YouTube Data MCP server for AI agents

This MCP server implementation provides a standardized interface for AI language models to interact with YouTube content through the YouTube Data API. It enables access to video information, transcripts, channel data, and trend analysis.

Installation Options

Using Smithery

The easiest way to install the YouTube MCP Server for Claude Desktop is via Smithery:

npx -y @smithery/cli install @icraft2170/youtube-data-mcp-server --client claude

Manual Installation

You can also install the server manually:

# Install from npm
npm install youtube-data-mcp-server

# Or clone and install from repository
git clone https://github.com/icraft2170/youtube-data-mcp-server.git
cd youtube-data-mcp-server
npm install

Configuration

Setting Up Environment Variables

The server requires configuration through environment variables:

YOUTUBE_API_KEY: Your YouTube Data API key (required)
YOUTUBE_TRANSCRIPT_LANG: Default language for captions (optional, defaults to 'ko')

MCP Client Configuration

Add the following to your Claude Desktop configuration file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "youtube-data-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "YOUTUBE_API_KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE",
        "YOUTUBE_TRANSCRIPT_LANG": "ko"
      }
    }
  }
}

Obtaining a YouTube API Key

To use this server, you need a YouTube Data API key:

Go to the Google Cloud Console
Create a new project or select an existing one
Enable the YouTube Data API v3
Create API credentials (API key)
Use the generated key in your environment configuration

Available Tools

The server provides several tools for interacting with YouTube:

Video Information

getVideoDetails: Retrieve detailed information about videos
```
Required: videoIds (array)
```
searchVideos: Search for videos based on a query
```
Required: query
Optional: maxResults
```
getRelatedVideos: Find videos related to a specific video
```
Required: videoId
Optional: maxResults
```
getVideoEngagementRatio: Calculate engagement metrics
```
Required: videoIds (array)
```

Transcripts and Captions

getTranscripts: Retrieve video transcripts

Required: videoIds (array)
Optional: lang

Channel Analysis

getChannelStatistics: Get detailed metrics for channels
```
Required: channelIds (array)
```
getChannelTopVideos: Retrieve most-viewed videos from a channel
```
Required: channelId
Optional: maxResults
```

Trend Analysis

getTrendingVideos: Get popular videos by region and category
```
Optional: regionCode, categoryId, maxResults
```
compareVideos: Compare statistics across multiple videos
```
Required: videoIds (array)
```

System Requirements

Node.js 18.0.0 or higher

Security Best Practices

Store your API key securely and never commit it to version control
Manage keys through environment variables or configuration files
Set usage limits for your API key to prevent unauthorized use

AI models can now query YouTube data through this standardized MCP interface, making it easy to retrieve and analyze video content, channel statistics, and trends.

How to install this MCP server

For Claude Code

To add this MCP server to Claude Code, run this command in your terminal:

claude mcp add-json "youtube" '{"command":"npx","args":["-y","youtube-data-mcp-server"],"env":{"YOUTUBE_API_KEY":"YOUR_API_KEY_HERE","YOUTUBE_TRANSCRIPT_LANG":"ko"}}'

See the official Claude Code MCP documentation for more details.

For Cursor

There are two ways to add an MCP server to Cursor. The most common way is to add the server globally in the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file so that it is available in all of your projects.

If you only need the server in a single project, you can add it to the project instead by creating or adding it to the .cursor/mcp.json file.

Adding an MCP server to Cursor globally

To add a global MCP server go to Cursor Settings > Tools & Integrations and click "New MCP Server".

When you click that button the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file will be opened and you can add your server like this:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "youtube": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "youtube-data-mcp-server"
            ],
            "env": {
                "YOUTUBE_API_KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE",
                "YOUTUBE_TRANSCRIPT_LANG": "ko"
            }
        }
    }
}

Adding an MCP server to a project

To add an MCP server to a project you can create a new .cursor/mcp.json file or add it to the existing one. This will look exactly the same as the global MCP server example above.

How to use the MCP server

Once the server is installed, you might need to head back to Settings > MCP and click the refresh button.

The Cursor agent will then be able to see the available tools the added MCP server has available and will call them when it needs to.

You can also explicitly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.

For Claude Desktop

To add this MCP server to Claude Desktop:

1. Find your configuration file:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add this to your configuration file:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "youtube": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "youtube-data-mcp-server"
            ],
            "env": {
                "YOUTUBE_API_KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE",
                "YOUTUBE_TRANSCRIPT_LANG": "ko"
            }
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect