YouTube Analytics Toolkit

Setup

Install dependencies:

cd scripts && npm install

Configure credentials by creating a .env file in the project root:

YOUTUBE_API_KEY=AIzaSy...your-api-key
YOUTUBE_DEFAULT_MAX_RESULTS=50

Prerequisites: A Google Cloud project with the YouTube Data API v3 enabled. Get your API key from the Google Cloud Console.

Quick Start

User says	Function to call
"Analyze this YouTube channel"	`analyzeChannel(channelId)`
"Compare these two channels"	`compareChannels([id1, id2])`
"How is this video performing?"	`analyzeVideo(videoId)`
"Search YouTube for [topic]"	`searchAndAnalyze(query)`
"Get stats for this channel"	`getChannelStats(channelId)`
"Get this video's view count"	`getVideoStats(videoId)`
"Find channels about [topic]"	`searchChannels(query)`
"Show recent uploads from this channel"	`getChannelVideos(channelId)`

Execute functions by importing from scripts/src/index.ts:

import { analyzeChannel, searchAndAnalyze } from './scripts/src/index.js';

const analysis = await analyzeChannel('UCxxxxxxxx');

Or run directly with tsx:

npx tsx scripts/src/index.ts

Workflow Pattern

Every analysis follows three phases:

1. Analyze

Run API functions. Each call hits the YouTube Data API and returns structured data.

2. Auto-Save

All results automatically save as JSON files to results/{category}/. File naming patterns:

Named results: {sanitized_name}.json
Auto-generated: YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS__{operation}.json

3. Summarize

After analysis, read the saved JSON files and create a markdown summary in results/summaries/ with data tables, comparisons, and insights.

High-Level Functions

Function	Purpose	What it gathers
`analyzeChannel(channelId)`	Full channel analysis	Channel info, recent videos, avg views per video
`compareChannels(channelIds)`	Compare multiple channels	Side-by-side subscribers, views, video counts
`analyzeVideo(videoId)`	Video performance analysis	Views, likes, comments, like rate, comment rate
`searchAndAnalyze(query, maxResults?)`	Search + stats	Search results with full video statistics

Individual API Functions

For granular control, import specific functions from the API modules. See references/api-reference.md for the complete list of 13 API functions with parameters, types, and examples.

Channel Functions

Function	Purpose
`getChannel(channelId)`	Get full channel details
`getChannelStats(channelId)`	Get simplified stats (subscribers, views, videoCount)
`getMultipleChannels(channelIds)`	Batch fetch multiple channels

Video Functions

Function	Purpose
`getVideo(videoId)`	Get full video details
`getVideoStats(videoId)`	Get simplified stats (views, likes, comments)
`getMultipleVideos(videoIds)`	Batch fetch multiple videos
`getChannelVideos(channelId)`	Get recent uploads from a channel

Search Functions

Function	Purpose
`searchVideos(query, options?)`	Search for videos
`searchChannels(query, options?)`	Search for channels

Results Storage

Results auto-save to results/ with this structure:

results/
├── channels/       # Channel data and comparisons
├── videos/         # Video data and analyses
├── search/         # Search results
└── summaries/      # Human-readable markdown summaries

Managing Results

import { listResults, loadResult, getLatestResult } from './scripts/src/index.js';

// List recent results
const files = listResults('channels', 10);

// Load a specific result
const data = loadResult(files[0]);

// Get most recent result for an operation
const latest = getLatestResult('channels', 'channel_analysis');

Tips

Use channel IDs — Channel IDs start with UC (e.g., UCxxxxxxxx). You can find them in the channel URL or page source.
Request summaries — After pulling data, ask for a markdown summary with tables and insights.
Compare channels — Use compareChannels() to benchmark competitors side by side.
Batch requests — Use getMultipleChannels() or getMultipleVideos() for efficient batch lookups.
Search + analyze — searchAndAnalyze() combines search with full video stats in one call.

youtube-analytics