# YouTube MCP Server (data)

> Token-optimized YouTube Data API server for video, channel, and trend analytics.

- **Category:** Review & Distribution
- **Vendor:** Community (kirbah) (community)
- **Pricing:** free
- **Verified:** 2026-06-11

## What it does

A high-efficiency MCP server returning structured, token-minimized data from the YouTube Data API v3 (claims up to 87% token reduction vs raw API). Covers video details, search, transcripts (at zero quota cost), channel statistics, trending, and outlier-channel discovery — the research side of distribution: study what works before you publish.

## Connect

- Claude Code: `claude mcp add youtube -e YOUTUBE_API_KEY=YOUR_KEY -- npx -y @kirbah/mcp-youtube`
- Local: `npx -y @kirbah/mcp-youtube`

**Auth:** api_key (env `YOUTUBE_API_KEY`) — Google Cloud Console → enable YouTube Data API v3 → Credentials → API key

## Capabilities

`video-metadata` · `search` · `transcripts` · `channel-analytics` · `trending` · `comments`

## Sample tools

`getVideoDetails` · `searchVideos` · `getTranscripts` · `getChannelStatistics` · `getTrendingVideos` · `getVideoComments` · `findConsistentOutlierChannels`

## Field notes

MIT, pushed Jun 2026 — the most actively maintained YouTube data MCP. Read-only (no upload — pair with yutu). Higher-starred alternative: ZubeidHendricks/youtube-mcp-server (530 stars, multi-key quota fallback, ~2.5 months stale).

## Links

- Repo: https://github.com/kirbah/mcp-youtube

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Structured data: https://mcp.film/api/mcps/youtube-data.json · Directory: https://mcp.film