youtube-mcp

OAuth-authenticated YouTube MCP for channel owners. Edit video metadata, reply to and moderate comments, manage playlists, query channel analytics, and generate or set AI thumbnails via a ComfyUI bridge. Goes beyond the read-only Data API v3 wrappers that dominate this space.

The pitch

Most existing YouTube MCPs use an API key against Data API v3. Search videos, fetch public metadata, read-only. This one uses OAuth 2.0 (Authorization Code + PKCE) so it can actually write to your channel: update video titles, descriptions and tags, reply to comments, moderate spam, manage playlists. It also hits the separate YouTube Analytics API for channel stats, and generates a thumbnail via ComfyUI and pushes it to YouTube in a single MCP call.

Claude, use generate_and_set_thumbnail on video abc123:
  prompt: "cyberpunk hacker at keyboard, neon blue and pink, high contrast"

ComfyUI renders 1280×720, youtube-mcp fetches the bytes, and POSTs to thumbnails.set. Done.

Install

# npx, no install
npx @miller-joe/youtube-mcp --help

# Docker
docker run -p 9120:9120 \
  -e YOUTUBE_CLIENT_ID=... \
  -e YOUTUBE_CLIENT_SECRET=... \
  -e YOUTUBE_TOKEN_FILE=/token/token.json \
  -v $PWD/token:/token \
  ghcr.io/miller-joe/youtube-mcp:latest

Setup: Google Cloud one-time (~10 min)

1. Google account plus YouTube channel. Use a personal account, not a workspace one you might lose.
2. Google Cloud project at https://console.cloud.google.com. Call it whatever you want (e.g. youtube-mcp).
3. Enable APIs:

• YouTube Data API v3
• YouTube Analytics API

1. OAuth consent screen: External, App name, support email. In Scopes, add:

• youtube.upload
• youtube.force-ssl
• yt-analytics.readonly

1. Stay in Testing mode. Add yourself as a test user (required). As the project owner, your refresh token won't expire.
2. Create OAuth Client ID: Application type = Desktop app. Download the JSON.
3. Run the interactive auth flow:

   npx @miller-joe/youtube-mcp --auth --client-secret-file ./client_secret.json

A browser opens, you log in to the Google account tied to your YouTube channel, and grant the requested scopes. On success, a refresh token is saved to ~/.config/youtube-mcp/token.json.

1. Start the server:

   npx @miller-joe/youtube-mcp --client-secret-file ./client_secret.json

Or provide the client credentials via env: YOUTUBE_CLIENT_SECRET_FILE, or YOUTUBE_CLIENT_ID + YOUTUBE_CLIENT_SECRET.

Connect an MCP client

claude mcp add --transport http youtube http://localhost:9120/mcp

Or point your MCP gateway at the Streamable HTTP endpoint.

Configuration

Transports

The server speaks streamable HTTP by default (great for Claude Code, MetaMCP, raw fetch). Pass --stdio (or set MCP_TRANSPORT=stdio) to switch into stdio mode, which is what stdio-first clients like Claude Desktop and the MCP Inspector expect:

// claude_desktop_config.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@miller-joe/youtube-mcp", "--stdio"],
      "env": {
        "YOUTUBE_CLIENT_SECRET_FILE": "/path/to/client_secret.json",
        "YOUTUBE_TOKEN_FILE": "/path/to/token.json"
      }
    }
  }
}

Stdio mode skips the OAuth-token preflight check — the server boots even without a stored token and surfaces auth errors at tool-call time. Run youtube-mcp --auth --client-secret-file <path> once in HTTP mode to seed the refresh token before pointing Claude Desktop at it.

Tools

Videos

• list_my_videos: paginated list of the authenticated channel's uploads.
• get_video: full detail for one video.
• update_video_metadata: title, description, tags, category, privacy.
• delete_video: permanently delete a video. Requires confirm_video_title to match the current title exactly, as a guard against deleting the wrong video.

Captions

• list_captions: list caption tracks on a video (language, name, status, draft flag).
• upload_caption: upload an SRT or WebVTT caption track to a video.
• delete_caption: delete a caption track.

Shorts

• list_my_shorts: find Shorts in recent uploads (filters by duration ≤60s).
• get_shorts_analytics: YouTube Analytics query restricted to Shorts (creatorContentType==SHORTS).

Playlists

• create_playlist: create a playlist (default private).
• add_to_playlist: add a video to an existing playlist.

Comments

• list_comments: top-level comment threads on a video.
• reply_to_comment: reply to a top-level comment.
• moderate_comment: hold, approve, or reject a comment.

Analytics

• query_channel_analytics: date-ranged metrics with optional dimensions and filters.

Bridge (when COMFYUI_URL is configured)

• generate_and_set_thumbnail: generate a thumbnail via ComfyUI and set it on a video in one call.

Quota notes

YouTube Data API free tier = 10,000 units/day. Key operation costs:

• videos.list, commentThreads.list: 1 unit each.
• videos.update, comments.insert, thumbnails.set: 50 units each.
• videos.insert (upload): 1,600 units, so about 6 uploads per day on the free tier.

Most creator-ops workflows stay well under the free cap.

Architecture

┌────────────────┐     ┌──────────────────┐     ┌─────────────────┐
│  MCP client    │────▶│  youtube-mcp     │────▶│  YouTube APIs   │
│  (Claude etc.) │◀────│  (this server)   │◀────│  (Data/Analytics)│
└────────────────┘     └────────┬─────────┘     └─────────────────┘
                                │
                                │ (bridge tools only)
                                ▼
                       ┌──────────────────┐
                       │  ComfyUI         │
                       │  (txt2img)       │
                       └──────────────────┘

OAuth refresh tokens are cached locally and refreshed just-in-time before expiry. The bridge tool downloads image bytes from ComfyUI internally, so ComfyUI does not need to be publicly reachable.

Development

git clone https://github.com/miller-joe/youtube-mcp
cd youtube-mcp
npm install
npm run dev
npm run build
npm test

Requires Node 20+.

Roadmap

Shipped:

• Videos: list, get, update metadata, delete with title-match confirm guard.
• Captions: upload, list, delete.
• Shorts: list_my_shorts (duration filter) and get_shorts_analytics (creatorContentType==SHORTS).
• Playlists: create, add-to.
• Comments: list, reply, moderate.
• Analytics: channel analytics query.
• ComfyUI thumbnail bridge: generate_and_set_thumbnail.

Planned:

• Video upload (video_upload) with resumable-upload support.
• Reporting API for bulk historical data exports.

License

MIT © Joe Miller

Support

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