| name | youtube-publisher |
| description | Upload and fully manage YouTube videos and live events: metadata, thumbnails, captions, playlists, scheduled broadcasts, encoder streams, binding, lifecycle transitions, and cleanup. |
| version | 1.7.0 |
| setup_complete | true |
| setup | ./SETUP.md |
| changelog | v1.7.0: full YouTube Live lifecycle with writable-field-safe updates, fail-closed ambiguous upload recovery, non-destructive caption upsert, OAuth CSRF protection, secret-safe output, explicit destructive-operation guards, regression tests, and CI. Full history: references/CHANGELOG.md. |
🔴 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
npx ts-node youtube-upload.ts --auth
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
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
| Option | Short | Description |
|---|
--video | -v | Video file path (required) |
--title | -t | Video title (required) |
--description | -d | Video description |
--tags | | Comma-separated tags |
--privacy | -p | Privacy: public, unlisted, private (default: unlisted) |
--category | -c | Category ID (default: 22 = People & Blogs) |
--thumbnail | | Custom thumbnail image (local path or URL) |
--subtitles | | Subtitle file path (SRT/VTT) |
--subtitle-lang | | Subtitle language code (default: zh) |
--subtitle-name | | Subtitle display name (default: 中文) |
--playlist | | Add to playlist ID |
--short | | Mark as YouTube Short |
--auth | | Run OAuth2 authentication flow |
--dry-run | | Preview without uploading |
Category IDs
| ID | Category |
|---|
| 1 | Film & Animation |
| 2 | Autos & Vehicles |
| 10 | Music |
| 15 | Pets & Animals |
| 17 | Sports |
| 19 | Travel & Events |
| 20 | Gaming |
| 22 | People & Blogs |
| 23 | Comedy |
| 24 | Entertainment |
| 25 | News & Politics |
| 26 | Howto & Style |
| 27 | Education |
| 28 | Science & Technology |
Authentication
First-time setup requires OAuth2 authentication:
- Run
npx ts-node youtube-upload.ts --auth
- Browser opens Google login
- Grant permissions to upload videos
- 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:
- Create project at console.cloud.google.com
- Enable YouTube Data API v3
- Create OAuth2 credentials (Desktop app)
- 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:
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
