YouTube Toolkit

MCP server for YouTube content analysis, transcript extraction, and creator style profiling with intelligent caching and rate limit protection.

This toolkit enables AI assistants to:

• Analyze YouTube channels and their content strategies
• Extract video transcripts without rate limit issues (with intelligent caching)
• Search YouTube and analyze trends in specific niches
• Compare creator styles and teaching approaches
• Identify content gaps and opportunities
• Track channel performance over time

Claude Code Custom Commands

This toolkit includes powerful Claude Code slash commands in the .claude/commands/ directory that automate common YouTube analysis workflows:

• /analyze-channel - Comprehensive channel analysis with metrics, content strategy insights, and growth opportunities
• /research-niche - Research successful content in any YouTube niche to understand what works
• /compare-creators - Compare teaching styles and content approaches between multiple videos
• /track-performance - Track channel performance trends over time with detailed analytics
• /find-content-gaps - Identify underserved topics and content opportunities in your niche

To use these commands in Claude Code:

1. Ensure the MCP server is installed and configured (see Quick Start below)
2. Type / in Claude Code to see available commands
3. Example: /analyze-channel "UCBJycsmduvYEL83R_U4JriQ"

These commands handle all the complexity of data fetching, analysis, and report generation automatically.

Quick Start for MCP Clients

1. Install the MCP server

# Install using uvx (recommended for stability)
uvx --from youtube-toolkit youtube-toolkit-server

2. Configure your MCP client

For Claude Code

# Add with automatic configuration
claude mcp add youtube-toolkit --uvx youtube-toolkit

# Or with full configuration including API key
claude mcp add-json -s user youtube-toolkit '{"type":"stdio","command":"uvx","args":["--from","youtube-toolkit","youtube-toolkit-server"],"env":{"YOUTUBE_API_KEY":"your-api-key-here","TRANSCRIPT_CACHE_DIR":"~/youtube-transcript-cache","DEFAULT_TRANSCRIPT_DELAY":"10.0","MAX_CACHE_AGE_DAYS":"30"}}'

For Claude Desktop

Add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube-toolkit": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["--from", "youtube-toolkit", "youtube-toolkit-server"],
      "env": {
        "YOUTUBE_API_KEY": "your-youtube-api-key-here",
        "TRANSCRIPT_CACHE_DIR": "~/youtube-transcript-cache",
        "DEFAULT_TRANSCRIPT_DELAY": "10.0",
        "MAX_CACHE_AGE_DAYS": "30"
      }
    }
  }
}

For Cline

Add to .vscode/settings.json in your project:

{
  "cline.MCP.mcpServers": {
    "youtube-toolkit": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["--from", "youtube-toolkit", "youtube-toolkit-server"],
      "env": {
        "YOUTUBE_API_KEY": "your-youtube-api-key-here",
        "TRANSCRIPT_CACHE_DIR": "~/youtube-transcript-cache",
        "DEFAULT_TRANSCRIPT_DELAY": "10.0",
        "MAX_CACHE_AGE_DAYS": "30"
      }
    }
  }
}

3. Get your credentials (if needed)

• YouTube API Key (optional but recommended): Get from Google Cloud Console
  1. Create a new project or select existing
  2. Enable YouTube Data API v3
  3. Create credentials (API Key)
  4. Restrict key to YouTube Data API v3 for security

Note: The toolkit works without an API key by using transcript-only features, but channel/video metadata requires the API key.

4. Start using the tools

Once configured, you can ask your AI assistant to:

• "Analyze the YouTube channel UCBJycsmduvYEL83R_U4JriQ"
• "Research what content is succeeding in the Python programming niche"
• "Compare teaching styles between these 3 YouTube videos: [URLs]"
• "Find content gaps in the AI coding tools niche"
• "Track performance trends for channel UCxxxxxx over the last 90 days"

Features

• YouTube channel analysis with comprehensive metrics
• Transcript extraction with intelligent caching and rate limit protection
• Video metadata fetching (views, likes, duration, etc.)
• YouTube search with multiple sort options
• Content gap identification and opportunity analysis
• Support for both stdio and SSE transports
• Comprehensive logging with automatic rotation
• Cross-platform compatibility (Linux, macOS, Windows)

Available Tools

youtube_get_video_transcript

Fetches and caches video transcripts with flexible extraction modes.

Parameters:

• video_id (required): YouTube video ID or URL
• extract_mode (optional, default: 'full'): 'full', 'analysis', 'intro_only', or 'outro_only'
• use_cache (optional, default: true): Use cached transcript if available
• delay_seconds (optional): Seconds to wait before scraping

Returns:

• Transcript text with timing data and metadata including cache status

youtube_get_video_metadata

Fetches comprehensive metadata for a YouTube video.

Parameters:

• video_id (required): YouTube video ID or full URL
• include_statistics (optional, default: true): Include view/like/comment counts

Returns:

• Video title, description, channel info, duration, statistics, and more

youtube_get_channel_videos

Lists recent videos from a YouTube channel with detailed metadata.

Parameters:

• channel_id (required): YouTube channel ID (must start with 'UC')
• max_results (optional, default: 10): Number of videos to return (1-50)
• include_transcripts (optional, default: false): Fetch transcript for each video
• use_cache (optional, default: true): Use cached transcripts when available
• delay_seconds (optional): Seconds between transcript fetches

Returns:

• Channel info with subscriber count, array of videos with metadata

youtube_search_videos

Searches YouTube videos with sorting options.

Parameters:

• query (required): Search terms
• max_results (optional, default: 10): Number of results (1-50)
• order (optional, default: 'relevance'): Sort by 'relevance', 'date', 'viewCount', or 'rating'
• published_after (optional): ISO 8601 date string

Returns:

• Array of video results with metadata

youtube_get_channel_metadata

Fetches comprehensive channel information.

Parameters:

• channel_id (required): Channel ID, username, or handle

Returns:

• Channel title, statistics, branding, and configuration

Alternative Configuration Methods

Using a different MCP client

The configuration above works for Claude Desktop, Claude Code, and Cline. For other MCP clients:

1. Use uvx --from youtube-toolkit youtube-toolkit-server as the command
2. Set any required environment variables
3. Consult your MCP client's documentation for specific configuration format

Running from source (Development only)

For development or testing from source code:

{
  "youtube_toolkit": {
    "command": "python",
    "args": ["-m", "youtube_toolkit.server.app"],
    "env": {
      "PYTHONPATH": "/path/to/youtube_toolkit"
    }
  }
}

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

1. "Tool not found" error

   • Ensure the server is running and properly configured
   • Check that the tool name is spelled correctly (e.g., youtube_get_video_transcript)
   • Verify your MCP client is connected to the server

2. No YouTube API key configured

   • The toolkit will still work but only transcript features will be available
   • Channel and video metadata tools will return an error
   • Add YOUTUBE_API_KEY to your environment configuration

3. Rate limit errors

   • Transcript fetching includes built-in delays to prevent rate limiting
   • If you still hit limits, increase DEFAULT_TRANSCRIPT_DELAY
   • Cached transcripts are used automatically when available

4. Cache directory issues

   • Ensure TRANSCRIPT_CACHE_DIR exists and is writable
   • Default is ~/youtube-transcript-cache
   • Cache files older than MAX_CACHE_AGE_DAYS are automatically cleaned

Server Connection Issues

If the MCP server fails to connect:

1. Verify uvx is installed:

   # Install uv if needed
   curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh  # macOS/Linux
   # Or for Windows:
   powershell -c "irm https://astral.sh/uv/install.ps1 | iex"
   

2. Test the server directly:

   # This should output "YouTube Toolkit MCP Server running"
   uvx --from youtube-toolkit youtube-toolkit-server --version
   

3. Check your MCP client logs for specific error messages

Requirements

• Python 3.11 or 3.12

• Operating Systems: Linux, macOS, Windows

• YouTube Data API v3 key (optional, for full functionality)

• Internet access for YouTube API and transcript fetching

• Write access to cache directory for transcript storage

Logging

The server logs all activity to both stderr and a rotating log file. Log files are stored in OS-specific locations:

• macOS: ~/Library/Logs/mcp-servers/youtube_toolkit.log
• Linux: ~/.local/state/mcp-servers/logs/youtube_toolkit.log
• Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\mcp-servers\logs\youtube_toolkit.log

Logs rotate at 10MB with 5 backups kept. Control verbosity with LOG_LEVEL:

LOG_LEVEL=DEBUG uvx youtube_toolkit-server

Development

For development setup, testing, and contribution guidelines, see DEVELOPMENT.md.

AI Assistant Configuration

For detailed setup instructions for AI coding assistants (Claude, Cline, etc.), see SETUP_PROMPT.md.

License

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

Author

Tim Kitchens - timkitch@codingthefuture.ai