YouTube Shorts Agent

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Agent-first YouTube Shorts uploader for the YouTube Data API. It is designed for Codex, Claude, Cursor, Hermes, OpenClaw and any MCP client that needs a predictable upload workflow with dry-run safety, OAuth readiness checks and structured output.

Use it when an agent needs to prepare, validate or upload Shorts through the official API without touching YouTube Studio UI.

What Agents Get

• youtube_agent_manifest for install/runtime guidance

• youtube_connection_status before upload attempts

• youtube_privacy_audit for local token and media boundaries

• youtube_oauth_authorize_url with local PKCE session storage

• youtube_upload_short with containsSyntheticMedia support

• youtube_list_recent_videos for lightweight post-upload checks

Related MCP server: YouTube Shorts & Instagram Reels MCP Server

Install

npm install -g youtube-shorts-agent

Or run directly:

npm exec --yes --package=youtube-shorts-agent -- youtube-shorts-agent doctor

CLI

youtube-shorts-agent manifest --client codex
youtube-shorts-agent doctor
youtube-shorts-agent privacy-audit
youtube-shorts-agent auth-url --redirect-uri http://localhost:8787/callback
youtube-shorts-agent upload-short --video ./short.mp4 --title "Launch title" --caption-file copy.txt
youtube-shorts-agent list-recent --max-results 10

Dry-run is enabled by default. Set YOUTUBE_DRY_RUN=false only when doctor reports a complete OAuth setup and you intend to call the live API.

First Upload (dry-run walkthrough)

This is the full first-run path. Every step here is dry-run safe — no credentials are required and nothing is sent to YouTube. The output below is captured verbatim from a real run.

1. Check readiness. With no OAuth configured, doctor confirms you are in dry-run mode:

youtube-shorts-agent doctor

{
  "ok": true,
  "dry_run": true,
  "configured": {
    "client_credentials": "missing",
    "access_token": "missing",
    "refresh_token": "missing"
  },
  "missing_count": 3,
  "ready_for_live_upload": false,
  "next_steps": [
    "Current mode is dry-run. Validate metadata and agent flow before live uploads."
  ]
}

2. Prepare a Short and its caption.

printf 'Launching the agent-first Shorts uploader.\n#shorts #ai #agents' > copy.txt
# short.mp4 is your vertical 9:16 clip

3. Run the upload in dry-run. No network call is made; the tool returns the exact job and result it would publish, so an agent can validate metadata before going live:

youtube-shorts-agent upload-short \
  --video ./short.mp4 \
  --title "Agent-first Shorts upload" \
  --caption-file copy.txt \
  --tags ai,agents \
  --duration 24

{
  "ok": true,
  "dry_run": true,
  "job": {
    "id": "youtube_1780082215631",
    "platform": "youtube",
    "status": "queued",
    "createdAt": "2026-05-29T19:16:55.631Z",
    "caption": "Launching the agent-first Shorts uploader.\n#shorts #ai #agents",
    "targetUrl": "",
    "mediaPaths": ["./short.mp4"],
    "metadata": {
      "title": "Agent-first Shorts upload",
      "youtube_title": "Agent-first Shorts upload",
      "youtube_tags": ["ai", "agents"],
      "youtube_contains_synthetic_media": true,
      "video_duration_sec": 24,
      "video_aspect_ratio": "9:16"
    }
  },
  "result": {
    "provider": "youtube_official",
    "platformPostId": "dryrun_1780082215631",
    "releaseUrl": "https://www.youtube.com",
    "raw": { "dryRun": true, "jobId": "youtube_1780082215631" }
  }
}

platformPostId is prefixed with dryrun_ and releaseUrl is the YouTube root — both signal that nothing was uploaded. The id, createdAt and dryrun_* values vary per run.

4. Confirm the channel listing path (returns an empty list in dry-run):

youtube-shorts-agent list-recent --max-results 5

{ "items": [] }

Going live. Configure OAuth (youtube-shorts-agent auth-url --redirect-uri http://localhost:8787/callback, then exchange the callback code for tokens), set YOUTUBE_CLIENT_ID / YOUTUBE_CLIENT_SECRET / YOUTUBE_ACCESS_TOKEN / YOUTUBE_REFRESH_TOKEN in .env, re-run doctor until ready_for_live_upload is true, then set YOUTUBE_DRY_RUN=false and re-run the same upload-short command.

MCP

youtube-shorts-mcp

HTTP transport:

YOUTUBE_MCP_TRANSPORT=http youtube-shorts-mcp

Hermes-style config:

mcp_servers:
  youtube_shorts:
    command: npx
    args: ["-y", "youtube-shorts-agent"]
    sampling:
      enabled: false

Recommended first calls:

1. youtube_connection_status

2. youtube_privacy_audit

3. youtube_upload_short

Agent Surfaces

Copy-Paste Agent Prompt

Use youtube-shorts-agent. First call youtube_connection_status and youtube_privacy_audit.
If uploading AI-generated media, keep containsSyntheticMedia=true. Never print token values.

Configuration

Copy .env.example to .env. Keep .env and .agent-data/ out of Git.

The upload tool sets containsSyntheticMedia=true by default for AI-generated or AI-edited videos. Override only when that is not true for the asset.

Safety Model

• OAuth tokens are never returned by CLI or MCP tools.

• PKCE verifier is stored locally in .agent-data/.

• Live upload requires YOUTUBE_DRY_RUN=false.

• The package uses the official YouTube Data API and does not automate Studio UI.

Development

npm install
npm test
npm run check

📧 Contact & Support

• 📨 support@delx.ai — general questions, integration help, partnerships

• 🐛 Bug reports / feature requests — GitHub Issues

• 🐦 Updates — @delx369 on X

• 🌐 Site — wellness.delx.ai