YouTube MCP Server

What is YouTube MCP Server?

YouTube MCP Server is an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that enables Claude and other AI assistants to interact with the YouTube API. It provides tools to search for videos, get video details, search for channels, and obtain channel information. It is intended for developers and users who want their AI assistant to access YouTube data.

How to use YouTube MCP Server?

Install Node.js v16+, clone the repository, run npm install, create a .env file with your YOUTUBE_API_KEY, then start the server with npm start. To integrate with Claude Desktop, add the server configuration to claude_desktop_config.json specifying the path to index.js and the API key.

Key features of YouTube MCP Server

• Search videos by query with optional pagination
• Get detailed information for a specific video by ID
• Search for channels by query
• Get detailed channel information by channel ID
• Access a list of currently popular YouTube videos as a resource

Use cases of YouTube MCP Server

• Ask your AI assistant to find tutorials on a topic (e.g., “Search for Python programming videos”)
• Retrieve metadata for a specific YouTube video (e.g., “Show me details of video ID dQw4w9WgXcQ”)
• Discover channels related to a field (e.g., “Search for cooking-related channels”)
• Get channel profiles (e.g., “Give me information about the GoogleDevelopers channel”)
• Query trending content (e.g., “What are the most popular videos right now?”)

FAQ from YouTube MCP Server

What is MCP?

Model Context Protocol is an open standard by Anthropic that connects AI assistants with external data sources and tools, allowing models like Claude to access up-to-date information and perform actions in external systems.

What are the requirements to run YouTube MCP Server?

Node.js v16 or higher and a valid YouTube API key from the Google Developer Console are required.

How do I get a YouTube API key?

Go to the Google Developer Console, create a project, enable YouTube Data API v3, create credentials, select “API key”, and copy the key.

How do I integrate this server with Claude Desktop?

Add a configuration block to your claude_desktop_config.json (located in %APPDATA%\Claude\ on Windows or ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/ on macOS) specifying the command as "node", the args as the absolute path to index.js, and the environment variable YOUTUBE_API_KEY.

What tools are available?

The server provides four tools: search_videos, get_video_details, get_channel_details, and search_channels. Each accepts specific parameters such as query, maxResults, videoId, channelId, and pageToken.