YouTube Research MCP — Claude Code MCP server for video citations
Pulls the part of a YouTube video your agent needs, with a timestamp and a link to that exact second. Useful when you want evidence, not a whole transcript.
claude mcp add youtube-research -e YOUTUBE_API_KEY=<YOUTUBE_API_KEY> -- npx -y @coyasong/youtube-mcp-serverWhat YouTube Research MCP does
Give it a video link and it returns caption segments tagged with timestamps and canonical URLs that jump straight to the quoted moment. Plain links, short links, Shorts, embed, live and bare video IDs all work. A transcript search tool sends back a matching stretch plus nearby context, so the model does not read the whole caption track. Timestamps come from the caption segments themselves rather than from the model.
Transcript research runs without any key. You need Node.js 22 or newer. Setting YOUTUBE_API_KEY for the YouTube Data API v3 turns on full mode: search, comments, video and channel statistics, trends and side-by-side comparisons. Skip the key and every Data API tool answers with an explicit key-required error, so add it up front if you plan to use analytics.
Local setup is stdio over npx. There is also a Streamable HTTP transport at /mcp with a public /health endpoint. Do not put a full-mode server on the open internet: anyone without a token can burn through your YouTube API quota. Remote deployments want a bearer token, and browser origins are refused unless listed as exact http:// or https:// entries in CORS_ORIGIN — wildcards get rejected.
What it helps with
- quote a video passage with its timestamp and source link
- locate the one part of a long transcript that covers a topic
- pull comments and channel stats through the YouTube API
- compare several videos by their numbers and trends
- feed YouTube research to an agent without flooding its context
Example prompts for the agent
- Use research-video to find what this talk says about evaluation and cite the exact moments:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID - Grab the comments and stats for this video, then tell me which claims come up most
- Compare these two channels across their recent uploads and list where the numbers differ
How to install YouTube Research MCP
Platform CLI
claude mcp add youtube-research -e YOUTUBE_API_KEY=<YOUTUBE_API_KEY> -- npx -y @coyasong/youtube-mcp-serverReplace <…> with your own values
Platform CLI
codex mcp add youtube-research-mcp --env YOUTUBE_API_KEY=<YOUTUBE_API_KEY> -- npx -y @coyasong/youtube-mcp-serverReplace <…> with your own values
Config file
{
"mcpServers": {
"youtube-research-mcp": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@coyasong/youtube-mcp-server"
],
"env": {
"YOUTUBE_API_KEY": "<YOUTUBE_API_KEY>"
}
}
}
}Replace <…> with your own values
Config file
{
"servers": {
"youtube-research-mcp": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@coyasong/youtube-mcp-server"
],
"env": {
"YOUTUBE_API_KEY": "<YOUTUBE_API_KEY>"
}
}
}
}Replace <…> with your own values
Platform CLI
gemini mcp add -e YOUTUBE_API_KEY=<YOUTUBE_API_KEY> youtube-research-mcp npx -y @coyasong/youtube-mcp-serverReplace <…> with your own values
Step by step, with commands for each platform: How to add an MCP server to Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, Gemini CLI and more
Questions about YouTube Research MCP
How do I install YouTube Research MCP in Claude Code?
Run claude mcp add youtube-research -e YOUTUBE_API_KEY=<YOUTUBE_API_KEY> -- npx -y @coyasong/youtube-mcp-server. Drop the key if transcripts are all you need.
What does YouTube Research MCP do?
It turns a video URL into transcript evidence carrying timestamps and point-in-time links. With an API key it adds search, comments and channel or video statistics.
Do I need a YouTube API key?
Not for transcripts. The YOUTUBE_API_KEY variable switches the server to full mode with search and analytics; without it those tools report that a key is required.
