YouTube MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server implementation that provides AI assistants with comprehensive access to YouTube content and metadata through a standardized interface.

What This Skill Does

This skill enables AI assistants to interact with YouTube by:

Prerequisites

Before using this skill, you must:

1. Obtain a YouTube Data API v3 key from the [Google Cloud Console](https://console.cloud.google.com/)

2. Enable the YouTube Data API v3 for your project

3. Have the API key ready for configuration

Installation Instructions

Step 1: Install the MCP Server

Install the YouTube MCP server package using one of these methods:

**Via Smithery (Recommended):**

```bash

npx -y @smithery/cli install @ZubeidHendricks/youtube --client claude

```

**Manual NPM Installation:**

```bash

npm install @modelcontextprotocol/server-youtube

```

Step 2: Configure Your MCP Client

Add the YouTube server to your MCP client configuration file (e.g., Claude Desktop's `claude_desktop_config.json`):

```json

{

"mcpServers": {

"youtube": {

"command": "npx",

"args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-youtube"],

"env": {

"YOUTUBE_API_KEY": "YOUR_YOUTUBE_API_KEY_HERE"

}

}

}

}

```

**Optional Configuration:**

Step 3: Restart Your MCP Client

Restart your AI assistant client to load the YouTube MCP server.

Usage Instructions

Once configured, instruct the AI assistant to use YouTube capabilities:

Video Operations

**Get video details:**

```

Get details for YouTube video ID dQw4w9WgXcQ

```

**Retrieve video transcript:**

```

Get the transcript for video ID dQw4w9WgXcQ in English

```

**Search videos:**

```

Search YouTube for videos about "machine learning tutorials" and show the top 10 results

```

Channel Operations

**Get channel information:**

```

Get details for YouTube channel ID UC_x5XG1OV2P6uZZ5FSM9Ttw

```

**List channel videos:**

```

List the 20 most recent videos from channel ID UC_x5XG1OV2P6uZZ5FSM9Ttw

```

**Search within a channel:**

```

Search for videos about "Python" in channel ID UC_x5XG1OV2P6uZZ5FSM9Ttw

```

Playlist Operations

**Get playlist items:**

```

List all videos in playlist ID PLrAXtmErZgOeiKm4sgNOknGvNjby9efdf

```

**Get playlist details:**

```

Get information about playlist ID PLrAXtmErZgOeiKm4sgNOknGvNjby9efdf

```

**Search within playlist:**

```

Search for videos about "algorithms" in playlist ID PLrAXtmErZgOeiKm4sgNOknGvNjby9efdf

```

Important Notes

API Rate Limits

Security

Transcript Availability

Supported Languages

Example Workflows

Content Analysis Workflow

1. Search for videos on a specific topic

2. Retrieve transcripts for the top results

3. Analyze transcript content for key themes or information

4. Summarize findings across multiple videos

Channel Research Workflow

1. Get channel details and statistics

2. List recent channel videos

3. Retrieve transcripts for selected videos

4. Generate a content summary or trend analysis

Playlist Curation Workflow

1. Get playlist details

2. List all playlist items

3. Retrieve metadata for each video

4. Organize or filter content based on criteria

Troubleshooting

**API Key Issues:**

**Quota Exceeded:**

**Missing Transcripts:**