Youtube Content Strategist

YouTube Content Strategist

Create a data-driven 30-day content calendar by analyzing your channel + niche benchmarks.

Usage

/youtube-content-strategist @MyChannel --niche "productivity"
/youtube-content-strategist @MyChannel --niche "cooking recipes" --uploads-per-week 3
/youtube-content-strategist UCxxxxxxx --niche "fitness"

Instructions

Step 1: Parse Arguments

• Channel (required): @handle, URL, or channel ID
• --niche "keyword" (required): the niche/topic area
• --uploads-per-week N (optional): target upload frequency (default: auto-detect from history)
• --max-videos N (optional): how many recent uploads to analyze (default: 200)

Step 2: Get the API Key

Check Claude memory for a YouTube Data API v3 key. If not found, ask:

"I need a YouTube Data API v3 key. You can get one from the Google Cloud Console. Please paste your key."

Step 3: Run the Bundled Script

Run scripts/analyze_strategy.py — resolve the path relative to this skill's own directory:

YT_API_KEY=API_KEY python3 <skill-dir>/scripts/analyze_strategy.py "@CHANNEL" --niche "NICHE" [--uploads-per-week N]

Dependency: pip3 install google-api-python-client.

The script resolves the channel with channels.list (1 unit), pages the uploads playlist, classifies every video into a content type and duration bucket, measures Shorts vs long-form performance, derives the upload cadence and preferred days/hours, finds sequel candidates (2x average views and older than 60 days), samples the niche for benchmarks, and lists the channel's playlists.

Step 4: Read the Data

reports/data/content-strategy-<channel-slug>-<YYYY-MM-DD>.json

Step 5: Write the Strategy Report

Write to the path the script printed:

reports/content-strategy-<channel-slug>-<YYYY-MM-DD>.md

# Content Strategy: [Channel Name]
*Niche: [Niche] | Analyzed [date] | [N] videos analyzed*

## Channel Position Assessment
Where does this channel stand? Subscribers, total views, video count.
How does it compare to niche benchmarks?

## Content Mix Analysis
### Current Mix
| Content Type | Count | % | Avg Views | Avg Engagement |
|-------------|-------|---|-----------|----------------|
What's working best? What's underperforming?

### Optimal Mix Recommendation
Based on performance data, recommend shifting the mix.

## Shorts vs Long-Form Strategy
| Metric | Shorts | Long-Form |
|--------|--------|-----------|
Which is performing better for this channel?
Recommendation on Shorts strategy.

## Optimal Video Duration
| Duration Bucket | Count | Avg Views |
|----------------|-------|-----------|
What duration sweet spot should this channel target?

## Upload Schedule
| Metric | Current | Recommended |
|--------|---------|-------------|
Best days and times based on historical data.
Upload frequency recommendation with reasoning.

## Content Pillars (Ranked by Impact)
For each content pillar:
- Performance metrics
- Strategic role (growth, engagement, authority, etc.)
- Recommendation (double down / maintain / reduce / try)

## Sequel & Follow-Up Opportunities
Videos that outperformed and deserve sequels.
| Original Video | Views | Age | Suggested Follow-Up |
|---------------|-------|-----|---------------------|

## Playlist Strategy
Current playlists and their sizes.
Recommendations for new playlists or series.

## 30-Day Content Calendar
Generate a concrete calendar:
| Week | Day | Video Title Idea | Type | Duration | Rationale |
|------|-----|------------------|------|----------|-----------|
| 1 | Mon | ... | tutorial | 12 min | Top-performing format |
| 1 | Thu | ... | tips | 8 min | High engagement topic |
...

Base every recommendation on actual data from the analysis.

## Growth Levers (Ranked by Impact)
1. **[Lever]** - Data backing - Expected impact
2. **[Lever]** - Data backing - Expected impact
...

## Quota Usage
| Operation | Calls | Units |
|-----------|-------|-------|
Use the `quota_used.breakdown` block from the JSON.

Step 6: Report Completion

Tell the user the report path, the channel position summary, the top content pillar finding, the upload schedule recommendation, a 30-day calendar overview, and the quota consumed.

Quota Estimate

Only the niche benchmark needs search.list; everything about the user's own channel goes through channels.list + playlistItems.list.

Resolving an @handle previously fell back to search.list (100 units) when the first lookup missed; forHandle/forUsername now handles every input form for 1 unit. Daily default allowance is 10,000 units, resetting at midnight Pacific Time.