YouTube MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server implementation for YouTube, enabling AI language models to interact with YouTube content through a standardized interface. Optimized for 90% Smithery quality score with comprehensive resources, prompts, and flexible configuration.

Features

Video Information

• Get video details (title, description, duration, etc.) with direct URLs

• List channel videos with direct URLs

• Get video statistics (views, likes, comments)

• Search videos across YouTube with direct URLs

• NEW: Enhanced video responses include url and videoId fields for easy integration

Transcript Management

• Retrieve video transcripts

• Support for multiple languages

• Get timestamped captions

• Search within transcripts

Direct Resources & Prompts

• Resources:

  • youtube://transcript/{videoId}: Access transcripts directly via resource URIs

  • youtube://info: Server information and usage documentation (Smithery discoverable)

• Prompts:

  • summarize-video: Automated workflow to get and summarize video content

  • analyze-channel: Comprehensive analysis of a channel's content strategy

• Annotations: All tools include capability hints (read-only, idempotent) for better LLM performance

Channel Management

• Get channel details

• List channel playlists

• Get channel statistics

• Search within channel content

Playlist Management

• List playlist items

• Get playlist details

• Search within playlists

• Get playlist video transcripts

Installation

Quick Setup for Claude Desktop

1. Install the package:

1. Add to your Claude Desktop configuration (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json on Windows):

Alternative: Using NPX (No Installation Required)

Add this to your Claude Desktop configuration:

Installing via Smithery

To install YouTube MCP Server for Claude Desktop automatically via Smithery:

Configuration

Set the following environment variables:

• YOUTUBE_API_KEY: Your YouTube Data API key (required)

• YOUTUBE_TRANSCRIPT_LANG: Default language for transcripts (optional, defaults to 'en')

Using with VS Code

For one-click installation, click one of the install buttons below:

Manual Installation

If you prefer manual installation, first check the install buttons at the top of this section. Otherwise, follow these steps:

Add the following JSON block to your User Settings (JSON) file in VS Code. You can do this by pressing Ctrl + Shift + P and typing Preferences: Open User Settings (JSON).

Optionally, you can add it to a file called .vscode/mcp.json in your workspace:

YouTube API Setup

1. Go to Google Cloud Console

2. Create a new project or select an existing one

3. Enable the YouTube Data API v3

4. Create API credentials (API key)

5. Copy the API key for configuration

Examples

Managing Videos

Managing Channels

Managing Playlists

Enhanced Response Structure

Video Objects with URLs

All video-related responses now include enhanced fields for easier integration:

Example Enhanced Response

Benefits

• Easy URL Access: No need to manually construct URLs

• Consistent Structure: Both search and individual video responses include URLs

• Backward Compatible: All existing YouTube API data is preserved

• Type Safe: Full TypeScript support available

Development

Architecture

This project uses a dual-architecture service-based design with the following features:

• Shared Utilities: Single source of truth for all MCP server configuration (src/server-utils.ts)

• Modern McpServer: Updated from deprecated Server class to the new McpServer

• Dynamic Version Management: Version automatically read from package.json

• Type-Safe Tool Registration: Uses zod schemas for input validation

• ES Modules: Full ES module support with proper .js extensions

• Enhanced Video Responses: All video operations include url and videoId fields

• Lazy Initialization: YouTube API client initialized only when needed

• Code Deduplication: Eliminated 90% code duplication through shared utilities (407 → 285 lines)

Project Structure

Key Features

• Smithery Optimized: Achieved 90%+ Smithery quality score with comprehensive resources, prompts, and configuration

• Shared Utilities Architecture: Eliminated 90% code duplication with single source of truth

• Enhanced Video Responses: All video objects include direct YouTube URLs

• Flexible Configuration: Optional config via Smithery UI or environment variables

• Type-Safe Development: Full TypeScript support with zod validation

• Modern MCP Tools: Uses registerTool instead of manual request handlers

• Comprehensive Resources: Discoverable resources and prompts for better LLM integration

• Error Handling: Comprehensive error handling with descriptive messages

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for information about contributing to this repository.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.