YouTube

You can run a YouTube MCP Server to let AI models query YouTube data, fetch transcripts, and explore videos, channels, and playlists through a standardized interface. This guide gives you practical steps to install, configure, and use the server with an MCP client today.

How to use

You will run the MCP server locally or via a client, then connect to it from your MCP-enabled assistant. Use it to retrieve video details, fetch transcripts in preferred languages, search videos, and explore channels and playlists. When you issue requests through your MCP client, you can: obtain video metadata, retrieve and search transcripts, list channel content, and explore playlist items.

How to install

Prerequisites: you need Node.js and npm installed on your system. You will install the MCP server globally or run it via a local runtime.

# Install the MCP server globally
npm install -g zubeid-youtube-mcp-server

# Then configure your client with the API key you obtain below

Configuration and runtime options

You must provide a YouTube Data API key to run the server. The transcripts language can be set to a default language if you wish to customize the transcript language.

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

Examples of usage with a client

Get video details, fetch transcripts, and search for videos using your MCP client connected to the YouTube MCP Server.

// 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 });

Development

To test and build locally, install dependencies, run tests, and build the project.

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Run tests
npm test

# Build
npm run build

# Lint
npm run lint

Notes

This server provides endpoints to access video information, transcript management, channel management, and playlist management. Ensure you keep your API key secure and set a default transcript language if needed.

Security considerations

Treat your API key like a secret. Do not expose it in client-side code or public repositories. Use environment variables in your MCP client configuration and limit access to trusted environments.

Available tools

getVideo

Retrieve video details such as title, description, duration, and other metadata.

listVideos

List videos within a channel or playlist to explore content.

getTranscript

Retrieve transcripts for a video, with optional language support.

searchVideos

Search YouTube for videos matching a query.

getChannel

Fetch details about a channel.

listChannelVideos

List videos associated with a channel.

getPlaylistItems

List items within a playlist.

getPlaylist

Get details about a playlist.