YouTube MCP server

Last verified: 2026-09

Search and summarize YouTube videos.

Community Chat, mail & docs Needs a secret Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, Claude Code

What it does

YouTube Data API as MCP: search, video metadata, captions when the package exposes them. Needs YOUTUBE_API_KEY. Confirm the GitHub repo still exists before installing the npm name.

It sits in Chat, mail & docs: These servers act as the bot or the integration you install.

Good for

Search Data API v3 for a talk you remember the title of.
Pull metadata / captions when the package exposes them.
Stay inside a tiny daily quota — do not loop search.
Skip it if you already have the transcript file.

Tools

search videos — Query the Data API.
video details / captions — Metadata and transcripts when available.

Config (Claude Desktop / Cursor / Windsurf)

Paste the JSON below. Same mcpServers shape. Replace placeholder paths and secrets. Windows paths look like C:\\Users\\you\\project, not /path/to. Host-side steps →

Claude Desktop

OS	Config file
macOS	`~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`
Windows	`%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json` (usually `C:\Users\<you>\AppData\Roaming\Claude\`)
Linux	`~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`

Cursor

Scope	macOS / Linux	Windows
This project	`.cursor/mcp.json` in the repo root
This user	`~/.cursor/mcp.json`	`%USERPROFILE%\.cursor\mcp.json`

Windsurf

OS	Config file
macOS / Linux	`~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json`
Windows	`%USERPROFILE%\.codeium\windsurf\mcp_config.json`

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "youtube-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "YOUTUBE_API_KEY": "..."
      }
    }
  }
}

Windsurf remote MCP: use serverUrl instead of url if the block below is HTTP.

One-liner: npx -y youtube-mcp

Secrets it wants: YOUTUBE_API_KEY

Source repo →

How to get started

Enable YouTube Data API v3 on a GCP project. Create an API key restricted to that API.
Set YOUTUBE_API_KEY. Search one known video id.
Quota is small on the free tier — do not loop search.

Access risk

API key quota. A key without API restriction can be reused on other Google APIs if leaked.

When to skip it

Skip it if you only needed a URL transcript you already have, or for Spotify audio.

Instead: Fetch, Spotify, arXiv.

OfficialFetchFetch a URL and turn the page into readable text. Chat, mail & docsSpotifySearch tracks and control playback. Browser & searcharXivSearch and read arXiv papers.

Vs alternatives

Server	Official?	Needs a secret?	Best for
YouTube	No	Yes	Search and summarize YouTube videos.
Fetch	Yes	Yes	Fetch a URL and turn the page into readable text.
Spotify	No	Yes	Search tracks and control playback.
arXiv	No	No	Search and read arXiv papers.

More in Chat, mail & docs

OfficialGoogle MapsGeocode and place search via Google Maps. OfficialSlackRead channels and post messages. Chat, mail & docsAsanaTasks and projects in Asana. Chat, mail & docsConfluenceRead Confluence pages.

All 18 in this category →

FAQ

The GitHub repo 404s?

Confirm the npm package still maps to a live repo before putting YOUTUBE_API_KEY in env.

Which Google API?

YouTube Data API v3. Restrict the key to that API only.

Does it download video?

Typically metadata and captions, not the media file. Check the current tools.

YouTube or arXiv?

Talks vs papers. Different corpus.