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.

Features

Video Information

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

• List channel videos

• Get video statistics (views, likes, comments)

• Search videos across YouTube

Transcript Management

• Retrieve video transcripts

• Support for multiple languages

• Get timestamped captions

• Search within transcripts

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

Related MCP server: YouTube Translate MCP

Installation

Quick Setup for Claude Desktop

1. Install the package:

npm install -g zubeid-youtube-mcp-server

2. 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):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zubeid-youtube-mcp-server": {
      "command": "zubeid-youtube-mcp-server",
      "env": {
        "YOUTUBE_API_KEY": "your_youtube_api_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Alternative: Using NPX (No Installation Required)

Add this to your Claude Desktop configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "zubeid-youtube-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "YOUTUBE_API_KEY": "your_youtube_api_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Installing via Smithery

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

npx -y @smithery/cli install @ZubeidHendricks/youtube --client claude

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).

{
  "mcp": {
    "inputs": [
      {
        "type": "promptString",
        "id": "apiKey",
        "description": "YouTube API Key",
        "password": true
      }
    ],
    "servers": {
      "youtube": {
        "command": "npx",
        "args": ["-y", "zubeid-youtube-mcp-server"],
        "env": {
          "YOUTUBE_API_KEY": "${input:apiKey}"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

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

{
  "inputs": [
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "apiKey",
      "description": "YouTube API Key",
      "password": true
    }
  ],
  "servers": {
    "youtube": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "zubeid-youtube-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "YOUTUBE_API_KEY": "${input:apiKey}"
      }
    }
  }
}

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

// Get video details
const video = await youtube.videos.getVideo({
  videoId: "video-id"
});

// Get video transcript
const transcript = await youtube.transcripts.getTranscript({
  videoId: "video-id",
  language: "en"
});

// Search videos
const searchResults = await youtube.videos.searchVideos({
  query: "search term",
  maxResults: 10
});

Managing Channels

// Get channel details
const channel = await youtube.channels.getChannel({
  channelId: "channel-id"
});

// List channel videos
const videos = await youtube.channels.listVideos({
  channelId: "channel-id",
  maxResults: 50
});

Managing Playlists

// Get playlist items
const playlistItems = await youtube.playlists.getPlaylistItems({
  playlistId: "playlist-id",
  maxResults: 50
});

// Get playlist details
const playlist = await youtube.playlists.getPlaylist({
  playlistId: "playlist-id"
});

Development

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Run tests
npm test

# Build
npm run build

# Lint
npm run lint

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.