youtube-tracker

name	youtube-tracker
description	Track YouTube channels for new uploads. Supports both RSS mode (no API key needed, unlimited quota) and API mode. Use when: add/remove/list tracked YouTube channels, check for new videos, or run scheduled YouTube channel monitoring.
version	2.0.1

youtube-tracker

A script-backed Skill to maintain a list of tracked YouTube channels and periodically check for new uploads.

v2.0.1 - Bugfix (2026-03-17)

Fix: Increased seen video ID limit from 500 to 2000 to prevent duplicate notifications.

• With 54+ channels, 500 IDs was too small (videos got pushed out and re-detected)
• Now keeps up to 2000 video IDs in state/seen.json

v2.0.0 - RSS Mode (2026-03-17)

Breaking change: Now uses YouTube RSS feeds by default - no API key needed, no quota limits!

Why RSS?

• YouTube API free quota: 10,000 units/day
• API mode with 56 channels × 100 units/check = 5,600 units
• That means only 1-2 checks per day before quota exhausted
• RSS feeds are official, free, unlimited, and only 5-30 min delayed

Changes

• New script: youtube-tracker-rss.js (RSS mode, no API key required)
• Legacy script: youtube-tracker.js (API mode, requires key)
• check command now defaults to RSS mode
• Removed API key requirement for basic operations

What it does

• Add / remove / list tracked channels (input can be URL / @handle / channelId)
• On add, it will baseline (mark the channel's current latest videos as seen)
• On check, prints only new videos since last run with:
  • channel name
  • title
  • video URL

Data files

All state is stored inside this Skill folder:

• state/config.json (tracked channels, no API key needed for RSS mode)
• state/seen.json (dedupe: already announced video ids)

Commands

Run from this skill directory:

# RSS mode (recommended, no API key needed)
node scripts/youtube-tracker-rss.js add "https://www.youtube.com/@veritasium"
node scripts/youtube-tracker-rss.js add "@veritasium"
node scripts/youtube-tracker-rss.js add "UCddiUEpeqJcYeBxX1IVBKvQ"
node scripts/youtube-tracker-rss.js list
node scripts/youtube-tracker-rss.js remove "UCddiUEpeqJcYeBxX1IVBKvQ"
node scripts/youtube-tracker-rss.js check

# API mode (legacy, requires API key)
node scripts/youtube-tracker.js set-key "YOUR_YT_API_KEY"
node scripts/youtube-tracker.js validate-key
node scripts/youtube-tracker.js add "@veritasium"
node scripts/youtube-tracker.js check

Cron usage notes

• Use youtube-tracker-rss.js check for scheduled monitoring
• If check outputs nothing, treat it as no updates
• If it outputs lines, send them to the target chat/topic
• No API quota concerns with RSS mode - check as often as needed

Migration from v1.x

If upgrading from v1.x (API mode):

1. Your existing state/config.json and state/seen.json are compatible
2. Simply switch to youtube-tracker-rss.js commands
3. No need to re-add channels