Yt Analytics

Analyze YouTube channel performance using the YouTube Data API v3 and YouTube Analytics API.

Prerequisites

• OAuth2 credentials at ~/.claude/gmail/credentials.json (shared with Gmail skill)
• YouTube token auto-cached at ~/.claude/analytics/yt_token.json after first auth
• YouTube Data API v3 and YouTube Analytics API enabled in Google Cloud Console

Flow

Step 1: Determine What to Analyze

Parse $ARGUMENTS for:

• No args / "how are my videos doing": Run the full channel overview (last 28 days)
• --days N: Change the lookback period (default 28)
• --video VIDEO_ID: Single video deep dive
• --shorts: Shorts-only analysis
• --top N: Show top N videos (default 10)
• Specific question like "how did my Antigravity video do": Search for the video by title, then deep dive

Step 2: Fetch Data

Run the Python script:

python3 ~/.claude/skills/yt-analytics/yt_analytics.py --days 28 --json

For a single video deep dive:

python3 ~/.claude/skills/yt-analytics/yt_analytics.py --video VIDEO_ID --days 90 --json

For shorts only:

python3 ~/.claude/skills/yt-analytics/yt_analytics.py --shorts --json

Capture the JSON output (printed to stdout). Stderr has status messages.

Step 3: Present the Channel Overview

When showing the full overview, present in this order:

1. Channel snapshot

• Subscribers, total views, video count
• Period analyzed (start - end date)

2. Period summary

• Total views, watch time (hours), avg view duration, avg retention %
• Net subscribers (gained - lost)
• Total likes, comments, shares

3. Top performing long-form videos (table)

• Engagement rate = (likes + comments) / views * 100
• Sort by views descending
• Separate long-form from shorts automatically (shorts = under 61 seconds)

4. Shorts performance (if any exist)

5. Traffic sources breakdown

• Show top 5 sources with view counts and percentages
• Highlight which sources are strong vs weak

6. Top search terms

• Show top 10 search terms driving traffic
• Note which terms align with current content strategy vs legacy content

7. Analysis and recommendations Based on the data, provide:

• What's working - which topics, formats, lengths get the best retention and views
• What's not working - videos that underperformed and why
• Content strategy insights - which search terms suggest demand you're not filling
• Retention patterns - are shorter videos retaining better? Is there a sweet spot?
• Growth signals - subscriber gain rate, which videos drive the most subs
• Actionable next steps - 2-3 specific recommendations

Step 4: Single Video Deep Dive

When analyzing a specific video, show:

1. Video stats - views, likes, comments, shares, duration, publish date
2. Analytics - avg view duration, retention %, subs gained/lost
3. Traffic sources - where views came from for THIS video
4. Search terms - what searches led to THIS video
5. Daily view trend - show the view curve (first 7 days vs steady state)
6. Comparison - how does this compare to your channel average?

Step 5: Title/Thumbnail A/B Tracking

Each video package at ~/content/youtube/<slug>/ should have a performance.md file that tracks what's been tried and what to try next. When the user asks to update a title or thumbnail, or when a video is underperforming, create or update this file.

Create ~/content/youtube/<slug>/performance.md:

# Performance Tracker: [Video Title]

**Video ID:** [ID]
**Published:** [date]
**URL:** https://youtu.be/[ID]

---

## Current Live
- **Title:** [current title on YouTube]
- **Thumbnail:** [description or path to current thumbnail]

## Title History
| # | Title | Date Set | Views At Change | Notes |
|---|-------|----------|-----------------|-------|
| 1 | [original title] | [publish date] | 0 | Original |
| 2 | [updated title] | [change date] | [views] | [why changed] |

## Thumbnail History
| # | Description | Date Set | Views At Change | Notes |
|---|-------------|----------|-----------------|-------|
| 1 | [description] | [publish date] | 0 | Original |
| 2 | [description] | [change date] | [views] | [why changed] |

## Performance Snapshots
| Date | Views | Retention | CTR (if available) | Subs Gained |
|------|-------|-----------|---------------------|-------------|
| [date] | [views] | [%] | [%] | [+N] |

## Next To Try
- **Title idea:** [suggestion based on SEO research or analytics]
- **Thumbnail idea:** [suggestion - what to change visually]
- **Why:** [reasoning from data - low CTR, bad retention, etc.]

## Notes
[Any observations - what's working, what's not, audience feedback from comments]

When to create/update performance.md:

• When a video is underperforming (below channel average retention or views)
• When the user asks "how is [video] doing" and it needs help
• When the user changes a title or thumbnail
• When running a full channel overview and spotting underperformers

When suggesting title/thumbnail changes:

1. Read the existing performance.md to see what's been tried
2. Read titles.md and seo.md if they exist - there may be unused title variants
3. Never suggest a title that's already been tried
4. Use /yt-seo research data to inform suggestions
5. For thumbnails, suggest specific changes (text, colors, expression, layout) not vague "make it better"

Step 6: Save Report (optional)

If the user asks to save or the data is particularly insightful, save a snapshot:

~/content/youtube/analytics/YYYY-MM-DD-overview.md
~/content/youtube/analytics/YYYY-MM-DD-VIDEO_ID.md

Rules

• Always separate long-form from shorts - they're different content strategies
• When the user asks about a specific video by name, search their recent uploads to find the video ID
• Retention % is the most important metric for long-form - highlight it prominently
• For shorts, views and completion rate matter most
• Don't just dump numbers - always include analysis and actionable insights
• Compare against channel averages to show what's above/below normal
• Note content era shifts (CrewAI era, n8n era, Claude Code era) when relevant to search terms
• Legacy search traffic (crewai, splay tree, radix sort) is passive income - don't suggest abandoning it, but note it's not the growth driver
• External URL traffic = social media distribution working. If it drops, social strategy needs attention.
• Suggested/Related video traffic under 10% = thumbnail + title CTR opportunity
• No em dashes in output