Analyzes YouTube channels using public RSS feeds and oEmbed metadata to generate evidence-backed credibility reports with scores, signal factors, and audit seals.
Click on "Deploy Server".
Wait a few minutes for the server to deploy. Once ready, it will show a "Started" state.
In the chat, type @ followed by the MCP server name and your instructions, e.g., "@TruthLens MCP analyze the credibility of https://www.youtube.com/@veritasium"
That's it! The server will respond to your query, and you can continue using it as needed.
Here is a step-by-step guide with screenshots.
Is this creator worth your time? Paste any YouTube channel link and get an evidence-backed credibility report — every score traced to the exact phrases that produced it.
| Live App · GitHub · API · Agent · Issues |
Six-signal credibility engine — claim discipline, controversy temperature, clickbait pressure, sentiment balance, cadence consistency, and transparency, each with itemized evidence phrases and a weighted contribution to the 0–100 score.
Live public data, honestly labeled — reads the channel's public YouTube RSS
feed and oEmbed metadata (no API key). When the live feed is unreachable, a
sealed offline sample is clearly marked fallback and never presented as a real channel.
Explainable refraction — a prism diagram splits the signal into six beams whose widths equal each factor's contribution; selecting a factor highlights the exact phrases in the channel's videos that moved its score.
Auditable integrity chain — every create, update, and delete appends a
SHA-384 sealed event (seal_n = SHA-384(prevSeal ‖ canonicalJson(event_n))).
Replay the chain anytime to detect tampering.
Agent-ready — a JSON-RPC 2.0 MCP endpoint (POST /api/mcp) with tools to
analyze, read, decide, and verify, backed by the same service layer as the UI.
Manifest at public/mcp.json.
Export & share — download a self-contained JSON report or copy a public share link. Exports include source attribution, timestamps, and a disclaimer.
Session-scoped workspace — reports persist per browser session (HTTP-only cookie), with notes, your own verdict, and full CRUD.
Related MCP server: VidLens
git clone https://github.com/aniruddhaadak80/truthlens.git
cd truthlens
npm install
npm run devOpen http://localhost:3000 and paste a YouTube channel link. No environment
variables are required for local development — TruthLens uses an embedded
in-memory Postgres (PGlite) when DATABASE_URL is unset.
Variable | Required | Description |
| production only | Hosted Postgres connection string (e.g. Neon). The app refuses to start in production without it. |
See .env.example. Never commit real values.
All endpoints return JSON. Errors use the envelope { "error": { "code", "message" } }.
curl -X POST https://truthlens.vercel.app/api/analyze \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/@veritasium"}'Response (201): the saved report, the versioned engine result (score, verdict,
itemized factors, signals, recommendation), and the audit seal reference.
curl https://truthlens.vercel.app/api/reports/<report-id>
curl -X PATCH https://truthlens.vercel.app/api/reports/<report-id> \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{"note":"Great science communication","user_verdict":"trusted"}'curl -X DELETE https://truthlens.vercel.app/api/reports/<report-id>Soft-deletes (tombstone) and appends a delete audit event.
Method | Path | Purpose |
GET |
| Store check (verifies the real database) |
GET |
| Normalized live feed with source metadata |
GET |
| List reports for the current session |
GET |
| Replay the seal chain |
GET |
| Download a JSON report |
POST |
| JSON-RPC 2.0 agent endpoint |
TruthLens exposes a live MCP-style endpoint. Configure any MCP client with the
manifest at https://truthlens.vercel.app/mcp.json (endpoint POST /api/mcp).
Tools: analyze_channel, get_report, list_reports,
update_report_decision (mutating, idempotent), verify_integrity.
curl -X POST https://truthlens.vercel.app/api/mcp \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/list","params":{}}'The in-page agent console provides one-click calls and a raw request/response log.
Route | Purpose |
| Landing with the analyzer and live aggregate stats |
| Session workspace: filter, sort, search saved reports |
| Report detail: score, refraction, factors, evidence, actions |
| Live MCP agent console |
| Export center: download JSON, copy share links |
| Engine weights (persisted per session) and danger zone |
| Public read-only report |
| Integrity chain replay |
Route | Methods |
| POST |
| GET |
| GET, PATCH, DELETE |
| GET |
| GET |
| GET |
| GET |
| GET, PATCH |
| DELETE |
| POST |
Path | Responsibility |
| Deterministic, versioned scoring engine |
| Keyless YouTube RSS + oEmbed fetching |
| SHA-384 seal chain and replay |
| Repository interface; PGlite (local) and pg/Neon (production) adapters |
| Shared service layer used by UI and agent tools |
| Anonymous session-cookie bootstrap |
| UI components (refraction lens, factor breakdown, agent console) |
graph LR
U[User] --> FE[Next.js App Router]
FE --> API[API routes]
API --> SVC[Service layer]
SVC --> DB[(Neon Postgres)]
SVC --> AUD[(audit_events)]
SVC --> YT[YouTube RSS / oEmbed]
AG[Agent / MCP] --> SVC
classDef live fill:#22d3ee,stroke:#0e7490,color:#06222a
classDef engine fill:#a78bfa,stroke:#6d28d9,color:#ffffff
classDef agent fill:#34d399,stroke:#047857,color:#06222a
classDef ext fill:#fbbf24,stroke:#b45309,color:#222222
classDef infra fill:#94a3b8,stroke:#475569,color:#ffffff
class FE,API,SVC engine
class DB,AUD infra
class YT ext
class AG agent
class U livegraph TB
URL[YouTube URL] --> PARSE[Parse handle / channel / video]
PARSE --> RESOLVE[Resolve channel id]
RESOLVE --> RSS[Fetch RSS feed]
RSS --> NORM[Normalize + attribute]
NORM --> LIVE{Live?}
LIVE -->|yes| FEED[Feed status: live]
LIVE -->|no| FB[Sealed offline sample]
FB --> FEED2[Feed status: fallback]
FEED --> ENGINE[Credibility engine]
FEED2 --> ENGINE
classDef live fill:#22d3ee,stroke:#0e7490,color:#06222a
classDef engine fill:#a78bfa,stroke:#6d28d9,color:#ffffff
classDef ext fill:#fbbf24,stroke:#b45309,color:#222222
classDef infra fill:#94a3b8,stroke:#475569,color:#ffffff
class URL,PARSE,RESOLVE,RSS,NORM infra
class LIVE,FEED,FEED2 live
class FB ext
class ENGINE enginegraph LR
IN[Channel metadata] --> F1[Claim discipline]
IN --> F2[Controversy temperature]
IN --> F3[Clickbait pressure]
IN --> F4[Sentiment balance]
IN --> F5[Cadence consistency]
IN --> F6[Transparency]
F1 --> W[Weighted sum]
F2 --> W
F3 --> W
F4 --> W
F5 --> W
F6 --> W
W --> SCORE[0-100 score]
SCORE --> VERDICT[Verdict + recommendation]
classDef engine fill:#a78bfa,stroke:#6d28d9,color:#ffffff
classDef infra fill:#94a3b8,stroke:#475569,color:#ffffff
class IN,F1,F2,F3,F4,F5,F6,W,SCORE,VERDICT engineEach factor returns a 0–100 score, a weight, a contribution, an explanation, and
evidence phrases. The same analyzeChannel function powers the UI, the REST
endpoint, and the agent tool. Weights are configurable per session in Settings.
graph LR
EV1[create event] --> S1[seal 1]
EV2[update event] --> S2[seal 2]
EV3[delete event] --> S3[seal 3]
S1 --> S2
S2 --> S3
S3 --> REPLAY[Replay verifies chain]
REPLAY --> OK{First broken link?}
classDef agent fill:#34d399,stroke:#047857,color:#06222a
classDef infra fill:#94a3b8,stroke:#475569,color:#ffffff
classDef risk fill:#fb7185,stroke:#be123c,color:#ffffff
class EV1,EV2,EV3,S1,S2,S3,REPLAY agent
class OK riskseal_n = SHA-384(UTF-8(prevSeal) ‖ canonicalJson(event_n)) with a genesis
value. Canonical JSON recursively sorts object keys. Replay reports the first
broken link, if any.
graph TB
PUSH[Push to main] --> CI[CI: typecheck, lint, test, build]
CI --> VERCEL[Vercel production deploy]
VERCEL --> ENV[DATABASE_URL from Vercel env]
ENV --> LIVE[Live app + MCP endpoint]
classDef live fill:#22d3ee,stroke:#0e7490,color:#06222a
classDef agent fill:#34d399,stroke:#047857,color:#06222a
classDef infra fill:#94a3b8,stroke:#475569,color:#ffffff
class PUSH,CI,VERCEL,ENV,LIVE infragraph LR
LAND[Landing] --> ANALYZE[Analyze channel]
ANALYZE --> REPORT[Inspect report]
REPORT --> DECIDE[Note + verdict]
DECIDE --> AGENT[Agent tool call]
AGENT --> VERIFY[Verify integrity]
VERIFY --> EXPORT[Export / share]
EXPORT --> DELETE[Delete when done]
classDef live fill:#22d3ee,stroke:#0e7490,color:#06222a
classDef engine fill:#a78bfa,stroke:#6d28d9,color:#ffffff
classDef agent fill:#34d399,stroke:#047857,color:#06222a
class LAND,ANALYZE,REPORT,DECIDE,VERIFY,EXPORT,DELETE live
class AGENT agentSix-signal deterministic engine with evidence phrases
Live YouTube RSS + oEmbed pipeline with labeled fallback
Session workspace with full CRUD, notes, and verdicts
SHA-384 audit chain with replay
MCP agent console and tools
JSON export and public share links
graph LR
NOW[Now: analyze, decide, verify, export] --> USERS[Everyday users]
classDef agent fill:#34d399,stroke:#047857,color:#06222a
class NOW,USERS agentCompare two channels side by side (user outcome: faster A/B credibility calls)
Weekly re-analysis watchlist with change summaries (user outcome: notice drift over time)
graph LR
NEXT[Next: compare + watchlist] --> DRIFT[Drift summaries]
classDef live fill:#22d3ee,stroke:#0e7490,color:#06222a
class NEXT,DRIFT liveBrowser extension for one-click analysis on YouTube (user outcome: no copy-paste)
Community lexicon contributions with review (user outcome: sharper, fresher signals)
graph LR
LATER[Later: extension + community lexicons] --> REACH[Wider distribution]
classDef engine fill:#a78bfa,stroke:#6d28d9,color:#ffffff
class LATER,REACH engineTruthLens scores are deterministic heuristics computed from public metadata. They are not fact-checks, do not prove intent, and can misread context, satire, or non-English content. Verify important claims independently before acting on them.
Video metadata: YouTube RSS feeds and oEmbed — public, keyless endpoints.
Fonts: Space Grotesk and
IBM Plex Mono (OFL),
self-hosted in public/fonts/.
Database: Neon Postgres (production); embedded PGlite (local).
See CONTRIBUTING.md. Licensed under the MIT License.
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