YouTube Data CLI Skill

You have access to youtube-data-cli, a CLI for the YouTube Data API v3 covering all 20 resources with 52 commands. Use it to search YouTube, manage channels/videos/playlists/comments/subscriptions, upload videos and captions, set thumbnails, and more.

Quick start

# Check if the CLI is available
youtube-data-cli --help

# Search for videos
youtube-data-cli search --q "node.js tutorial" --type video --max-results 5

# Get a channel's public data
youtube-data-cli channels UCxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

If the CLI is not installed, install it:

npm install -g youtube-data-cli

Authentication

Credentials are resolved in this order:

1. --credentials flag (per-command)
2. YOUTUBE_API_KEY, YOUTUBE_CLIENT_ID, YOUTUBE_CLIENT_SECRET, YOUTUBE_REFRESH_TOKEN env vars
3. ~/.config/youtube-data-cli/credentials.json (auto-detected)

Recommended OAuth scope: https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtube (full access). Add https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtube.upload if using narrower scopes but need video uploads.

Important: Service accounts do NOT work with YouTube APIs. You must use OAuth 2.0 with a refresh token.

Output format

All commands output pretty-printed JSON by default. Use --format compact for single-line JSON.

Global options:

• --format -- json (default, pretty-printed) or compact (single-line)
• --credentials -- path to credentials JSON file

Errors are written to stderr as JSON with an error field and a non-zero exit code.

Commands reference

search

Search YouTube for videos, channels, and playlists.

youtube-data-cli search --q "query" [--type video] [--max-results 10] [--order viewCount]

Key options: --q (required), --type, --max-results, --order, --channel-id, --page-token, --published-after, --published-before, --region-code, --relevance-language, --safe-search, --video-duration, --event-type

channels / channels-update

Get or update channel details.

youtube-data-cli channels UCxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
youtube-data-cli channels                    # your own channel (OAuth)
youtube-data-cli channels-update --id UCxxxxxxxxxxxxxx --description "New desc" --country US

videos / videos-insert / videos-update / videos-delete

Get, upload, update, or delete videos.

youtube-data-cli videos dQw4w9WgXcQ
youtube-data-cli videos-insert --file video.mp4 --title "My Video" --privacy private
youtube-data-cli videos-update --id VID --title "Updated Title" --category-id 22 --tags "a,b"
youtube-data-cli videos-delete --id VID

videos-rate / videos-get-rating / videos-report-abuse

Rate videos and report abuse.

youtube-data-cli videos-rate --id VID --rating like
youtube-data-cli videos-rate --id VID --rating none       # remove rating
youtube-data-cli videos-get-rating --id VID1,VID2
youtube-data-cli videos-report-abuse --video-id VID --reason-id REASON_ID

playlists / playlists-insert / playlists-update / playlists-delete

Manage playlists.

youtube-data-cli playlists --channel-id UCxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
youtube-data-cli playlists --mine
youtube-data-cli playlists-insert --title "My Playlist" --privacy public
youtube-data-cli playlists-update --id PLxxxxxxxxxxxxxx --title "New Title"
youtube-data-cli playlists-delete --id PLxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

playlist-items / playlist-items-insert / playlist-items-update / playlist-items-delete

Manage videos in playlists.

youtube-data-cli playlist-items --playlist-id PLxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
youtube-data-cli playlist-items-insert --playlist-id PLxxxxxxxxxxxxxx --video-id dQw4w9WgXcQ
youtube-data-cli playlist-items-update --id ITEM_ID --playlist-id PLxxxxxxxxxxxxxx --video-id dQw4w9WgXcQ --position 0
youtube-data-cli playlist-items-delete --id ITEM_ID

comment-threads / comment-threads-insert

List and post top-level comments.

youtube-data-cli comment-threads --video-id dQw4w9WgXcQ
youtube-data-cli comment-threads-insert --video-id dQw4w9WgXcQ --text "Great video!"

Key options for listing: --video-id, --channel-id, --id, --order, --search-terms, --max-results, --page-token

comments / comments-insert / comments-update / comments-delete / comments-set-moderation-status

Manage comment replies and moderation.

youtube-data-cli comments --parent-id COMMENT_ID
youtube-data-cli comments-insert --parent-id COMMENT_ID --text "Thanks!"
youtube-data-cli comments-update --id COMMENT_ID --text "Updated text"
youtube-data-cli comments-delete --id COMMENT_ID
youtube-data-cli comments-set-moderation-status --id COMMENT_ID --moderation-status published

subscriptions / subscriptions-insert / subscriptions-delete

Manage subscriptions.

youtube-data-cli subscriptions --mine
youtube-data-cli subscriptions-insert --channel-id UCxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
youtube-data-cli subscriptions-delete --id SUBSCRIPTION_ID

activities

List channel activities.

youtube-data-cli activities --channel-id UCxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
youtube-data-cli activities --mine

captions / captions-insert / captions-update / captions-download / captions-delete

Manage video captions (subtitles).

youtube-data-cli captions --video-id VID
youtube-data-cli captions-insert --video-id VID --file subs.srt --language en --name "English"
youtube-data-cli captions-update --id CAP_ID --file new-subs.srt
youtube-data-cli captions-download --id CAP_ID --tfmt srt --output subs.srt
youtube-data-cli captions-delete --id CAP_ID

channel-banners-insert

Upload a channel banner image. Returns a URL to use with channels-update.

youtube-data-cli channel-banners-insert --file banner.jpg

channel-sections / channel-sections-insert / channel-sections-update / channel-sections-delete

Manage channel page sections.

youtube-data-cli channel-sections --channel-id UCxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
youtube-data-cli channel-sections-insert --type singlePlaylist --title "Featured" --playlist-ids PLxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
youtube-data-cli channel-sections-update --id SECTION_ID --type singlePlaylist --title "Updated"
youtube-data-cli channel-sections-delete --id SECTION_ID

i18n-languages / i18n-regions

List supported languages and regions.

youtube-data-cli i18n-languages
youtube-data-cli i18n-regions

members / memberships-levels

List channel members and membership levels (OAuth required).

youtube-data-cli members
youtube-data-cli memberships-levels

playlist-images / playlist-images-insert / playlist-images-update / playlist-images-delete

Manage playlist cover images.

youtube-data-cli playlist-images --parent PLxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
youtube-data-cli playlist-images-insert --playlist-id PLxxxxxxxxxxxxxx --file cover.jpg
youtube-data-cli playlist-images-delete --id IMAGE_ID

thumbnails-set

Upload a custom thumbnail for a video (OAuth required).

youtube-data-cli thumbnails-set --video-id VID --file thumb.jpg

video-categories / video-abuse-report-reasons

List video categories and abuse report reasons.

youtube-data-cli video-categories --region-code US
youtube-data-cli video-abuse-report-reasons

watermarks-set / watermarks-unset

Manage channel watermarks (OAuth required).

youtube-data-cli watermarks-set --channel-id UCxxxxxxxxxxxxxx --file watermark.png
youtube-data-cli watermarks-unset --channel-id UCxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Workflow guidance

Discover content

1. Search for videos: youtube-data-cli search --q "topic" --type video --max-results 10
2. Get video details: youtube-data-cli videos VIDEO_ID
3. Read comments: youtube-data-cli comment-threads --video-id VIDEO_ID

Upload and manage videos

1. Upload: youtube-data-cli videos-insert --file video.mp4 --title "Title" --privacy private
2. Set thumbnail: youtube-data-cli thumbnails-set --video-id VID --file thumb.jpg
3. Add captions: youtube-data-cli captions-insert --video-id VID --file subs.srt --language en --name "English"
4. Make public: youtube-data-cli videos-update --id VID --title "Title" --privacy public

Manage playlists

1. List your playlists: youtube-data-cli playlists --mine
2. Create a new one: youtube-data-cli playlists-insert --title "Favorites" --privacy private
3. Add videos: youtube-data-cli playlist-items-insert --playlist-id PL_ID --video-id VID
4. Reorder: youtube-data-cli playlist-items-update --id ITEM_ID --playlist-id PL_ID --video-id VID --position 0

Comment management

1. List comments on a video: youtube-data-cli comment-threads --video-id VID --order time
2. Post a comment: youtube-data-cli comment-threads-insert --video-id VID --text "..."
3. Reply to a comment: youtube-data-cli comments-insert --parent-id COMMENT_ID --text "..."
4. Moderate: youtube-data-cli comments-set-moderation-status --id COMMENT_ID --moderation-status published

Channel management

1. Get channel info: youtube-data-cli channels
2. Update branding: youtube-data-cli channels-update --id CH_ID --description "..." --country US
3. Upload banner: youtube-data-cli channel-banners-insert --file banner.jpg
4. Set watermark: youtube-data-cli watermarks-set --channel-id CH_ID --file watermark.png
5. Manage sections: youtube-data-cli channel-sections --mine

Error handling

• OAuth credentials required -- write operations need client_id, client_secret, refresh_token
• Token refresh failed -- refresh token may be expired, user needs to re-authorize
• No credentials found -- provide credentials via --credentials, env vars, or default file
• HTTP 403 Forbidden -- insufficient scopes or API not enabled

API documentation

• youtube-data-cli documentation
• YouTube Data API v3