred explains how to get client_secrets.json and https://developers.google.com/identity/protocols/oauth2 has a conceptual overview of the OAuth2 flow.

Hope this helps! Let us know if you have more questions.

[Wilann]

Hey @busunkim96 thank you for all the links! They all seem really helpful. I'll check them out and close this issue for now. Will re-open if I come across any problems - thanks again!