Source Code

YouTube Studio Skill

Comprehensive YouTube channel management skill for Clawdbot. Monitor analytics, upload videos, manage comments, and generate content ideas.

Overview

youtube-studio provides full-featured YouTube channel management:

Real-time channel statistics and analytics
Video upload with metadata and scheduling
Comment monitoring and AI-powered reply suggestions
Content idea generation based on trends and niche
Rate limiting and error recovery
OAuth 2.0 authentication

Setup

1. YouTube Data API v3 Credentials

Get API Key & OAuth Credentials

Go to Google Cloud Console
Create a new project (e.g., "Clawdbot YouTube Studio")
Enable YouTube Data API v3:
- Search for "YouTube Data API v3"
- Click "Enable"
Create OAuth 2.0 credentials:
- Go to "Credentials"
- Click "Create Credentials" → "OAuth client ID"
- Choose "Desktop application"
- Download JSON (save as credentials.json)
Create an API Key (for public requests):
- Click "Create Credentials" → "API Key"
- Copy the key

File Structure

~/.clawd-youtube/
├── credentials.json       # OAuth credentials (from step 4)
├── tokens.json           # Generated after first OAuth flow
└── config.env            # API keys and settings

2. Environment Setup

Copy .env.example to ~/.clawd-youtube/config.env:

# YouTube API
YOUTUBE_API_KEY=your_api_key_here
YOUTUBE_CLIENT_ID=your_client_id.apps.googleusercontent.com
YOUTUBE_CLIENT_SECRET=your_client_secret
YOUTUBE_REDIRECT_URI=http://localhost:8888/oauth2callback

# Channel Settings
YOUTUBE_CHANNEL_ID=UCxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
YOUTUBE_CHANNEL_NAME=YourChannelName

# AI Model (for suggestions & replies)
AI_MODEL=openrouter/anthropic/claude-haiku-4.5
AI_API_KEY=your_api_key

# Rate Limiting
API_QUOTA_PER_DAY=1000000
BATCH_SIZE=50

# Logging
LOG_LEVEL=info
LOG_DIR=./logs

3. OAuth 2.0 Flow

The skill handles OAuth automatically on first run:

youtube-studio auth
# Opens browser to Google login
# Exchanges auth code for refresh token
# Saves tokens to tokens.json

Subsequent runs use the saved refresh token (no re-auth needed).

Commands

Check Channel Statistics

youtube-studio stats
youtube-studio stats --days 7        # Last 7 days
youtube-studio stats --json          # JSON output

Output:

Total views, subscribers, watch time
Recent video performance (top 5)
Growth trends
Engagement metrics (avg views, likes, comments per video)

Upload Video

youtube-studio upload \
  --file video.mp4 \
  --title "My Devotional Series #5" \
  --description "Join me for another..." \
  --tags "devotional,faith,inspiration" \
  --privacy public \
  --schedule "2024-01-15T10:00:00Z"

Options:

--file (required): Video file path (mp4, mov, avi, mkv)
--title (required): Video title
--description: Full description (supports markdown)
--tags: Comma-separated tags (max 500 chars)
--privacy: public, unlisted, private (default: unlisted)
--thumbnail: Custom thumbnail image path
--playlist: Add to existing playlist by name
--schedule: ISO 8601 datetime for scheduled upload
--category: Video category (Music, People, etc.)

List Recent Comments

youtube-studio comments
youtube-studio comments --video-id xxxxx    # Specific video
youtube-studio comments --unread            # Unread only
youtube-studio comments --limit 50          # Limit results
youtube-studio comments --json              # JSON output

Reply to Comment

youtube-studio reply \
  --comment-id Qmxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx \
  --text "Thanks for watching!" \
  --suggest                    # Show AI suggestions first

Flags:

--suggest: Generate 3 reply suggestions before responding
--template: Use preset template (grateful, educational, promotional)
--dry-run: Preview without sending

Generate Video Ideas

youtube-studio ideas
youtube-studio ideas --niche devotional
youtube-studio ideas --trending          # Based on YouTube trends
youtube-studio ideas --json              # JSON output
youtube-studio ideas --count 10          # Number of ideas

Output:

Title suggestions
Description hooks
Target audience analysis
SEO keywords
Estimated search volume
Thumbnail ideas

Rate Limiting

YouTube API quotas:

Daily quota: 1,000,000 units (default)
Per-method costs:
- channels.list: 1 unit
- videos.list: 1 unit
- videos.insert: 1,600 units (upload)
- commentThreads.list: 1 unit
- comments.insert: 1 unit

Skill handles:

Automatic quota tracking
Request batching
Exponential backoff on 403 errors
Daily reset monitoring
Quota alerts when >80% used

youtube-studio quota-status    # Check remaining quota

Error Recovery

Error	Handling
`401 Unauthorized`	Refresh OAuth token automatically
`403 Quota Exceeded`	Wait until next day, show alert
`429 Rate Limited`	Exponential backoff (1s, 2s, 4s...)
`500 Server Error`	Retry up to 3 times
Network timeout	Graceful retry with circuit breaker
Upload interrupted	Resume from last chunk

File Structure

youtube-studio/
├── SKILL.md                           # This file
├── README.md                          # User guide
├── scripts/
│   ├── youtube-studio.js              # Main entry point & CLI
│   ├── channel-analytics.js           # Stats & analytics
│   ├── video-uploader.js              # Video upload logic
│   ├── comment-manager.js             # Comment operations
│   ├── content-ideas.js               # Idea generation
│   ├── auth-handler.js                # OAuth flow
│   ├── api-client.js                  # Quota-aware API wrapper
│   └── utils.js                       # Helpers
├── config/
│   ├── templates.json                 # Description templates, tags
│   └── niche-prompts.json             # Prompt templates for ideas
├── .env.example                       # Environment template
├── package.json                       # Dependencies
└── logs/                              # Runtime logs

Templates

Video Description Template

{
  "devoted_journey": {
    "title": "Daily Devotional - {topic}",
    "description": "🙏 {hook}\n\n{body}\n\n⏱️ Timestamps:\n{timestamps}\n\n📖 Scripture: {reference}\n\n💬 Reflect: {reflection_question}",
    "tags": ["devotional", "faith", "scripture", "spiritual"]
  }
}

Comment Reply Templates

grateful: Thank subscribers for support
educational: Explain concepts deeper
promotional: Link to related videos
engagement: Ask follow-up questions

Dependencies

{
  "googleapis": "^120.0.0",
  "google-auth-library": "^9.0.0",
  "axios": "^1.6.0",
  "express": "^4.18.0"
}

Troubleshooting

"Invalid grant" error

Delete tokens.json
Run youtube-studio auth again
Check credentials.json is valid

Quota exceeded

Check youtube-studio quota-status
Wait until midnight UTC (quota resets)
Consider raising API quota in Cloud Console

Upload fails

Check file exists and is readable
Verify file format is supported
Check video doesn't violate YouTube policies
Use --dry-run to test metadata first

Comments not appearing

Ensure channel is authenticated with owner account
Check comment moderation settings
Verify YOUTUBE_CHANNEL_ID matches your channel

API Reference

Core Methods

`authenticateOAuth()`

Initiates OAuth 2.0 flow. Returns refresh token.

`getChannelStats(options = {})`

days: Number of days to look back (default: 30)
Returns: { views, subscribers, watchHours, videos, topVideos[] }

`uploadVideo(metadata, filePath, options = {})`

metadata: title, description, tags, privacy
filePath: Path to video file
Returns: { videoId, status, scheduledTime }

`listComments(videoId = null, options = {})`

videoId: Specific video or null for all
unread: Boolean, get unread only
Returns: { comments[], total, pageToken }

`replyToComment(commentId, text, options = {})`

template: Use preset template
suggestFirst: Get AI suggestions
Returns: { replyId, text }

`generateVideoIdeas(options = {})`

niche: Channel niche/category
trending: Include trending topics
Returns: { ideas[], keywords[], thumbnail_prompts[] }

Examples

Full Daily Workflow

# Check stats
youtube-studio stats --days 1

# Review comments with suggestions
youtube-studio comments --limit 20 --suggest

# Generate new video ideas
youtube-studio ideas --trending --count 5

# Check quota before scheduling uploads
youtube-studio quota-status

Automated Upload (Scripting)

#!/bin/bash
youtube-studio upload \
  --file ~/Videos/devotional.mp4 \
  --title "Daily Devotional - $(date +%Y-%m-%d)" \
  --description "$(cat description.txt)" \
  --schedule "$(date -d 'tomorrow 10:00' -Iseconds)" \
  --tags "devotional,daily,faith"

Limitations

YouTube API quota: 1M units/day (sufficient for ~600 uploads/day)
Videos must be <256GB
Title limited to 100 characters
Description limited to 5,000 characters
Comment replies limited to 10,000 characters
No live stream management (yet)

Future Enhancements

Live stream monitoring and chat moderation
Playlist automation
Subtitle generation (using Whisper)
Thumbnail optimization with CV
Analytics dashboards
Multi-channel support
Scheduled content calendar

License

MIT - Use freely within Clawdbot ecosystem

Support

Issues? Check:

~/.clawd-youtube/logs/ for debug output
Credentials validity: youtube-studio auth
API quotas: youtube-studio quota-status
Network: Ping Google API servers