YouTube MCP — AI skill for Claude Code

YouTube MCP Server

A [Model Context Protocol](https://modelcontextprotocol.io) (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