Upload videos and custom thumbnails to YouTube. Use when the user wants to publish, upload, or post a video to YouTube, set a thumbnail, or manage YouTube ch...
---
name: youtube
description: Upload videos and custom thumbnails to YouTube. Use when the user wants to publish, upload, or post a video to YouTube, set a thumbnail, or manage YouTube channel authentication.
homepage: https://developers.google.com/youtube/v3
metadata:
{
"openclaw":
{
"emoji": "📺",
"requires": { "bins": ["python3"] },
},
}
---
# YouTube Uploader
Upload videos with full metadata and custom thumbnails to YouTube via OAuth2.
## Setup (one-time)
The user needs a Google Cloud project with the YouTube Data API v3 enabled and an OAuth2 client ID (type "Desktop app"). Download the `client_secret.json` file.
### Authenticate
```bash
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/youtube-upload.py auth --client-secret /path/to/client_secret.json
```
This opens a browser for Google OAuth consent, then saves credentials to `~/.openclaw/youtube/channels.json`. Multiple channels can be authenticated by repeating the command with different Google accounts.
### List authenticated channels
```bash
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/youtube-upload.py channels
```
## Upload a video
```bash
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/youtube-upload.py upload \
--file /path/to/video.mp4 \
--title "Video Title" \
--description "Video description" \
--tags "tag1,tag2,tag3" \
--category 22 \
--privacy private \
--channel-id UCxxxxxxxx
```
**Required**: `--file`, `--title`
**Optional**: `--description`, `--tags` (comma-separated), `--category` (default 22 = People & Blogs), `--privacy` (private/unlisted/public, default private), `--publish-at` (ISO 8601 for scheduled publish, requires privacy=private), `--made-for-kids`, `--channel-id` (uses first channel if omitted)
Returns JSON with `videoId` and `url`.
## Upload a custom thumbnail
```bash
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/youtube-upload.py thumbnail \
--video-id VIDEO_ID \
--file /path/to/thumbnail.jpg \
--channel-id UCxxxxxxxx
```
Supports JPEG, PNG, BMP, GIF. Max 2MB per YouTube API. The channel must be verified for custom thumbnails.
## Refresh token manually
```bash
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/youtube-upload.py refresh --channel-id UCxxxxxxxx
```
## Workflow tips
- Always upload as `--privacy private` first, verify, then update privacy if needed.
- Upload thumbnail immediately after video upload using the returned `videoId`.
- If auth expires, re-run the `auth` subcommand.
- When the user doesn't specify a category, default to 22. See `references/categories.md` for the full list.
## References
- See `references/categories.md` for YouTube video category IDs.
don't have the plugin yet? install it then click "run inline in claude" again.