youtube-mcp

YouTube CLI and MCP tool for humans and AI agents. Upload videos, manage comments, search, view analytics, and more — from your terminal or via any MCP-compatible AI agent.

The CLI command is just yt — short and sweet.

Install

brew install virat-mankali/tap/youtube-mcp

Setup

1. Go to console.cloud.google.com
2. Create a project and enable YouTube Data API v3
3. Create an OAuth 2.0 Client ID (Desktop App type)
4. Copy your Client ID and Client Secret, then run:

yt auth login --client-id YOUR_ID --client-secret YOUR_SECRET

CLI Usage

# Auth
yt auth login
yt auth login --manual        # SSH/headless environments
yt auth logout
yt auth status

# Videos
yt videos list
yt videos get <videoId>
yt videos upload ./video.mp4 --title "My Video" --privacy public
yt videos update <videoId> --title "New Title"
yt videos delete <videoId> --yes

# Comments
yt comments list <videoId>
yt comments reply <commentId> "Thanks!"
yt comments post <videoId> "Great video!"
yt comments delete <commentId>

# Search
yt search "typescript tutorials"
yt search "react hooks" --order viewCount --max-results 5

# Analytics
yt analytics channel
yt analytics video <videoId>

# Playlists
yt playlists list
yt playlists create "My Playlist"
yt playlists add <playlistId> <videoId>

# MCP Server
yt serve

MCP Config

Add to your MCP client config (e.g. Claude Desktop, Kiro, Cursor):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube": {
      "command": "yt",
      "args": ["serve"]
    }
  }
}

Or pass credentials via env vars for headless setups:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube": {
      "command": "yt",
      "args": ["serve"],
      "env": {
        "YOUTUBE_CLIENT_ID": "your_client_id",
        "YOUTUBE_CLIENT_SECRET": "your_client_secret",
        "YOUTUBE_ACCESS_TOKEN": "ya29.xxx",
        "YOUTUBE_REFRESH_TOKEN": "1//xxx"
      }
    }
  }
}

Environment Variables

| Variable | Description | |----------|-------------| | YOUTUBE_CLIENT_ID | Google OAuth2 Client ID | | YOUTUBE_CLIENT_SECRET | Google OAuth2 Client Secret | | YOUTUBE_ACCESS_TOKEN | Access token (overrides saved token) | | YOUTUBE_REFRESH_TOKEN | Refresh token (overrides saved token) |

MCP Tools

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | list_my_videos | List your uploaded videos | | get_video | Get video details | | upload_video | Upload a video | | update_video | Update video metadata | | delete_video | Delete a video | | list_comments | List comments on a video | | reply_to_comment | Reply to a comment | | post_comment | Post a new comment | | delete_comment | Delete a comment | | search_youtube | Search YouTube | | get_channel_stats | Get channel statistics | | get_video_stats | Get video statistics | | list_playlists | List your playlists | | create_playlist | Create a playlist | | add_to_playlist | Add a video to a playlist |

License

MIT