YouTube MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that gives AI coding agents full control over a YouTube channel. Works with Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, and any MCP-compatible client.

22 tools covering channel management, video operations, playlists, comments, search, analytics, thumbnails, and captions.

What Can It Do?

Category	Actions
Channel	Get channel info, update description/keywords/trailer
Videos	List, get details, upload from local file, update metadata, delete, set thumbnails
Playlists	List, create, update, delete, add/remove videos
Comments	List comment threads, reply to comments, delete comments
Search	Search YouTube for videos, channels, or playlists
Analytics	Channel analytics (views, watch time, subs, revenue), top videos
Captions	List available captions/subtitles
Categories	List assignable video categories by region

Quick Start

1. Get Google API Credentials

1. Go to the Google Cloud Console
2. Create a project (or select an existing one)
3. Enable the YouTube Data API v3 and YouTube Analytics API
4. Create an OAuth 2.0 Client ID (type: Desktop app)
5. Note your Client ID and Client Secret

2. Install

git clone https://github.com/mrchevyceleb/youtube-mcp.git
cd youtube-mcp
npm install
npm run build

3. Set Environment Variables

export GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID="your-client-id.apps.googleusercontent.com"
export GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET="your-client-secret"

Or create a .env file (it is gitignored):

GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=your-client-id.apps.googleusercontent.com
GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET=your-client-secret

4. Authorize

npm run auth

This opens an interactive prompt:

1. It gives you a URL to open in your browser
2. Sign in with the Google account that owns your YouTube channel
3. Grant permissions
4. Copy the authorization code from the redirect URL
5. Paste it back into the terminal

Tokens are saved locally in tokens.json (gitignored). They auto-refresh, so you only need to do this once.

5. Add to Your MCP Client

Claude Code

Add to your Claude Code MCP config (~/.claude.json or project .mcp.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/youtube-mcp/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID": "your-client-id",
        "GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET": "your-client-secret"
      }
    }
  }
}

Cursor

Add to your Cursor MCP settings (.cursor/mcp.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/youtube-mcp/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID": "your-client-id",
        "GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET": "your-client-secret"
      }
    }
  }
}

Usage

Once connected, your AI agent gets a single youtube tool with an action parameter. Examples:

Get your channel info

youtube({ action: "get_channel" })

List your latest videos

youtube({ action: "list_videos", params: { maxResults: 10, orderBy: "date" } })

Update a video's title and tags

youtube({
  action: "update_video",
  params: {
    videoId: "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    title: "New Title",
    tags: ["tag1", "tag2", "tag3"]
  }
})

Upload a video

youtube({
  action: "upload_video",
  params: {
    filePath: "/path/to/my-video.mp4",
    title: "How I Built This in 24 Hours",
    description: "Full walkthrough of building an app with AI coding agents.",
    tags: ["ai", "coding", "tutorial"],
    categoryId: "28",
    privacyStatus: "unlisted",
    playlistId: "PLxxxxxx"
  }
})

Get analytics for the last 30 days

youtube({
  action: "get_analytics",
  params: {
    startDate: "2026-02-01",
    endDate: "2026-03-01",
    metrics: ["views", "estimatedMinutesWatched", "subscribersGained"]
  }
})

Search YouTube

youtube({
  action: "search_youtube",
  params: { query: "vibe coding", type: "video", maxResults: 5 }
})

Set a custom thumbnail

youtube({
  action: "set_thumbnail",
  params: {
    videoId: "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    imageBase64: "<base64-encoded-image>",
    mimeType: "image/jpeg"
  }
})

All 22 Actions

Channel

• get_channel - Get channel info (name, stats, branding)
• update_channel - Update description, keywords, language, country, trailer

Videos

• list_videos - List videos from a channel or playlist
• get_video - Get full video details (stats, tags, status)
• upload_video - Upload a video from a local file path (resumable, any size)
• update_video - Update title, description, tags, category, privacy
• delete_video - Permanently delete a video
• set_thumbnail - Upload a custom thumbnail (JPEG/PNG/BMP, max 2MB)

Playlists

• list_playlists - List playlists from a channel
• create_playlist - Create a new playlist
• update_playlist - Update playlist title, description, privacy
• add_to_playlist - Add a video to a playlist
• remove_from_playlist - Remove a video from a playlist
• delete_playlist - Permanently delete a playlist

Comments

• list_comments - List comment threads on a video
• reply_to_comment - Reply to a comment
• delete_comment - Delete a comment you own

Search

• search_youtube - Search for videos, channels, or playlists

Analytics

• get_analytics - Channel analytics (views, watch time, subs, revenue)
• get_top_videos - Top-performing videos by any metric

Captions & Categories

• list_captions - List available captions/subtitles for a video
• list_categories - List assignable video categories by region

How It Works

This server uses the Model Context Protocol to expose YouTube API operations as tools that AI agents can call. It communicates over stdio, which is the standard transport for local MCP servers.

Under the hood:

• YouTube Data API v3 for channel, video, playlist, comment, and search operations
• YouTube Analytics API v2 for analytics and top video queries
• Google OAuth 2.0 with offline access for automatic token refresh
• Zod for input validation on every action
• Router pattern to expose all 21 actions as a single tool (reduces context token overhead)

Requirements

• Node.js 20+
• A Google Cloud project with YouTube Data API v3 and YouTube Analytics API enabled
• OAuth 2.0 credentials (Desktop app type)

License

MIT