# Pp Youtube > A self-maintained competitor-monitoring machine for YouTube: the read surfaces that matter for market and competitor research plus a local databank of channel histories, snapshots, comments, and packaging assets - market data hours old, not weeks. Trigger phrases: `monitor my youtube competitors`, `which competitor videos are gaining views right now`, `find fresh breakout videos in a niche`, `youtube packaging and thumbnail analysis data`, `mine youtube comments for audience signal`, `new niche research workspace`, `switch youtube api key`, `backfill youtube channel history`, `get the transcript of this youtube video`, `use youtube`, `run youtube`. - Skill: `mvanhorn-printing-press-libra/pp-youtube` (Agent Skill) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds add mvanhorn-printing-press-libra/pp-youtube` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/mvanhorn-printing-press-libra/pp-youtube/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Research & Search - License: Apache-2.0 - Author: mvanhorn (https://skillmd.com/u/mvanhorn-printing-press-libra) - Updated: 2026-09-09 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/mvanhorn-printing-press-libra/pp-youtube --- # YouTube — Printing Press CLI ## Prerequisites: Install the CLI This skill drives the `youtube-pp-cli` binary. **You must verify the CLI is installed before invoking any command from this skill.** If it is missing, install it first: 1. Install via the Printing Press installer. It defaults binaries to `$HOME/.local/bin` on macOS/Linux and `%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\PrintingPress\bin` on Windows: ```bash npx -y @mvanhorn/printing-press-library install youtube --cli-only ``` 2. Verify: `youtube-pp-cli --version` 3. Ensure the reported install directory is on `$PATH` for the agent/runtime that will invoke this skill. If the `npx` install fails (no Node, offline, etc.), fall back to a direct Go install (requires Go 1.26.6 or newer). This installs into `$GOPATH/bin` (default `$HOME/go/bin`), so add that directory to `$PATH` instead: ```bash go install github.com/mvanhorn/printing-press-library/library/media-and-entertainment/youtube/cmd/youtube-pp-cli@latest ``` If `--version` reports "command not found" after install, the runtime cannot see the binary directory on `$PATH`. Do not proceed with skill commands until verification succeeds. The YouTube Data API v3 read surfaces that matter for market and competitor research with complete parameter wiring, feeding a local SQLite databank designed for competitor monitoring: `watch` your ~15 competitors, `monitor` refreshes them for ~20-40 quota units per run, and `velocity`, `growth`, `breakouts`, `comments-mine`, and `packaging` turn the accumulated snapshots into current market intelligence that lagging analytics platforms deliver one to two weeks late. ## When to Use This CLI Reach for this CLI whenever the task is YouTube market or competitor research: tracking a fixed set of competitor channels over time, measuring what is gaining views right now, discovering fresh breakout videos in a niche, mining comments for audience signal, or collecting titles, thumbnails, and hooks for packaging analysis. It is the right tool when the answer should come from a locally owned, regularly refreshed databank instead of a lagging external analytics platform. ## Anti-triggers Do not use this CLI for: - Do not use this CLI for your own channel's private analytics (revenue, retention, demographics, traffic sources) - that is the OAuth-only YouTube Analytics API, which this CLI deliberately excludes - Do not use it to upload, edit, rate, or delete videos or manage a channel - all write operations are out of scope - Do not use it to download video or audio media - use yt-dlp for media files - Do not use it for wide-market computed judgments like cross-niche outlier scores or monetization estimates - curated analytics databases own that; this CLI owns fresh data on the channels you track ## Unique Capabilities These capabilities aren't available in any other tool for this API. ### Competitor monitoring machine - **`watch`** — Register the competitor channels your monitoring machine tracks, in a typed watchlist table you own. _Defines the tracked market once; every later monitoring command runs against it without re-specifying channels._ ```bash youtube-pp-cli watch add @mkbhd --json ``` - **`monitor`** — Refresh every watched channel in one run: stats snapshot, new uploads, re-snapshot of recent video statistics. _One command keeps the databank current, so market answers are hours old instead of weeks old._ ```bash youtube-pp-cli monitor --json ``` - **`velocity`** — See which tracked videos are gaining views fastest right now, computed from real between-snapshot deltas. _Current market movement - what is taking off today, not what took off two weeks ago._ ```bash youtube-pp-cli velocity --json ``` - **`growth`** — Channel-level subscriber, view, and upload-count deltas between dated local snapshots. _Tells an agent whether a competitor is accelerating without any external history service._ ```bash youtube-pp-cli growth @mkbhd --json ``` - **`backfill`** — Pull a channel's complete upload history with statistics into the local databank in one command. _Run once per competitor; every later question about that channel is answered offline for free._ ```bash youtube-pp-cli backfill @mkbhd --json ``` - **`workspace`** — Named databanks: keep the competitor machine in one database and explore a new niche in another, switching instantly. _Lets an agent spin up a clean research sandbox per niche without risking the production watchlist databank._ ```bash youtube-pp-cli workspace list --json ``` - **`auth keys`** — Store multiple named YouTube API keys, switch between them instantly, and optionally fail over automatically via --rotate when one runs out of quota. _An agent can finish large collection jobs without human intervention when the first key's daily quota is spent._ ```bash youtube-pp-cli auth keys list --json ``` ### Fresh market discovery - **`breakouts`** — Chain search filters into a matrix (terms x upload window x duration x region), join results to channel size, and rank fresh high-momentum videos. _Finds niche breakouts days after upload, weeks before they reach lagging analytics platforms._ ```bash youtube-pp-cli breakouts "berlin history" --days 14 --json ``` - **`comments-mine`** — Sync comments into a typed full-text-searchable table and report top-liked comments, keyword frequencies, and audience questions. _Fast audience signal from data you own - what viewers praise, ask, and complain about across a channel._ ```bash youtube-pp-cli comments-mine @mkbhd --json ``` - **`packaging`** — Collect titles, thumbnails (downloaded as local image files), and hook text from transcript openings into a packaging table. _Hands a multimodal agent everything it needs for thumbnail and hook analysis without any scraping or manual collection._ ```bash youtube-pp-cli packaging @mkbhd --json ``` ## Command Reference **youtube** — YouTube Data API v3 (read-only, api-key) for market and competitor analysis - `youtube-pp-cli youtube activities-list` — Retrieves a list of resources, possibly filtered. - `youtube-pp-cli youtube captions-list` — Retrieves a list of resources, possibly filtered. - `youtube-pp-cli youtube channel-sections-list` — Retrieves a list of resources, possibly filtered. - `youtube-pp-cli youtube channels-list` — Retrieves a list of resources, possibly filtered. - `youtube-pp-cli youtube comment-threads-list` — Retrieves a list of top-level comment threads, filterable by video, channel, or thread id. - `youtube-pp-cli youtube i18n-languages-list` — Retrieves a list of resources, possibly filtered. - `youtube-pp-cli youtube i18n-regions-list` — Retrieves a list of resources, possibly filtered. - `youtube-pp-cli youtube playlist-items-list` — Retrieves a list of resources, possibly filtered. - `youtube-pp-cli youtube playlists-list` — Retrieves a list of resources, possibly filtered. - `youtube-pp-cli youtube search-list` — Retrieves a list of search resources - `youtube-pp-cli youtube video-categories-list` — Retrieves a list of resources, possibly filtered. - `youtube-pp-cli youtube videos-list` — Retrieves a list of resources, possibly filtered. - `youtube-pp-cli youtube channel-uploads` — List a channel's most recent uploads (resolves @handle or channelId, then walks the uploads playlist). - `youtube-pp-cli youtube playlist-enrich` — Resolve a playlist to per-video metadata + transcript + description in one concurrent call. - `youtube-pp-cli youtube search-bulk` — Search YouTube for multiple terms in one call, return top-N per term. - `youtube-pp-cli youtube videos-comments` — Fetch top comments for a video, ranked by like count across pages. - `youtube-pp-cli youtube videos-embed` — Print embed HTML, iframe, or markdown snippet for a video. - `youtube-pp-cli youtube videos-enrich` — One video's metadata + transcript + description in one call. - `youtube-pp-cli youtube videos-links` — Extract resource links from a video description (expands short links, skips social noise). - `youtube-pp-cli youtube videos-related` — Find related videos, shared-topic ranking above same-channel. - `youtube-pp-cli youtube videos-transcript` — Fetch the transcript without OAuth (timedtext; --format markdown|text|json). ### Finding the right command When you know what you want to do but not which command does it, ask the CLI directly: ```bash youtube-pp-cli which "" ``` `which` resolves a natural-language capability query to the best matching command from this CLI's curated feature index. Exit code `0` means at least one match; exit code `2` means no confident match — fall back to `--help` or use a narrower query. ## Recipes ### Stand up the monitoring machine ```bash youtube-pp-cli watch add @mkbhd --json ``` Add each competitor once; backfill seeds history and every monitor run keeps them current ### What moved today ```bash youtube-pp-cli velocity --agent --select items.title,items.views_per_day ``` Between-snapshot view velocity for tracked videos, narrowed to the fields an agent needs ### Fresh breakouts in a niche ```bash youtube-pp-cli breakouts "berlin history" --days 14 --json ``` Chained filter matrix joined to channel size - high views-per-subscriber uploads from the last two weeks ### Packaging dossier for the agent ```bash youtube-pp-cli packaging @mkbhd --json ``` Titles, local thumbnail files, and hook text side by side, ready for multimodal packaging analysis ### What the audience keeps asking ```bash youtube-pp-cli comments-mine @mkbhd --json ``` Top-liked comments, keyword frequencies, and extracted questions from the synced comment table ## Auth Setup Set YOUTUBE_API_KEY to a YouTube Data API v3 key (create one at console.cloud.google.com under APIs & Services > Credentials), or store it once with `auth set-token`. A key in the environment overrides the stored one - if `doctor` shows auth_source env and calls fail with HTTP 400 'API key not valid', the environment copy is stale: unset it or update it. Read-only public-data operations only; no OAuth anywhere. Run `youtube-pp-cli doctor` to verify setup. ## Agent Mode Add `--agent` to any command. Expands to: `--json --compact --no-input --no-color`. - **Pipeable** — JSON on stdout, errors on stderr - **Filterable** — `--select` keeps a subset of fields. Dotted paths descend into nested structures; arrays traverse element-wise. Critical for keeping context small on verbose APIs: ```bash youtube-pp-cli youtube activities-list --part snippet --agent --select contentDetails,etag,id ``` - **Previewable** — `--dry-run` shows the request without sending - **Offline-friendly** — sync/search commands can use the local SQLite store when available - **Non-interactive** — never prompts, every input is a flag - **Read-only** — do not use this CLI for create, update, delete, publish, comment, upvote, invite, order, send, or other mutating requests ### Response envelope Commands that read from the local store or the API wrap output in a provenance envelope: ```json { "meta": {"source": "live" | "local", "synced_at": "...", "reason": "..."}, "results": } ``` Parse `.results` for data and `.meta.source` to know whether it's live or local. A human-readable `N results (live)` summary is printed to stderr only when stdout is a terminal AND no machine-format flag (`--json`, `--csv`, `--compact`, `--quiet`, `--plain`, `--select`) is set — piped/agent consumers and explicit-format runs get pure JSON on stdout. ## Paths and state Agents should treat the CLI's path resolver as part of the runtime contract: - Use `--home ` for one invocation, or set `YOUTUBE_HOME=` to relocate all four path kinds under one root. - Use per-kind env vars only when a specific kind must diverge: `YOUTUBE_CONFIG_DIR`, `YOUTUBE_DATA_DIR`, `YOUTUBE_STATE_DIR`, `YOUTUBE_CACHE_DIR`. - Resolution order is per-kind env var, `--home`, `YOUTUBE_HOME`, XDG (`XDG_CONFIG_HOME`, `XDG_DATA_HOME`, `XDG_STATE_HOME`, `XDG_CACHE_HOME`), then platform defaults. - `config` contains settings like `config.toml` and profiles. `data` contains `credentials.toml`, `data.db`, cookies, and auth sidecars. `state` contains persisted queries, jobs, and `teach.log`. `cache` contains regenerable HTTP/cache files. - Stored secrets live in `credentials.toml` under the data dir. Existing legacy `config.toml` secrets are read for compatibility and leave `config.toml` on the first auth write. - Run `youtube-pp-cli doctor --fail-on warn` to surface path and credential-location warnings. `agent-context` exposes a schema v4 `paths` block for agents that need the resolved dirs. - For MCP, pass relocation through the MCP host config. The MCP binary does not inherit CLI flags: ```json { "mcpServers": { "youtube": { "command": "youtube-pp-mcp", "env": { "YOUTUBE_HOME": "/srv/youtube" } } } } ``` ⚠️ Two files deliberately live OUTSIDE the relocatable tree, in the platform config dir (`~/Library/Application Support/youtube-pp-cli/` on macOS): `workspaces.json` (the workspace registry must sit outside workspace homes or switching becomes self-referential) and `keyring.json` (quota is per key, not per workspace). Consequence: `--home`/`YOUTUBE_HOME` does NOT isolate the key ring or workspace registry — `keys add/use` and `workspace create/use` mutate shared state even under an isolated home. Fleet precedence: an inherited per-kind env var overrides an explicit `--home` for that kind. Use `YOUTUBE_HOME` or per-kind vars as durable fleet levers, and use `--home` only for a single invocation. Relocation is not reversible by unsetting env vars; move files manually before clearing `YOUTUBE_HOME`, or `doctor` will not find credentials left under the former root. ## The analyst databank (SQL schema) Every analyst command writes into one local SQLite databank — the file `doctor --json` reports as the store path. The filename is scoped by the active API key (`data-.db`); `workspace` switches between entirely separate databank files. Agents query it two ways: the MCP `sql` tool (read-only, validated) and the MCP `search` / CLI `search` full-text surface. | Table | One row per | Key columns | |---|---|---| | `yt_watchlist` | tracked competitor channel | `channel_id`, `handle`, `title`, `note`, `added_at`, `last_monitored_at` | | `yt_channel_snapshots` | channel per capture time | `channel_id`, `captured_at`, `subscriber_count`, `view_count`, `video_count` | | `yt_videos` | known video (dimension table) | `video_id`, `channel_id`, `title`, `published_at`, `duration_seconds`, `is_short`, `description` | | `yt_video_snapshots` | video per capture time | `video_id`, `captured_at`, `view_count`, `like_count`, `comment_count` | | `yt_comments` | synced comment | `comment_id`, `video_id`, `channel_id`, `author`, `text`, `like_count`, `published_at`, `is_reply` | | `yt_comments_fts` | FTS5 index over `yt_comments.text` | `MATCH` queries; kept in sync by insert/update/delete triggers | | `yt_packaging` | collected packaging asset | `video_id`, `channel_id`, `title`, `thumb_url`, `thumb_path`, `hook_text`, `view_count`, `captured_at`, `hook_error`, `thumb_error` | | `yt_monitor_runs` | one `monitor` run | `run_id`, `started_at`, `finished_at`, `channels`, `new_videos`, `video_snapshots`, `comments_synced`, `quota_units_est` | `monitor`, `backfill`, `breakouts`, `comments-mine`, and `packaging` feed these tables automatically (write-through); `velocity` and `growth` are computed from consecutive `yt_video_snapshots` / `yt_channel_snapshots` rows — two runs on different days are the minimum for a non-empty answer. Example queries (all verified against a live-populated store): ```sql -- What moved: views per video from the latest snapshots SELECT s.video_id, v.title, s.view_count, s.captured_at FROM yt_video_snapshots s JOIN yt_videos v USING(video_id) ORDER BY s.captured_at DESC, s.view_count DESC LIMIT 20; -- Audience signal: most-liked comments mentioning a topic (FTS5) SELECT c.like_count, c.author, c.text FROM yt_comments_fts f JOIN yt_comments c ON c.rowid = f.rowid WHERE yt_comments_fts MATCH 'gemini' ORDER BY c.like_count DESC LIMIT 10; -- Growth rate per tracked channel between first and last snapshot SELECT channel_id, MAX(subscriber_count) - MIN(subscriber_count) AS subs_delta, MIN(captured_at) AS first_seen, MAX(captured_at) AS last_seen FROM yt_channel_snapshots GROUP BY channel_id; ``` ## Automatic learning This CLI ships a self-capturing learning loop. The CLI does its own bookkeeping: every invocation is journaled locally, a failed flag followed by a corrected retry auto-derives a `flag_alias` candidate, and a `teach` on a query family without a playbook auto-synthesizes a `playbook_candidate` from the session's journal. Your job is judgment only: `recall` first, act on surfaced candidates, `teach` the final answer, `playbook amend` when you observe a correction. You never record failures by hand. ### Step 1: `recall` before any discovery Before list/search/drill commands on a new user question, run: ```bash youtube-pp-cli recall "" --agent ``` The response envelope: ```json { "query": "...", "normalized": "", "query_entities": ["..."], "found": true | false, "match_score": 0.0, "results": [ { "resource_id": "...", "resource_type": "...", "venue": "...", "confidence": 2, "entity_match": "exact|partial|unknown", "source": "taught|preseed|pattern", "warnings": ["..."] } ], "mismatches": [ /* only when --debug-mismatches */ ], "warnings": [ /* top-level */ ], "candidates": [ { "id": 12, "class": "flag_alias | playbook_candidate", "summary": "...", "sightings": 3, "last_seen": "...", "rationale": "...", "next_action": ["", "youtube-pp-cli learnings confirm 12"] } ], "playbook": { "query_family": "...", "playbook": { "steps": [ { "cmd": "", "purpose": "..." } ], "entity_slots": ["$ENTITY"], "expected_tool_calls": 3 }, "slots_resolved": { "$ENTITY": { "token": "", "canonical": "" } }, "notes": "" }, "notes": "" } ``` Empty-store short-circuit: if the store has no learnings, playbooks, or candidates yet (recall finds nothing and `learnings list` and `learnings candidates` are both empty), skip recall for the rest of this session instead of taxing every query; resume recall-first once something has been taught. ### Step 2: decision tree Read `candidates`, `playbook`, `notes`, `results[0]`, and warnings in that order: ``` if Candidates present (warnings include "candidates_present"): -> candidates are try-then-confirm, never facts. Follow each candidate's two-step next_action verbatim: run the trial command first, then run `learnings confirm ` only after the trial verified the behavior. Reject a wrong candidate with `learnings reject `. -> NEVER re-teach something recall surfaced as a candidate; confirm or reject that candidate instead of teaching a duplicate. -> candidates ride alongside playbooks and resource hits, not instead of them; continue with the branches below after acting on them. if Playbook present: -> READ Playbook.notes verbatim FIRST (workarounds + gotchas the CLI surface doesn't expose) -> replay Playbook.steps in order, substituting Playbook.slots_resolved entries for the entity slot tokens. If a step's slot is unresolved, fall back to discovery for that step only. -> the Playbook's expected_tool_calls is a budget; if you find yourself running materially more, record the divergence via `youtube-pp-cli playbook amend` at end-of-session. elif Notes present (no Playbook): -> read Notes verbatim before any discovery step; they carry known gotchas for this query family even when no structured choreography exists yet. elif Found AND Results[0].EntityMatch == "exact" AND Results[0].Confidence >= 2: -> skip discovery; fetch live data for Results[*].ResourceID in parallel elif Found AND Results[0].EntityMatch == "partial": -> candidate hint, NOT a hit; read the resource title to validate before trusting elif (any row in Mismatches[] when --debug-mismatches was passed): -> treat as cold start; the stored learning is for a different entity (different canonical resolved from query_entities) else: // Found == false, no playbook, no notes -> cold start; run discovery normally; teach the answer afterward (Step 4). If the family has no playbook yet, that teach auto-synthesizes a playbook candidate from this session's journal - you do not need to record one by hand. ``` Playbook and Notes are orthogonal to the per-resource path. A recall response can carry both a Playbook AND a `Results[]` hit - use both: the Playbook tells you which choreography to run; the resource hits short-circuit specific steps. Default to skipping `mismatches`; pass `--debug-mismatches` only when investigating cold-start surprises. Candidate judgment details: `learnings confirm ` prints the candidate's full payload before materializing it - check that the printed payload matches the behavior you verified. `learnings reject ` tombstones the derivation signature so the same candidate does not resurface. The envelope carries only the few candidates worth acting on now; `youtube-pp-cli learnings candidates` lists the full open set. Graceful degradation: if `learnings confirm` is an unknown command, you are driving an older binary - ignore the candidates guidance and follow the rest of the protocol. ### Step 3: always read `warnings` - `low_confidence`: row exists at `confidence<2`. Treat as a hint, not a skip-discovery hit. - `resource_not_in_store`: the local store doesn't have the resource the learning points at. The match validator couldn't classify entities — direct-fetch and re-evaluate. - `cross_alias_match` (per-result): the row was taught under a different alias and matched the live query's canonical via `entity_lookups` (e.g., a "USA" teach satisfying a "United States" recall). Trust the resource_id. - `similar_shape_different_entity:` (top-level): a structurally matching row exists but its canonical entity differs from the live query's. Treated as cold start; the warning carries the conflicting canonical as a hint, but the row is NOT promoted into Results. - `ambiguous_alias` (top-level): a single query entity resolved to multiple canonicals (e.g., "Cards" → Arizona Cardinals + St. Louis Cardinals). Surface the ambiguity from context before committing to a resource. - `candidates_present` (top-level): the envelope carries a `candidates` section. Handle it via the candidates branch in Step 2 before anything else. - `lookup_refresh_available` (top-level): an entity in the query has no lookup row yet, but synced data could provide one. Run `youtube-pp-cli sync` to refresh entity lookups. - Top-level `no_learnings_for_query_family`: the table had no rows above the Jaccard floor. Pure cold start. ### Step 4: `teach &` after finalizing your response - always Teaching is unconditional. After resolving a query the store could not answer, background-teach the final resource mapping - no call-count threshold, no judging whether it was "worth" learning. The teach is the anchor of the loop: it triggers playbook synthesis for a family without a playbook, and same-referent phrasings fold into one family so near-duplicate teaches do not fragment the store. Fire it after assembling your user-facing response but BEFORE emitting it, with a shell `&` so the call returns immediately: ```bash youtube-pp-cli teach --query "" --resource-type --resource --resource # (append shell `&` to background it) ``` Silent on success. Errors only land in `teach.log` under the resolved state dir. Teach the **most specific** resource - if the user asked a broad question and you walked through parent records to find the specific answer, teach the leaf id, not the parent. The CLI uses seeded `entity_lookups` for cross-alias resolution at recall time, so a teach under one alias (e.g., "Niners") satisfies future queries under another alias (e.g., "49ers", "San Francisco") automatically. PII rule: teach the structural question with identifiers stripped - never include names, emails, phone numbers, account ids, or other personal identifiers in taught queries or notes. The CLI scans teach queries for obvious email/phone shapes and warns, but does not block; strip before teaching rather than relying on the warning. ### Step 5: playbooks - optional flags, automatic synthesis You do not need to decide whether a session "deserves" a playbook: a teach on a family without one auto-synthesizes a `playbook_candidate` from the session's journal, and the next session judges it via confirm/reject. Attach explicit playbook flags only when you already hold choreography worth recording verbatim - workarounds the CLI didn't surface (silently-dropped flags, undocumented params, pagination tricks, payload gotchas). Prefer the **integrated one-call form** - record the resource learning and the playbook in the same `teach` invocation: ```bash # Common case: record both the resource learning AND the playbook in one call. youtube-pp-cli teach \ --query "" \ --resource \ --playbook-file ~/playbooks/.json \ --playbook-notes-file ~/playbooks/-notes.md # (append shell `&` to background it) # Alternate: playbook-only (no resource to record alongside). youtube-pp-cli teach-playbook \ --query "" \ --playbook-file ~/playbooks/.json \ --notes-file ~/playbooks/-notes.md ``` Playbook files are JSON with `steps`, `entity_slots`, `expected_tool_calls`. Notes files are markdown carrying the gotchas verbatim. File-free callers (MCP-only agents) pass the same content inline: `--playbook-json` and `--playbook-notes` on the integrated `teach` form, `--playbook-json` and `--notes` on `teach-playbook`. On the integrated `teach` form, the playbook flags are optional - omit them entirely for a resource-only teach. On the standalone `teach-playbook` form, at least one of the playbook and notes flags must be set; both empty is rejected. Playbooks are keyed on the structural query family (entities stripped) so a recipe taught from one entity-shaped query applies to every other query of the same shape, with `slots_resolved` binding the live query's canonical at recall time. When you DO find a playbook on a future recall, treat it as ground truth: replay the steps with `slots_resolved` substitutions, skip the discovery that the choreography already documents, and read `notes` before any step. ### Step 6: `playbook amend &` when your debug response identifies a correction If your debug-protocol response identifies a concrete correction the notes or playbook should know — a workaround, an undocumented endpoint shape, a stale field name, observed schema drift, an empty-payload fallback — fire `playbook amend` BEFORE emitting your user-facing response. Same fire-and-forget posture as `teach`. ```bash youtube-pp-cli playbook amend \ --query "" \ --add-note "" # (append shell `&` to background it) ``` What counts as worth amending: a behavior you OBSERVED this session that future-you would benefit from knowing. Examples worth amending: - A workaround for a CLI surface that silently drops or misorders a flag. - An undocumented endpoint shape (response wrapped in `{meta, results}`, payload nested two levels deeper than the docs claim). - Observed schema drift (a field renamed, an index that shifted between seasons, a category label that the API now returns lower-cased). What does NOT belong in notes: - The year-specific or entity-specific answer to the user's question. That's the response, not a learning. - Per-team / per-athlete / per-row data the playbook already retrieves at runtime. - Statements that paraphrase what the existing notes already say. The amend command appends to the family's existing notes with a timestamped marker (`[amend YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MMZ]: `). Multiple amends accumulate; the audit trail is visible. If no playbook exists yet for the family, amend creates a notes-only one (so cold-start corrections still land). #### PII discipline for amend notes `playbook amend` notes are designed to potentially flow upstream as shared knowledge in future versions of the Printing Press. Keep them clean of user-identifying content so the upstream-contribution path stays open without retroactive scrubbing: - **Do NOT embed** paths to user filesystems, personal API keys or tokens, user email addresses, user GitHub handles, or specific query histories tied to a single user. - **Acceptable**: endpoint shapes, undocumented field names, API gotchas, observed schema drift, workarounds for CLI surfaces, generalizable pagination or retry tactics. If a correction is only meaningful with user-specific context, it belongs in a personal note, not in the playbook amend. ### Measuring the loop `youtube-pp-cli learnings stats` reports recall hit rate, teach-to-reuse, playbook resolution rate, and candidate confirm/reject counts from the local `learn_events` table. Rates are null until they have a denominator; everything stays on this machine. Use it to check whether the loop is earning its keep for this CLI. ### Disabling learning - `--no-learn` on a single command short-circuits both `recall` and the `teach` write path. Use for deterministic agent flows or tests that must not be affected by accumulated learnings. - `YOUTUBE_NO_LEARN=true` in the environment globally disables the pipeline. ## Agent Feedback When you (or the agent) notice something off about this CLI, record it: ``` youtube-pp-cli feedback "the --since flag is inclusive but docs say exclusive" youtube-pp-cli feedback --stdin < notes.txt youtube-pp-cli feedback list --json --limit 10 ``` Entries are stored locally as `feedback.jsonl` under the resolved data dir. They are never POSTed unless `YOUTUBE_FEEDBACK_ENDPOINT` is set AND either `--send` is passed or `YOUTUBE_FEEDBACK_AUTO_SEND=true`. Default behavior is local-only. Write what *surprised* you, not a bug report. Short, specific, one line: that is the part that compounds. ## Output Delivery Every command accepts `--deliver `. The output goes to the named sink in addition to (or instead of) stdout, so agents can route command results without hand-piping. Three sinks are supported: | Sink | Effect | |------|--------| | `stdout` | Default; write to stdout only | | `file:` | Atomically write output to `` (tmp + rename) | | `webhook:` | POST the output body to the URL (`application/json` or `application/x-ndjson` when `--compact`) | Unknown schemes are refused with a structured error naming the supported set. Webhook failures return non-zero and log the URL + HTTP status on stderr. ## Named Profiles A profile is a saved set of flag values, reused across invocations. Use it when a scheduled or recurring agent reuses the same saved flags while providing different input each run. ``` youtube-pp-cli profile save briefing --json youtube-pp-cli --profile briefing youtube activities-list --part snippet youtube-pp-cli profile list --json youtube-pp-cli profile show briefing youtube-pp-cli profile delete briefing --yes ``` Explicit flags always win over profile values; profile values win over defaults. `agent-context` lists all available profiles under `available_profiles` so introspecting agents discover them at runtime. ## Exit Codes | Code | Meaning | |------|---------| | 0 | Success | | 2 | Usage error (wrong arguments) | | 3 | Resource not found | | 4 | Authentication required | | 5 | API error (upstream issue) | | 7 | Rate limited (wait and retry) | | 10 | Config error | ## Argument Parsing Parse `$ARGUMENTS`: 1. **Empty, `help`, or `--help`** → show `youtube-pp-cli --help` output 2. **Starts with `install`** → ends with `mcp` → MCP installation; otherwise → see Prerequisites above 3. **Anything else** → Direct Use (execute as CLI command with `--agent`) ## MCP Server Installation 1. Install the MCP server: ```bash go install github.com/mvanhorn/printing-press-library/library/media-and-entertainment/youtube/cmd/youtube-pp-mcp@latest ``` 2. Register with Claude Code: ```bash claude mcp add youtube-pp-mcp -- youtube-pp-mcp ``` 3. Verify: `claude mcp list` ## Direct Use 1. Check if installed: `which youtube-pp-cli` If not found, offer to install (see Prerequisites at the top of this skill). 2. Match the user query to the best command from the Unique Capabilities and Command Reference above. 3. Execute with the `--agent` flag: ```bash youtube-pp-cli [subcommand] [args] --agent ``` 4. If ambiguous, drill into subcommand help: `youtube-pp-cli --help`.