YouTube Studio Skill

YouTube Studio Skill

Comprehensive YouTube channel management skill for Clawdbot. Monitor analytics, upload videos, manage comments, and generate content ideas.

Overview

youtube-studio provides full-featured YouTube channel management:

• Real-time channel statistics and analytics
• Video upload with metadata and scheduling
• Comment monitoring and AI-powered reply suggestions
• Content idea generation based on trends and niche
• Rate limiting and error recovery
• OAuth 2.0 authentication

Setup

1. YouTube Data API v3 Credentials

Get API Key & OAuth Credentials

1. Go to Google Cloud Console
2. Create a new project (e.g., "Clawdbot YouTube Studio")
3. Enable YouTube Data API v3:
   • Search for "YouTube Data API v3"
   • Click "Enable"
4. Create OAuth 2.0 credentials:
   • Go to "Credentials"
   • Click "Create Credentials" → "OAuth client ID"
   • Choose "Desktop application"
   • Download JSON (save as credentials.json)
5. Create an API Key (for public requests):
   • Click "Create Credentials" → "API Key"
   • Copy the key

File Structure

~/.clawd-youtube/
├── credentials.json       # OAuth credentials (from step 4)
├── tokens.json           # Generated after first OAuth flow
└── config.env            # API keys and settings

2. Environment Setup

Copy .env.example to ~/.clawd-youtube/config.env:

# YouTube API
YOUTUBE_API_KEY=your_api_key_here
YOUTUBE_CLIENT_ID=your_client_id.apps.googleusercontent.com
YOUTUBE_CLIENT_SECRET=your_client_secret
YOUTUBE_REDIRECT_URI=http://localhost:8888/oauth2callback

# Channel Settings
YOUTUBE_CHANNEL_ID=UCxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
YOUTUBE_CHANNEL_NAME=YourChannelName

# AI Model (for suggestions & replies)
AI_MODEL=openrouter/anthropic/claude-haiku-4.5
AI_API_KEY=your_api_key

# Rate Limiting
API_QUOTA_PER_DAY=1000000
BATCH_SIZE=50

# Logging
LOG_LEVEL=info
LOG_DIR=./logs

3. OAuth 2.0 Flow

The skill handles OAuth automatically on first run:

youtube-studio auth
# Opens browser to Google login
# Exchanges auth code for refresh token
# Saves tokens to tokens.json

Subsequent runs use the saved refresh token (no re-auth needed).

Commands

Check Channel Statistics

youtube-studio stats
youtube-studio stats --days 7        # Last 7 days
youtube-studio stats --json          # JSON output

Output:

• Total views, subscribers, watch time
• Recent video performance (top 5)
• Growth trends
• Engagement metrics (avg views, likes, comments per video)

Upload Video

youtube-studio upload \
  --file video.mp4 \
  --title "My Devotional Series #5" \
  --description "Join me for another..." \
  --tags "devotional,faith,inspiration" \
  --privacy public \
  --schedule "2024-01-15T10:00:00Z"

Options:

• --file (required): Video file path (mp4, mov, avi, mkv)
• --title (required): Video title
• --description: Full description (supports markdown)
• --tags: Comma-separated tags (max 500 chars)
• --privacy: public, unlisted, private (default: unlisted)
• --thumbnail: Custom thumbnail image path
• --playlist: Add to existing playlist by name
• --schedule: ISO 8601 datetime for scheduled upload
• --category: Video category (Music, People, etc.)

List Recent Comments

youtube-studio comments
youtube-studio comments --video-id xxxxx    # Specific video
youtube-studio comments --unread            # Unread only
youtube-studio comments --limit 50          # Limit results
youtube-studio comments --json              # JSON output

Reply to Comment

youtube-studio reply \
  --comment-id Qmxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx \
  --text "Thanks for watching!" \
  --suggest                    # Show AI suggestions first

Flags:

• --suggest: Generate 3 reply suggestions before responding
• --template: Use preset template (grateful, educational, promotional)
• --dry-run: Preview without sending

Generate Video Ideas

youtube-studio ideas
youtube-studio ideas --niche devotional
youtube-studio ideas --trending          # Based on YouTube trends
youtube-studio ideas --json              # JSON output
youtube-studio ideas --count 10          # Number of ideas

Output:

• Title suggestions
• Description hooks
• Target audience analysis
• SEO keywords
• Estimated search volume
• Thumbnail ideas

Rate Limiting

YouTube API quotas:

• Daily quota: 1,000,000 units (default)
• Per-method costs:
  • channels.list: 1 unit
  • videos.list: 1 unit
  • videos.insert: 1,600 units (upload)
  • commentThreads.list: 1 unit
  • comments.insert: 1 unit

Skill handles:

• Automatic quota tracking
• Request batching
• Exponential backoff on 403 errors
• Daily reset monitoring
• Quota alerts when >80% used

youtube-studio quota-status    # Check remaining quota

Error Recovery

File Structure

youtube-studio/
├── SKILL.md                           # This file
├── README.md                          # User guide
├── scripts/
│   ├── youtube-studio.js              # Main entry point & CLI
│   ├── channel-analytics.js           # Stats & analytics
│   ├── video-uploader.js              # Video upload logic
│   ├── comment-manager.js             # Comment operations
│   ├── content-ideas.js               # Idea generation
│   ├── auth-handler.js                # OAuth flow
│   ├── api-client.js                  # Quota-aware API wrapper
│   └── utils.js                       # Helpers
├── config/
│   ├── templates.json                 # Description templates, tags
│   └── niche-prompts.json             # Prompt templates for ideas
├── .env.example                       # Environment template
├── package.json                       # Dependencies
└── logs/                              # Runtime logs

Templates

Video Description Template

{
  "devoted_journey": {
    "title": "Daily Devotional - {topic}",
    "description": "🙏 {hook}\n\n{body}\n\n⏱️ Timestamps:\n{timestamps}\n\n📖 Scripture: {reference}\n\n💬 Reflect: {reflection_question}",
    "tags": ["devotional", "faith", "scripture", "spiritual"]
  }
}

Comment Reply Templates

• grateful: Thank subscribers for support
• educational: Explain concepts deeper
• promotional: Link to related videos
• engagement: Ask follow-up questions

Dependencies

{
  "googleapis": "^120.0.0",
  "google-auth-library": "^9.0.0",
  "axios": "^1.6.0",
  "express": "^4.18.0"
}

Troubleshooting

"Invalid grant" error

• Delete tokens.json
• Run youtube-studio auth again
• Check credentials.json is valid

Quota exceeded

• Check youtube-studio quota-status
• Wait until midnight UTC (quota resets)
• Consider raising API quota in Cloud Console

Upload fails

• Check file exists and is readable
• Verify file format is supported
• Check video doesn't violate YouTube policies
• Use --dry-run to test metadata first

Comments not appearing

• Ensure channel is authenticated with owner account
• Check comment moderation settings
• Verify YOUTUBE_CHANNEL_ID matches your channel

API Reference

Core Methods

authenticateOAuth()

Initiates OAuth 2.0 flow. Returns refresh token.

getChannelStats(options = {})

• days: Number of days to look back (default: 30)
• Returns: { views, subscribers, watchHours, videos, topVideos[] }

uploadVideo(metadata, filePath, options = {})

• metadata: title, description, tags, privacy
• filePath: Path to video file
• Returns: { videoId, status, scheduledTime }

listComments(videoId = null, options = {})

• videoId: Specific video or null for all
• unread: Boolean, get unread only
• Returns: { comments[], total, pageToken }

replyToComment(commentId, text, options = {})

• template: Use preset template
• suggestFirst: Get AI suggestions
• Returns: { replyId, text }

generateVideoIdeas(options = {})

• niche: Channel niche/category
• trending: Include trending topics
• Returns: { ideas[], keywords[], thumbnail_prompts[] }

Examples

Full Daily Workflow

# Check stats
youtube-studio stats --days 1

# Review comments with suggestions
youtube-studio comments --limit 20 --suggest

# Generate new video ideas
youtube-studio ideas --trending --count 5

# Check quota before scheduling uploads
youtube-studio quota-status

Automated Upload (Scripting)

#!/bin/bash
youtube-studio upload \
  --file ~/Videos/devotional.mp4 \
  --title "Daily Devotional - $(date +%Y-%m-%d)" \
  --description "$(cat description.txt)" \
  --schedule "$(date -d 'tomorrow 10:00' -Iseconds)" \
  --tags "devotional,daily,faith"

Limitations

• YouTube API quota: 1M units/day (sufficient for ~600 uploads/day)
• Videos must be <256GB
• Title limited to 100 characters
• Description limited to 5,000 characters
• Comment replies limited to 10,000 characters
• No live stream management (yet)

Future Enhancements

• Live stream monitoring and chat moderation
• Playlist automation
• Subtitle generation (using Whisper)
• Thumbnail optimization with CV
• Analytics dashboards
• Multi-channel support
• Scheduled content calendar

License

MIT - Use freely within Clawdbot ecosystem

Support

Issues? Check:

1. ~/.clawd-youtube/logs/ for debug output
2. Credentials validity: youtube-studio auth
3. API quotas: youtube-studio quota-status
4. Network: Ping Google API servers