A YouTube MCP server gives an AI agent such as Claude, Codex or Cursor tools for YouTube, and the servers split into four jobs: searching public videos, pulling transcripts, uploading to your channel and reading your channel’s analytics. Choose by job. Public research needs at most a Google API key, while uploads and analytics need permission to your Google account, so check the exact scopes first. This guide compares 15 servers on what they do, how they sign in and what they cost, based on their documentation and source code as of November 12, 2026, and ends with turning your own long video into Shorts.
YouTube MCP servers at a glance
| Server | Job | Access |
|---|---|---|
| ZubeidHendricks | Search, transcripts, channels | API key |
| vidlens-mcp | Local research library | No key to start |
| Anarcyst | Search, transcripts, channels | No key |
| TranscriptAPI | Hosted transcripts, search | Vendor account |
| kimtaeyoon83 | Transcripts, language fallback | No key |
| anaisbetts | Subtitles via yt-dlp | Not documented |
| jkawamoto | Timed transcripts | No sign-in documented |
| TranscriptOut | Hosted batch transcripts | Vendor API key |
| SeanPedersen | Transcripts in 5 languages | Not documented |
| Eli-xir | Captions, local fallback | No key |
| youtube-mcp-cli | Plain or timed transcripts | No key |
| yutu | Uploads, captions, comments | Google OAuth |
| youtube-studio-mcp | Uploads, analytics | Google OAuth |
| Zernio | Publishing, scheduling | Vendor + channel |
| youtube-kit | Owner analytics, uploads | Google OAuth |
“Access” is what the README documents. Self-hosted servers also run on your computer, so you install their dependencies.
How we chose these servers
We looked for YouTube MCP servers on GitHub and vendor sites, read each README and, for the owner tools, the source code that requests Google permissions. We grouped them by job and compared what they return, how they authenticate and what they cost. GitHub stars and last-update dates come from GitHub’s API on November 12, 2026; stars show attention, not quality. We didn’t run the servers, connect a channel or upload anything, so there’s no speed or quality ranking.
ChatCut publishes this guide. ChatCut isn’t a YouTube MCP server, so it appears only in the last section, on editing your own footage before upload, and is described on the same points. For MCP servers that edit video, see the video editing MCP comparison.
Search and public data servers
These read public YouTube data. None of them documents access to your channel’s private data or changes to your channel.
1. ZubeidHendricks YouTube MCP server
ZubeidHendricks/youtube-mcp-server is the most-starred general-purpose server here: 10 read-only tools for video details, search, transcripts, channels and playlists. MIT license; 597 stars, last updated August 8, 2026.
Setup: add npx -y zubeid-youtube-mcp-server to your client’s MCP config with a YouTube Data API key in YOUTUBE_API_KEY. The README shows configs for Claude Desktop and VS Code.
Cost: free code. Requests count against your Google Cloud project’s YouTube Data API quota; you can add backup keys that it switches to when one runs out.
Watch for: it doesn’t document uploads or owner analytics.
2. vidlens-mcp for a research library
thatsrajan/vidlens-mcp lets you import videos once, then search their transcripts, comments, frames and on-screen text (OCR) later. MIT license; 36 stars, last updated October 10, 2026.
Setup: follow the README; it needs no API keys to start.
Cost: free code; some optional features use other services, so check those before turning them on.
Watch for: ask which source each finding came from: speech, a comment, a frame or OCR.
3. Anarcyst server for no-key research
Anarcyst/youtube-mcp-server searches videos, gets transcripts and browses channels without API keys or sign-in. MIT license; 13 stars, last updated March 17, 2026.
Setup: follow the README’s install steps.
Cost: free code; no Google quota involved.
Watch for: the maintainer warns that transcript requests can be rate-limited after many requests in a short time. Test one video before a batch.
4. TranscriptAPI for hosted research
ZeroPointRepo/youtube-mcp connects to TranscriptAPI, a hosted service for transcripts, video search, channel browsing and playlist extraction. MIT license; 13 stars, last updated September 21, 2026.
Setup: sign in with a TranscriptAPI account through OAuth 2.1, or use an API key.
Cost: the README lists a Free plan plus Starter Monthly and Starter Annual credit plans. The MIT code doesn’t make the service free.
Watch for: this is a vendor account, not access to your Google channel. Speed claims in the README are the vendor’s own.
For any server that does search and transcripts, start with a small, source-linked request:
Transcript servers
A transcript tells you what was said, not what’s on screen. If a video has no captions, check whether the server has a fallback. To get a transcript by hand, see how to get a YouTube transcript.
5. kimtaeyoon83 transcripts with language fallback
kimtaeyoon83/mcp-server-youtube-transcript fetches a transcript in the language you ask for and falls back automatically when it isn’t available. MIT license; 603 stars, last updated July 21, 2026.
Setup: the transcript tool works without any key. An optional analyze_video tool needs a TwelveLabs API key.
Cost: free code; TwelveLabs analysis runs on your TwelveLabs account.
Watch for: note which language you actually got back.
6. anaisbetts mcp-youtube for subtitles
anaisbetts/mcp-youtube downloads YouTube subtitles with yt-dlp on your computer. MIT license; 552 stars, last updated August 16, 2026.
Setup: install yt-dlp, then follow the short README.
Cost: free; runs locally.
Watch for: the README is very brief and doesn’t cover authentication. It only works on videos that have subtitles.
7. jkawamoto transcripts with timestamps
jkawamoto/mcp-youtube-transcript returns raw transcript text, timestamped segments and video metadata in multiple languages. MIT license; 496 stars, last updated November 9, 2026.
Setup: follow the README, which documents no Google sign-in. Optional proxy settings need their own credentials.
Cost: free code; a proxy service, if you use one, is billed separately.
Watch for: the maintainer warns that YouTube blocks automated transcript requests, especially from cloud and datacenter IP addresses. Test from the machine that will run it.
8. TranscriptOut for batch transcripts
artemchuikin/youtube-mcp connects to TranscriptOut, a hosted service with transcripts in five formats, video and channel search, and batch jobs of up to 4,000 transcripts. MIT license; 1 star, last updated October 15, 2026.
Setup: add your TranscriptOut API key as a Bearer token.
Cost: the README lists Free, Starter, Starter Annual and Scale credit plans.
Watch for: run a small batch first and check how it handles videos without transcripts.
9. SeanPedersen transcripts in five languages
SeanPedersen/youtube-transcript-mcp fetches transcripts in English, German, Spanish, French or Russian. 8 stars, last updated May 8, 2026; GitHub detects no license.
Setup: follow the README; it doesn’t state any authentication requirement.
Cost: free to run, but without a license you have no stated permission to reuse the code.
Watch for: it adds an instruction asking the model to strip advertising from the transcript. Keep the raw transcript if you need to check what was removed.
10. Eli-xir with local Whisper fallback
Eli-xir/youtube-transcript-mcp uses captions first and falls back to local speech recognition with faster-whisper when captions are missing. 2 stars, last updated August 16, 2026; GitHub detects no license.
Setup: install the local dependencies in the README. Transcription uses no API keys.
Cost: free; speech recognition uses your computer’s processing power.
Watch for: test one video with captions and one without, and check which route produced the text.
11. youtube-mcp-cli for text output
umbertotancorre/youtube-mcp-cli is an MCP server and command-line tool that returns a transcript as plain text or timestamped segments, all locally. MIT license; 33 stars, last updated August 10, 2026.
Setup: follow the README; it needs no API keys.
Cost: free; runs locally.
Watch for: choose the timestamped format if you plan to quote passages, and check them against the video.
Upload and channel management servers
These change your channel, so they need your Google account’s permission. Review the target channel, title, visibility and schedule before every write.
12. yutu for channel management
eat-pray-ai/yutu is a command-line tool, MCP server and agent for YouTube workflows: uploading videos, managing captions, comments, playlists, thumbnails and channel branding. Apache-2.0 license; 723 stars, last updated November 11, 2026.
Setup: create a Google Cloud project, enable YouTube Data API v3, create a Desktop OAuth client and run yutu auth. Then yutu mcp setup --agents claude,codex adds it to your agents. Install with Homebrew (brew install yutu), WinGet or Go.
Cost: free code; requests use your Google Cloud project’s YouTube Data API quota.
Watch for: its auth code requests the youtube, youtube.force-ssl and youtube.channel-memberships.creator scopes, which let it manage your channel. Keep the token file private.
13. youtube-studio-mcp for owner tools
mateogasme/youtube-studio-mcp handles resumable uploads, changes to video metadata, status and thumbnails, deletion, and channel analytics including demographics, traffic sources and revenue. MIT license; 0 stars, last updated May 25, 2026.
Setup: enable the YouTube Data and Analytics APIs and create a Desktop OAuth client. Its scope code requests youtube, youtube.force-ssl, youtube.upload and yt-analytics.readonly by default, and adds yt-analytics-monetary.readonly when enableMonetary is on.
Cost: free code; requests use your Google API quota.
Watch for: it can delete videos, and it has no GitHub stars yet, so test it on a channel you don’t mind experimenting with.
14. Zernio for hosted publishing
Zernio’s YouTube MCP is a hosted service that uploads and schedules videos and Shorts, and reads captions and analytics for channels you connect. It’s a hosted product; we didn’t find a public source repository.
Setup: connect your YouTube account in Zernio, then sign your agent in with OAuth or an API key.
Cost: Zernio describes the MCP server as free, with billing per connected account.
Watch for: its transcript and analytics tools only cover channels you connect, not other creators’ videos. We didn’t find a published list of the Google scopes it requests; read the consent screen before approving.
Before any upload, have the agent show you exactly what it will send:
Owner analytics servers
Your channel’s analytics are private, so they need OAuth. A public search result never shows that an agent can read your reports. youtube-studio-mcp, yutu and Zernio above also touch analytics or channel data; youtube-kit is the one built around analytics.
15. youtube-kit for owner analytics
eukosh/youtube-kit is a command-line tool and MCP server for owner analytics, including audience retention, plus resumable uploads. MIT license; 3 stars, last updated November 1, 2026.
Setup: owner features use Google OAuth, with a separate login per channel; public data (search, videos, channels, playlists, comments) works with a YOUTUBE_API_KEY.
Cost: free code; requests use your Google API quota.
Watch for: its auth code requests youtube.force-ssl and yt-analytics-monetary.readonly by default, so it asks for revenue-report access even if you only want retention.
Choose access and Google scopes
Ask three questions before connecting a server:
- Does it need a Google API key? Google’s authorization guide uses API keys for requests that only read public data. Every request, even an invalid one, costs at least one point of your project’s quota. No-key transcript servers use their own route instead, and can be rate-limited or blocked.
- Does it need your channel’s permission? Uploads, edits and private data need OAuth. Compare the scopes a server requests with what you actually want it to do.
- Does it need a vendor account? TranscriptAPI, TranscriptOut and Zernio have their own sign-in. A vendor token doesn’t tell you which Google permissions a connected channel grants.
For analytics, Google’s Reports reference describes yt-analytics.readonly for activity reports and yt-analytics-monetary.readonly for reports that include estimated revenue and ad performance. The same page currently says the Reports query method requires youtube.readonly, which neither youtube-studio-mcp nor youtube-kit lists by default. Run one real report before you build a workflow on either.
Turn your own video into Shorts with ChatCut
The servers above find, read and publish videos. Cutting a long video into Shorts happens in between, in an editor. ChatCut lets Claude Code, Codex and other agents edit videos in ChatCut Desktop: you describe the result in the agent, ChatCut shows the real timeline, and you can adjust it yourself at any time.
The Long Video to Shorts Skill cuts one long podcast, interview, course or livestream into stand-alone shorts. Each is planned to open with a hook, keep enough context to make sense alone and end after its payoff. Give it the video as an upload, a link (its form accepts YouTube links) or a clip already in your project, and choose up to 10 clips, a target length (15 to 90 seconds, or Auto), vertical 9:16 or landscape 16:9, and extras such as captions and title text. It shows a clip plan with source ranges before it cuts. Use videos you own or have permission to edit.
Setup: install ChatCut Desktop on macOS 13 or later (Apple silicon or Intel) or Windows 10 or later (x64). In a new Claude Code or Codex conversation on that computer, send Read ChatCut.io/desktop to install ChatCut, sign in to ChatCut if it asks, then start a new conversation so the agent loads ChatCut’s tools. Then ask:
Cost: the Free plan includes the core editor: manual timeline editing, uploads, transcription and standard caption editing, which never use credits, and exporting doesn’t use credits either. Run from Claude Code or Codex, the agent’s work is covered by your Claude or ChatGPT plan; run from ChatCut’s built-in Agent, its messages use credits. ChatCut-hosted generation such as music or voiceover uses credits too.
Watch for: ChatCut’s docs don’t cover publishing to YouTube. Export the shorts, then upload them in YouTube Studio or with one of the upload servers above.
