youtube-channels
Use when a YouTube channel is the focus: pasted @handles or channel URLs, requests to browse a creator's uploads, see what a channel has posted recently, search within a channel, or resolve a handle to a channel ID. Also use when the user names a creator and wants to explore their content or monitor their uploads. Not for creating channels or account management.
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Install
Works with every agent the skills CLI supports.
npx skills add https://github.com/zeropointrepo/youtube-skills --skill youtube-channels- 01
Install
Run the command in your project. The CLI asks which agents to install for.
- 02
Describe the task
Ask your agent for something this skill covers. It loads youtube-channels automatically when relevant.
- 03
Review the result
The agent follows the SKILL.md steps, scripts and references bundled with the skill.
SKILL.md
The instructions your agent reads when the skill is triggered.
YouTube Channels
YouTube channel tools via TranscriptAPI.com.
Setup
If $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY is not set, read references/auth-setup.md and follow the instructions there to get and store the key.
Required Headers
Every request needs two headers:
- Authorization:
Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY - User-Agent: your agent's name and version if known (e.g.
HermesAgent/0.11.0,ClaudeCode/1.0). Version is optional — agent name alone is fine. Do not omit this header or send a bare default — Cloudflare will return a 403 (error code 1010) and block the request.
API Reference
Full OpenAPI spec: transcriptapi.com/openapi.json — consult this for the latest parameters and schemas.
All channel endpoints accept flexible input — @handle, channel URL, or UC... channel ID. No need to resolve first.
GET /api/v2/youtube/channel/resolve — FREE
Convert @handle, URL, or UC... ID to canonical channel ID.
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/resolve?input=@TED
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0
| Param | Required | Validation |
|---|---|---|
input | yes | 1-200 chars — @handle, URL, or UC... ID |
Response:
{ "channel_id": "UCsT0YIqwnpJCM-mx7-gSA4Q", "resolved_from": "@TED" }
If input is already UC[a-zA-Z0-9_-]{22}, returns immediately.
GET /api/v2/youtube/channel/latest — FREE
Latest 15 videos via RSS with exact stats.
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/latest?channel=@TED
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0
| Param | Required | Validation |
|---|---|---|
channel | yes | @handle, channel URL, or UC... ID |
Response:
{
"channel": {
"channelId": "UCsT0YIqwnpJCM-mx7-gSA4Q",
"title": "TED",
"author": "TED",
"url": "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsT0YIqwnpJCM-mx7-gSA4Q",
"published": "2006-04-17T00:00:00Z"
},
"results": [
{
"videoId": "abc123xyz00",
"title": "Latest Video Title",
"channelId": "UCsT0YIqwnpJCM-mx7-gSA4Q",
"author": "TED",
"published": "2026-01-30T16:00:00Z",
"updated": "2026-01-31T02:00:00Z",
"link": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abc123xyz00",
"description": "Full video description...",
"thumbnail": { "url": "https://i1.ytimg.com/vi/.../hqdefault.jpg" },
"viewCount": "2287630",
"starRating": {
"average": "4.92",
"count": "15000",
"min": "1",
"max": "5"
}
}
],
"result_count": 15
}
Great for monitoring channels — free and gives exact view counts + ISO timestamps.
GET /api/v2/youtube/channel/videos — 1 credit/page
Paginated list of a channel's feed (~100 per page). Use tab to pick uploads (default), Shorts, or live streams, and the optional sort to order the Videos tab by latest, popular, or oldest.
# First page
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/videos?channel=@NASA&tab=videos
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0
# Most-viewed first (channel Videos tab, ~30 per page)
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/videos?channel=@NASA&sort=popular
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0
# Next pages (repeat the same tab AND sort)
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/videos?continuation=TOKEN&sort=popular
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0
| Param | Required | Validation |
|---|---|---|
channel | conditional | @handle, channel URL, or UC... ID |
tab | no | videos (default), shorts, or streams |
sort | no | latest, popular, or oldest (omit for the uploads feed) |
continuation | conditional | non-empty (next pages) |
Provide exactly one of channel or continuation, not both. When paginating, pass the same tab and sort on every page.
Sorting. Add sort=latest, popular, or oldest to channel/videos to get a channel's videos in the order you want, for example its most-popular uploads first. A sorted page returns about 30 videos (an unsorted page returns about 100), and every page costs the same 1 credit.
When paging, send the same sort on each request.
Per-item fields by feed:
| Field | uploads (no sort) | tab=videos + sort | tab=streams | tab=shorts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
lengthText | populated | populated | populated (LIVE while live) | null |
publishedTimeText | populated | populated | populated (Streamed 2 years ago) | null |
viewCountText | populated | populated | populated (null while live) | populated |
channelId / channelTitle / channelHandle / index | populated | null | null | null |
members_only | always false | true on membership videos | true on membership streams | always false |
members_only is true only when YouTube badges the item "Members only". Such items carry no viewCountText, because YouTube does not publish view counts for membership content.
Response:
{
"results": [{
"videoId": "abc123xyz00",
"title": "Video Title",
"channelId": "UCsT0YIqwnpJCM-mx7-gSA4Q",
"channelTitle": "TED",
"channelHandle": "@TED",
"lengthText": "15:22",
"viewCountText": "3.2M views",
"publishedTimeText": "2 years ago",
"thumbnails": [...],
"index": "0",
"members_only": false
}],
"playlist_info": {"title": "Uploads from TED", "numVideos": "5000", "ownerName": "TED"},
"continuation_token": "4qmFsgKlARIYVVV1...",
"has_more": true
}
Keep calling with continuation until has_more: false.
GET /api/v2/youtube/channel/search — 1 credit
Search within a specific channel.
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/search?channel=@TED&q=climate+change&limit=30
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0
| Param | Required | Validation |
|---|---|---|
channel | yes | @handle, channel URL, or UC... ID |
q | yes | 1-200 chars |
limit | no | 1-50 (default 30) |
GET /api/v2/youtube/channel/info — 1 credit
A channel's profile: title, handle, verified flag, subscriber/video counts, description, tags, thumbnails, banners, and the tabs it exposes.
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/info?channel=@TED
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0
| Param | Required | Validation |
|---|---|---|
channel | yes | @handle, channel URL, or UC... ID |
Response:
{
"channelId": "UCAuUUnT6oDeKwE6v1NGQxug",
"title": "TED",
"handle": "@TED",
"verified": true,
"subscriberCountText": "23.8M subscribers",
"videoCountText": "4,300 videos",
"description": "The TED Talks channel features ...",
"tags": ["TED", "TED Talks"],
"thumbnails": [...],
"banners": [...],
"availableTabs": ["videos", "shorts", "playlists", "community"]
}
Counts are display strings and null when YouTube hides them — never 0. Check availableTabs before calling channel/sections or channel/videos with a tab.
GET /api/v2/youtube/channel/playlists — 1 credit/page
List the playlists shown on a channel — useful for finding a playlist ID to feed into playlist/videos.
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/playlists?channel=@TED
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0
| Param | Required | Validation |
|---|---|---|
channel | conditional | @handle, channel URL, or UC... ID |
continuation | conditional | non-empty (next pages) |
Provide exactly one of channel or continuation, not both. Returns results (playlistId, title, url, videoCountText, thumbnails), continuation_token, has_more.
GET /api/v2/youtube/channel/posts — 1 credit/page
List a channel's community (Posts tab) content — text, publish time, like counts, and any attachment (image, video, playlist, or poll).
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/posts?channel=@TED
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0
| Param | Required | Validation |
|---|---|---|
channel | conditional | @handle, channel URL, or UC... ID |
continuation | conditional | non-empty (next pages) |
Provide exactly one of channel or continuation, not both. Channels with no community tab return an empty results list (not an error).
GET /api/v2/youtube/channel/sections — 1 credit
The curated shelves on a channel's Home page (or its podcasts/releases pages) — each shelf holds videos, playlists, shorts, or featured channels, in the channel's own order. Not paginated.
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/sections?channel=@TED
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0
| Param | Required | Default | Validation |
|---|---|---|---|
channel | yes | — | @handle, channel URL, or UC... ID |
tab | no | featured | featured (Home), podcasts, releases |
podcasts and releases only exist on channels that have them (empty results otherwise — check availableTabs from channel/info first).
Typical workflow
# 1. Check latest uploads (free — pass @handle directly)
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/channel/latest?channel=@TED
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0
# 2. Get transcript of recent video
GET https://transcriptapi.com/api/v2/youtube/transcript?video_url=VIDEO_ID&format=text&include_timestamp=true&send_metadata=true
Authorization: Bearer $TRANSCRIPT_API_KEY
User-Agent: YourAgent/1.0
Errors
| Code | Meaning | Action |
|---|---|---|
| 400 | Invalid param combination | Both or neither channel/continuation |
| 402 | No credits | transcriptapi.com/billing |
| 403/1010 | Cloudflare block | Add or fix User-Agent header |
| 404 | Channel not found | Check handle or URL |
| 408 | Timeout | Retry once |
| 422 | Invalid channel identifier | Check param format |
Free tier: 100 credits, 300 req/min. Free endpoints (resolve, latest) require auth but don't consume credits.
Copy-paste examples
Every request in this file as a ready-to-run one-liner: references/curl-examples.md
FAQ
What does the youtube-channels skill do?
Use when a YouTube channel is the focus: pasted @handles or channel URLs, requests to browse a creator's uploads, see what a channel has posted recently, search within a channel, or resolve a handle to a channel ID. Also use when the user names a creator and wants to explore their content or monitor their uploads. Not for creating channels or account management.
How do I install youtube-channels?
Run npx skills add https://github.com/zeropointrepo/youtube-skills --skill youtube-channels in your project. The skills CLI detects the agents you use and copies the skill into the right folder. For Claude Code you can also place the skill folder at ~/.claude/skills/youtube-channels/ (personal) or .claude/skills/youtube-channels/ (project).
Which AI agents can use youtube-channels?
Any agent that supports the open Agent Skills format (a folder with a SKILL.md file), including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, Cline, OpenCode and more.
Is youtube-channels safe to install?
No partner security audit is available yet. Skills can run commands and scripts, so read the SKILL.md and any bundled files before installing.
Who maintains youtube-channels?
It is published by zeropointrepo in zeropointrepo/youtube-skills. It has 752 recorded installs.
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