# YTAPI

Brings YouTube transcripts, metadata, comments, and channel search to coding agents via a remote HTTP endpoint.

- MCP server · `type=mcp` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Windsurf (Devin Desktop), Cline, Zed, Gemini CLI · ★ 1
- Author: ytapi
- License: MIT-0 · policy=link-only · description only; the file stays with the author
- Source: https://github.com/ytapi/youtube-skills
- Updated: 2026-10-15
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/mcp/ytapi

## What it does

Cloud environments and automated agents often trigger IP blocks or HTTP 429 errors when fetching YouTube data directly. YTAPI routes calls through `https://api.ytapi.dev/mcp`, avoiding local scrapers like `yt-dlp`. It runs as a remote HTTP service.

The server retrieves subtitles in SRT, VTT, or plain text formats across different languages. Agents can also query video replay heatmaps, inspect playlists, and fetch channel profiles. Basic video metadata and search suggestions cost nothing.

Getting started requires an account, which comes with 200 complimentary credits without a payment card. The free tier caps usage at 1 request per second and 100 calls per day.

## Requirements
- Remote server: `https://api.ytapi.dev/mcp`

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

**Platform CLI: remote server**
```bash
claude mcp add --transport http youtube https://api.ytapi.dev/mcp
```

### Codex

**Platform CLI: remote server**
```bash
codex mcp add ytapi --url https://api.ytapi.dev/mcp
```

### Cursor

**Config file**
File `.cursor/mcp.json`:
```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "ytapi": {
            "url": "https://api.ytapi.dev/mcp"
        }
    }
}
```

### GitHub Copilot

**Config file**
File `.vscode/mcp.json`:
```json
{
    "servers": {
        "ytapi": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://api.ytapi.dev/mcp"
        }
    }
}
```

### Gemini CLI

**Platform CLI: remote server**
```bash
gemini mcp add -t http ytapi https://api.ytapi.dev/mcp
```

## When to use it
- extract video subtitles as timestamped SRT or VTT files
- pull recent uploads from a specific channel handle
- fetch comments and audience replay heatmaps
- search YouTube for relevant videos and playlists

## Example prompts
- Summarize the talk at `https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ` and list its main points.
- Search for this week's top videos about Rust async and show their view counts.
- Download Spanish subtitles for this presentation and save them to `talk.srt`.

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