YouTube MCP Server

The server provides tools to interact with YouTube content. Below are examples of how these tools are used conceptually:

Video Operations

• getVideo: Retrieve details like title, description, and duration.
• getTranscript: Retrieve timestamped captions for a video.
• searchVideos: Search for videos using a query.

Channel Operations

• getChannel: Get channel details and statistics.
• listVideos: List videos belonging to a specific channel.

Playlist Operations

• getPlaylistItems: List items within a playlist.
• getPlaylist: Get specific playlist details.

// Get video details
const video = await youtube.videos.getVideo({
  videoId: "video-id"
});

// Get video transcript
const transcript = await youtube.transcripts.getTranscript({
  videoId: "video-id",
  language: "en"
});

// Search videos
const searchResults = await youtube.videos.searchVideos({
  query: "search term",
  maxResults: 10
});

// Get channel details
const channel = await youtube.channels.getChannel({
  channelId: "channel-id"
});

// List channel videos
const videos = await youtube.channels.listVideos({
  channelId: "channel-id",
  maxResults: 50
});

// Get playlist items
const playlistItems = await youtube.playlists.getPlaylistItems({
  playlistId: "playlist-id",
  maxResults: 50
});

// Get playlist details
const playlist = await youtube.playlists.getPlaylist({
  playlistId: "playlist-id"
});

To use the YouTube MCP Server with Claude Desktop, you can either install it globally via npm or use npx to run it without a permanent installation.

Option 1: Global Installation

1. Install the package globally:

npm install -g zubeid-youtube-mcp-server

2. Update your Claude Desktop configuration file (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json on Windows) with the following entry:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zubeid-youtube-mcp-server": {
      "command": "zubeid-youtube-mcp-server",
      "env": {
        "YOUTUBE_API_KEY": "your_primary_youtube_api_key",
        "YOUTUBE_API_KEY2": "your_secondary_youtube_api_key",
        "YOUTUBE_API_KEY3": "your_tertiary_youtube_api_key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Option 2: Using NPX (No Installation Required)

Add this to your Claude Desktop configuration instead:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "zubeid-youtube-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "YOUTUBE_API_KEY": "your_primary_youtube_api_key",
        "YOUTUBE_API_KEY2": "your_secondary_youtube_api_key",
        "YOUTUBE_API_KEY3": "your_tertiary_youtube_api_key"
      }
    }
  }
}

To manually configure the YouTube MCP server in VS Code, add the following JSON block to your User Settings (JSON) file (accessible via Ctrl + Shift + P -> Preferences: Open User Settings (JSON)):

{
  "mcp": {
    "inputs": [
      {
        "type": "promptString",
        "id": "apiKey",
        "description": "YouTube API Key",
        "password": true
      }
    ],
    "servers": {
      "youtube": {
        "command": "npx",
        "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-youtube"],
        "env": {
          "YOUTUBE_API_KEY": "${input:apiKey}"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Alternatively, you can create a .vscode/mcp.json file in your workspace with the following content:

{
  "inputs": [
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "apiKey",
      "description": "YouTube API Key",
      "password": true
    }
  ],
  "servers": {
    "youtube": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-youtube"],
      "env": {
        "YOUTUBE_API_KEY": "${input:apiKey}"
      }
    }
  }
}