yb

Streamline media publishing: prepare a piece of media once, publish it anywhere — to YouTube (upload + edit) or as a podcast (show notes, chapters, RSS) — plus a download module for pulling videos back down.

import yb

# Download a video (-> ~/Downloads, named "Title (id).mp4")
r = yb.download_youtube_video("https://youtu.be/PRa9ciOe-us")

# One call: transcribe, write title/description/keywords, detect chapters,
# render a thumbnail, and upload to YouTube (unlisted) with captions.
yb.prepare_and_publish(r.path, language="English", language_code="en",
                       audio_language_code="en", privacy_status="unlisted")

Why

yb separates what you publish from where you publish it. A media file is turned into a platform-neutral PublicationContent — title, description, keywords, chapters, captions, thumbnail — and thin adapters map that onto each destination's API. The media work itself (transcription, chapter detection, thumbnails, dubbing/translation) lives in the mixing package; yb is the publication layer on top.

Install

pip install yb                 # core (needs `mixing`)
pip install 'yb[youtube]'      # YouTube upload/edit (Google API client)
pip install 'yb[download]'     # yt-dlp downloader
pip install 'yb[podcast]'      # podcast chapters (ID3/PSC) + RSS
pip install 'yb[llm]'          # LLM metadata/chapter copy (via `aix`)
pip install 'yb[all]'          # everything

Everything heavy is an optional extra, and import yb never fails for a missing one — the error only surfaces when you actually call that feature. You also need ffmpeg on PATH for media work, and an ELEVENLABS_API_KEY for transcription.

Common tasks

Download

from yb.download import download_youtube_video, youtube_video_info

youtube_video_info(url)                       # metadata only, no download
download_youtube_video(url)                   # best quality -> ~/Downloads/"Title (id).mp4"
download_youtube_video(url, download_dir="~/clips", write_info_json=True,
                       write_subtitles=True, subtitle_langs=("en", "fr"))

The destination defaults to $YB_DOWNLOAD_DIR (else ~/Downloads). Every knob — format, filename template, which sidecar metadata to also save — is overridable, and any raw yt-dlp option can be passed via extra_opts=.

Publish to YouTube

from yb.youtube import prepare_and_publish, VideoMetadata, publish_video, CaptionTrack

# High level: prepare assets from the media file, then upload.
result = prepare_and_publish("promo.fr.mp4", language="French",
                             language_code="fr", audio_language_code="fr",
                             privacy_status="unlisted")
print(result["url"])

# Lower level: you supply the metadata and captions.
meta = VideoMetadata(title="...", description="...", tags=[...],
                     default_language="en", default_audio_language="en")
publish_video("promo.en.mp4", meta, privacy_status="unlisted",
              captions=[CaptionTrack("promo.en.srt", "en", "English")],
              thumbnail="thumb.jpg")

Chapters are on by default: when the media is long enough to host them (YouTube requires ≥3 markers, each ≥10 s, first at 0:00), they are detected from the transcript and embedded in the description so YouTube renders interactive chapters. Short clips simply get none.

Edit an already-published video

from yb.youtube import update_video_fields, upsert_caption, set_chapters, set_thumbnail
from mixing.chapters import Chapter

update_video_fields("VIDEO_ID", title="New title", tags=["a", "b"])
upsert_caption("VIDEO_ID", "subs.fr.srt", language="fr", name="Français")  # replaces same-lang track
set_chapters("VIDEO_ID", [Chapter(0, "Intro"), Chapter(45, "Demo")])
set_thumbnail("VIDEO_ID", "thumb.jpg")

Read live stats & metadata

from yb.youtube import video_metadata, FIELD_GROUPS

video_metadata("VIDEO_ID", group="engagement")            # dict: views, likes, dislikes, comments, ...
print(video_metadata("VIDEO_ID", group="engagement", as_table=True))  # readable ASCII table
video_metadata("VIDEO_ID", fields=["title", "views", "likes"])        # pick & order exact fields
print(video_metadata(["ID1", "ID2"], group="engagement", as_table=True))  # compare videos, one row each

One request returns a flat, typed view of a video's live numbers plus content and status details. With no group/fields you get every field; fields overrides group. Named groups (FIELD_GROUPS): engagement, overview, content, status, identity. dislikes is returned only to the video's owner (else None); watch-time/retention/shares live in the YouTube Analytics API, not here.

Publish a podcast episode

from yb.podcast import prepare_podcast_episode, PodcastChannel, EpisodeFeedItem, build_feed

ep = prepare_podcast_episode("episode.mp3", "out/",
                             cover_image="cover.jpg", make_cover_video=True)
# -> out/episode.mp3 (with ID3 chapters), .shownotes.txt, .psc.xml,
#    .chapters.json, and .cover.mp4

# Assemble an RSS feed (delivery to Spotify/Apple is via your podcast host).

A podcast episode and a YouTube video are built from the same PublicationContent: an episode "could just be audio with a cover image" (or a Ken Burns video), which is exactly what prepare_podcast_episode can render.

Setup (YouTube OAuth)

YouTube upload needs a Google OAuth Desktop client (one-time). gcloud is not required — the console path works. See the yb-setup skill for the full walkthrough (enable the API, create the OAuth client, run consent, test). Point yb at the client JSON via $YOUTUBE_CLIENT_SECRETS_FILE.

Note: until your Google Cloud project passes YouTube's one-time API compliance audit, uploads may be forced to private even when you request unlisted/public.

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