YouTube MCP Server 🎬

A local MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that connects Claude to your YouTube channel. Analyze videos, track performance, read comments, and get AI-powered niche suggestions — all inside Claude.

Features

Related MCP server: YouTube Ultimate Toolkit MCP

Setup

1. Get a YouTube Data API Key

1. Go to Google Cloud Console

2. Create a new project (or use an existing one)

3. Go to APIs & Services → Library → search YouTube Data API v3 → Enable it

4. Go to APIs & Services → Credentials → Create Credentials → API Key

5. Copy the key

2. Find Your Channel ID

• Go to your YouTube channel

• The URL will be: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

• The part after /channel/ is your Channel ID

• Or: Go to https://www.youtube.com/account_advanced to find it directly

3. Configure the Server

# In the youtube-mcp folder:
cp .env.example .env

Edit .env and fill in:

YOUTUBE_API_KEY=AIzaSy...your key here...
YOUTUBE_CHANNEL_ID=UCxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

4. Build the Server

npm install
npm run build

Connect to Claude.ai

1. Open Claude.ai → click your profile icon → Settings

2. Go to Integrations (or MCP Servers)

3. Click Add MCP Server

4. Fill in:

   • Name: YouTube Channel

   • Type: stdio

   • Command: node

   • Args: /full/path/to/youtube-mcp/dist/index.js

   • Env: Add YOUTUBE_API_KEY and YOUTUBE_CHANNEL_ID from your .env

Alternative: claude_desktop_config.json

If you're using the Claude Desktop app, add this to your config file:

Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/full/path/to/youtube-mcp/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "YOUTUBE_API_KEY": "your_api_key_here",
        "YOUTUBE_CHANNEL_ID": "your_channel_id_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude after saving.

Usage Examples

Once connected, just ask Claude naturally:

"Show me my channel stats"

"List my last 20 videos sorted by views"

"Analyze my channel performance and suggest what niches are working"

"Get the top comments from video ID dQw4w9WgXcQ"

"Search my channel for videos about cooking"

Free Tier Limits

The YouTube Data API v3 gives you 10,000 units/day for free.
Approximate costs:

• list_videos (20 videos) ≈ 102 units

• get_video_details ≈ 3 units

• analyze_channel_performance ≈ 102 units

• get_top_comments ≈ 3 units

You can easily do dozens of analyses per day within the free quota.