YouTube Search MCP Server

A fast and comprehensive MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that provides YouTube search functionality using the YouTube Data API v3.

Features

Comprehensive Search: Search videos, channels, and playlists
Advanced Filtering: Duration, quality, date range, region, and language filters
Pagination Support: Handle large result sets with pagination tokens
Multiple Search Types: Specialized tools for different content types
Error Handling: Robust error handling and validation
Rate Limiting Aware: Optimized for YouTube API quota management

Installation

Install dependencies:

pip install -r requirements.txt

Set up your YouTube API key:

export YOUTUBE_API_KEY="your_youtube_api_key_here"

Run the server:

python youtube_search_mcp.py

API Setup

Go to Google Cloud Console
Create a new project or select an existing one
Enable the YouTube Data API v3
Create an API key in the credentials section
Set the API key as an environment variable

Available Tools

Main Search Tool

search_youtube - Full-featured search with all available filters

Specialized Search Tools

search_youtube_videos - Video-specific search with video filters
search_youtube_channels - Channel-specific search
search_youtube_playlists - Playlist-specific search
search_youtube_by_channel - Search within a specific channel

Resource

youtube-search-help - Comprehensive help documentation

Usage Examples

Basic Video Search

# Search for programming videos
search_youtube_videos("python programming", max_results=10, order="date")

Advanced Video Search

# Search for short programming videos from last month
search_youtube_videos(
    "machine learning", 
    max_results=20,
    duration="short",
    order="viewCount",
    published_after="2024-01-01T00:00:00Z"
)

Channel Search

# Find channels about data science
search_youtube_channels("data science", max_results=15)

Search Within Channel

# Search within a specific channel
search_youtube_by_channel(
    "UC_x5XG1OV2P6uZZ5FSM9Ttw",
    query="tutorial",
    max_results=25
)

Parameters

Common Parameters

query: Search query string
max_results: Number of results (0-50, default: 25)
order: Sort order (relevance, date, rating, viewCount, title)
region_code: Geographic region (ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code)

Video-Specific Parameters

duration: Video length (any, short, medium, long)
definition: Video quality (any, high, standard)
published_after/before: Date filtering (RFC 3339 format)

Response Format

All search results include:

Search metadata (total results, pagination tokens)
Processed items with titles, descriptions, URLs
Channel information and publication dates
Thumbnail URLs in multiple sizes

Rate Limiting

Daily quota: 10,000 units (default)
Search cost: 100 units per request
Maximum searches: ~100 requests per day
Best practices: Implement caching and use specific filters

Error Handling

The server handles various error conditions:

Invalid API key
Quota exceeded
Invalid parameters
Network errors
Rate limiting

Best Practices

Use specific filters to get relevant results
Implement caching for frequently searched terms
Monitor quota usage in Google Cloud Console
Use pagination tokens for large result sets
Handle errors gracefully with retry logic

Security

Store API keys in environment variables
Never expose API keys in client-side code
Implement proper rate limiting
Validate and sanitize search queries

License

This project is open source and available under the MIT License.

This server cannot be installed

security - not tested

license - not found

quality - not tested

How are these scores calculated?

A Model Context Protocol server that provides comprehensive YouTube search functionality, enabling users to search for videos, channels, and playlists with advanced filtering options using the YouTube Data API.

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