Youtube Publisher

🔴 Strict Execution Rule (Highest Priority)

Every instruction, step, and check in this SKILL.md must be followed exactly as written — no deviations allowed.

• Scripts must be actually executed: The youtube-upload.ts script must be run with all required parameters. Do not simulate or manually construct API calls.
• Steps must not be skipped or merged: Execute authentication, metadata sanitization, and upload in the defined order. Each step must succeed before the next begins.
• Checks must not be omitted: All metadata validation (title ≤100 chars, description ≤5000 chars, tags ≤500 chars) and upload verification must be fully executed.
• Config must be read from files: OAuth credentials and default settings must be read from the configured files. Do not hardcode.

YouTube Publisher

First time? If setup_complete: false above, run ./SETUP.md first, then set setup_complete: true.

Upload videos to YouTube with full metadata control.

Live broadcasts and encoder streams

Use youtube-live.ts to list, inspect, schedule, update, bind, transition, and delete YouTube Live broadcasts and encoder streams. Mutating commands support --dry-run; destructive deletion, live/completed transitions, and stream-key disclosure require explicit --yes. Stream keys are redacted from ordinary output.

The safe default is one dedicated named encoder stream per independent show/event. Intentional reuse across active or upcoming broadcasts requires --allow-shared-stream.

Read references/live-streaming.md before operating a live event. Scheduled timestamps must include an explicit timezone (Z or ±HH:MM).

The skill passes --inherit-previous before creation unless the user requests a clean profile. The raw CLI remains deterministic and offline without that explicit flag.

An interrupted video insert is never retried inside youtube-upload.ts. Recovery must identify exactly one recent same-title video with a verified non-zero duration. Persistent P0D exits 42 with PERSISTENT_P0D_VIDEO_ID; unavailable or inconclusive inspection exits 43 with AMBIGUOUS_UPLOAD_VIDEO_ID. Inspect the channel before another insert.

Caption recovery updates one exact language/name track in place or inserts a new track. It never deletes an existing caption before the replacement upload succeeds.

Metadata sanitization

• > in title/description is automatically rewritten to 》
• < in title/description is automatically rewritten to 《
• Use this when YouTube rejects metadata because of special characters

Quick Start

cd ~/.claude/skills/youtube-publisher/scripts

# First time: authenticate
npx ts-node youtube-upload.ts --auth

# Upload video
npx ts-node youtube-upload.ts \
  --video /path/to/video.mp4 \
  --title "My Awesome Video" \
  --description "Check out this amazing content!" \
  --tags "tech,ai,tutorial" \
  --privacy unlisted

# Upload as YouTube Short (vertical video)
npx ts-node youtube-upload.ts \
  --video /path/to/short.mp4 \
  --title "Quick Tip #Shorts" \
  --description "A quick tip for you!" \
  --privacy public \
  --short

Options

Category IDs

Authentication

First-time setup requires OAuth2 authentication:

1. Run npx ts-node youtube-upload.ts --auth
2. Browser opens Google login
3. Grant permissions to upload videos
4. Token is saved to .youtube-token.json

Token refreshes automatically. Re-run --auth if expired.

Environment

Create scripts/.env:

YOUTUBE_CLIENT_ID=your_client_id
YOUTUBE_CLIENT_SECRET=your_client_secret

Get credentials from Google Cloud Console:

1. Create project at console.cloud.google.com
2. Enable YouTube Data API v3
3. Create OAuth2 credentials (Desktop app)
4. Download and extract client_id & client_secret

Examples

Upload Tutorial Video

npx ts-node youtube-upload.ts \
  -v tutorial.mp4 \
  -t "How to Use Claude Code - Complete Guide" \
  -d "Learn everything about Claude Code in this comprehensive tutorial.

Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
02:30 Getting Started
05:00 Advanced Features

#ClaudeCode #AI #Tutorial" \
  --tags "claude code,ai,tutorial,anthropic,coding" \
  --category 28 \
  --privacy public

Upload YouTube Short

npx ts-node youtube-upload.ts \
  -v short_video.mp4 \
  -t "Mind-blowing AI trick! #Shorts" \
  -d "This will change how you work! #AI #Tech" \
  --privacy public \
  --short

Upload to Playlist

npx ts-node youtube-upload.ts \
  -v episode5.mp4 \
  -t "Podcast Episode 5" \
  --playlist PLxxxxxxxxxxxxxx \
  --privacy unlisted

Upload with Thumbnail and Subtitles

npx ts-node youtube-upload.ts \
  -v tutorial.mp4 \
  -t "Tutorial with Subtitles" \
  -d "Learn step by step with subtitles" \
  --thumbnail /path/to/cover.jpg \
  --subtitles /path/to/subtitles.srt \
  --subtitle-lang zh \
  --subtitle-name "中文" \
  --privacy public

Upload with Local Thumbnail

npx ts-node youtube-upload.ts \
  -v video.mp4 \
  -t "My Video Title" \
  --thumbnail "/Users/m/Downloads/shell/work/cover.jpg" \
  --privacy public

Retry Only a Failed Thumbnail

Use the dedicated recovery command when the video already exists and only its custom thumbnail needs to be uploaded again. It validates the video ID and local JPG/PNG file, retries transient failures, verifies that the target video is readable, and prints structured result markers.

npx ts-node upload-thumbnail.ts \
  --video-id VIDEO_ID \
  --thumbnail /path/to/cover.jpg \
  --attempts 3

This command never deletes or uploads a video. Do not create one-off recovery scripts with hardcoded video IDs or local paths.

Output

On success, returns:

• Video ID
• Video URL (https://youtu.be/VIDEO_ID)
• Status

Limitations

• Max file size: 256GB (YouTube limit)
• Supported formats: MP4, MOV, AVI, WMV, FLV, 3GP, MPEG
• Supported subtitle formats: SRT, VTT
• Daily upload quota: 10,000 units (typically ~6 videos/day)
• Title max: 100 characters
• Description max: 5,000 characters
• Tags max: 500 characters total

Changelog

v1.6.0 - Safe Thumbnail-Only Recovery (2026-07-28)

• Added upload-thumbnail.ts with parameter validation, bounded retry, target-video verification, and structured output.
• Removed the hardcoded thumbnail repair script that also deleted a fixed video ID.
• Expanded the production TypeScript gate to cover the thumbnail recovery command.

v1.1 - Resumable Upload + Retry (2026-04-22)

• Fixed EPIPE error on large file uploads by switching to resumable upload with progress tracking
• Added automatic retry (up to 3 attempts) for transient network errors (EPIPE, ETIMEDOUT, ECONNRESET)
• Added upload progress logging (every 10%)
• Added media.mimeType for better upload compatibility

v1.0 - Initial Release

• Basic video upload with metadata
• Thumbnail, subtitle, playlist support
• OAuth2 authentication