YouTube MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server implementation utilizing the YouTube Data API. It allows AI language models to interact with YouTube content through a standardized interface.

Key Features

Video Information

Retrieve detailed video information (title, description, duration, statistics)
Search for videos by keywords
Get related videos based on a specific video
Calculate and analyze video engagement ratios

Transcript/Caption Management

Retrieve video captions with multi-language support
Specify language preferences for transcripts
Access time-stamped captions for precise content reference

Channel Analysis

View detailed channel statistics (subscribers, views, video count)
Get top-performing videos from a channel
Analyze channel growth and engagement metrics

Trend Analysis

View trending videos by region and category
Compare performance metrics across multiple videos
Discover popular content in specific categories

Available Tools

The server provides the following MCP tools:

Tool Name	Description	Required Parameters
`getVideoDetails`	Get detailed information about multiple YouTube videos including metadata, statistics, and content details	`videoIds` (array)
`searchVideos`	Search for videos based on a query string	`query`, `maxResults` (optional)
`getTranscripts`	Retrieve transcripts for multiple videos	`videoIds` (array), `lang` (optional)
`getRelatedVideos`	Get videos related to a specific video based on YouTube's recommendation algorithm	`videoId`, `maxResults` (optional)
`getChannelStatistics`	Retrieve detailed metrics for multiple channels including subscriber count, view count, and video count	`channelIds` (array)
`getChannelTopVideos`	Get the most viewed videos from a specific channel	`channelId`, `maxResults` (optional)
`getVideoEngagementRatio`	Calculate engagement metrics for multiple videos (views, likes, comments, and engagement ratio)	`videoIds` (array)
`getTrendingVideos`	Get currently popular videos by region and category	`regionCode` (optional), `categoryId` (optional), `maxResults` (optional)
`compareVideos`	Compare statistics across multiple videos	`videoIds` (array)

Installation

Automatic Installation via Smithery

Automatically install YouTube MCP Server for Claude Desktop via Smithery:

npx -y @smithery/cli install @icraft2170/youtube-data-mcp-server --client claude

Manual Installation

# Install from npm
npm install youtube-data-mcp-server

# Or clone repository
git clone https://github.com/icraft2170/youtube-data-mcp-server.git
cd youtube-data-mcp-server
npm install

Environment Configuration

Set the following environment variables:

YOUTUBE_API_KEY: YouTube Data API key (required)
YOUTUBE_TRANSCRIPT_LANG: Default caption language (optional, default: 'ko')

MCP Client Configuration

Add the following to your Claude Desktop configuration file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "youtube-data-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "YOUTUBE_API_KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE",
        "YOUTUBE_TRANSCRIPT_LANG": "ko"
      }
    }
  }
}

YouTube API Setup

Access Google Cloud Console
Create a new project or select an existing one
Enable YouTube Data API v3
Create API credentials (API key)
Use the generated API key in your environment configuration

Development

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Run in development mode
npm run dev

# Build
npm run build

Network Configuration

The server exposes the following ports for communication:

HTTP: 3000
gRPC: 3001

System Requirements

Node.js 18.0.0 or higher

Security Considerations

Always keep your API key secure and never commit it to version control systems
Manage your API key through environment variables or configuration files
Set usage limits for your API key to prevent unauthorized use

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.

YouTube MCP Server