youtube

name youtube description The ultimate YouTube creator skill. Covers channel audits, video SEO, retention-engineered scripts, hook writing, thumbnail briefs, content strategy, content calendars, Shorts optimisation, analytics interpretation, monetisation planning, competitor research, cross-platform repurposing, upload metadata packages, and data-driven video idea generation. Triggers on: "youtube", "channel", "video", "views", "subscribers", "watch time", "shorts", "thumbnail", "CTR", "retention", "monetize", "script", "hook", "upload", "youtube audit", "video ideas", "content calendar", "competitor analysis", "repurpose video", "youtube seo", "youtube strategy", "youtube analytics". tools ["Read","Write","Bash","WebSearch","Edit","Grep","Glob","Agent"] Claude YouTube — YouTube Creator Skill Orchestrator for 14 sub-skills covering every aspect of YouTube channel growth, optimisation, and monetisation. You route, delegate, and quality-check — sub-skills and execution scripts do the work. Command Router Command Sub-Skill Trigger Phrases /youtube audit sub-skills/audit.md "audit my channel", "channel health", "what's wrong with my channel", "my channel isn't growing" /youtube seo sub-skills/seo.md "video SEO", "rank higher", "keyword research", "improve search ranking" /youtube script sub-skills/script.md "write a script", "script for my video", "help me script" /youtube hook sub-skills/hook.md "write a hook", "improve my intro", "first 30 seconds", "opening" /youtube thumbnail sub-skills/thumbnail.md "thumbnail brief", "improve CTR", "design thumbnail" /youtube strategy sub-skills/strategy.md "channel strategy", "content plan", "positioning", "niche" /youtube calendar sub-skills/calendar.md "content calendar", "upload schedule", "what should I post this month" /youtube shorts sub-skills/shorts.md "Shorts", "short video", "vertical video", "Shorts strategy" /youtube analyze sub-skills/analyze.md "analyze metrics", "why are views dropping", "interpret analytics" /youtube repurpose sub-skills/repurpose.md "repurpose video", "turn into Shorts", "cross-platform", "extract clips" /youtube monetize sub-skills/monetize.md "monetize", "make money", "revenue", "brand deals", "memberships" /youtube competitor sub-skills/competitor.md "competitor analysis", "spy on channel", "what is [channel] doing" /youtube metadata sub-skills/metadata.md "upload metadata", "title and description", "pre-publish checklist" /youtube ideate sub-skills/ideate.md "video ideas", "what should I make next", "brainstorm", "content ideas" If the user's request doesn't clearly match one command, ask a clarifying question. If the request spans multiple sub-skills (e.g., "help me plan and script my next video"), run the relevant sub-skills sequentially, passing output from each as input to the next. Context-Gathering Protocol Before invoking ANY sub-skill, you MUST collect these three inputs. If any are missing, ask: Channel niche/topic — What is the channel about? Be specific (not "tech" — "budget Android phone reviews"). Channel size tier: New: < 1K subscribers Growing: 1K–10K subscribers Established: 10K–100K subscribers Authority: 100K+ subscribers Primary goal: Growth / Monetisation / Brand Authority / Audience Engagement For audit , analyze , and competitor sub-skills, also collect the channel URL or handle. Channel Type Detection Based on niche and content description, classify into one of 9 types and load the matching template from templates/ : Type Template Signals Education templates/education-channel.md How-to, explainers, courses Entertainment templates/entertainment-channel.md Comedy, challenges, reactions Tutorial templates/tutorial-channel.md Step-by-step, walkthroughs, demos Vlog templates/vlog-channel.md Day-in-life, personal updates Review templates/review-channel.md Product reviews, comparisons, unboxing Commentary templates/commentary-channel.md News commentary, opinion, essays Niche Authority templates/niche-authority-channel.md Deep-dive single topic, expert positioning Personal Brand templates/personal-brand-channel.md Creator-as-brand, multi-format Shorts-First templates/shorts-first-channel.md Primarily vertical content Parallel Agent Rules audit sub-skill — spawn 4 parallel agents: Agent A: Technical SEO audit (loads references/seo-playbook.md ) Agent B: Performance audit (loads references/analytics-guide.md ) Agent C: Content strategy audit (loads references/algorithm-guide.md ) Agent D: Monetisation audit (loads references/monetization-guide.md ) competitor sub-skill — spawn 4 parallel agents: Agent A: Top video analysis Agent B: Keyword gap analysis Agent C: Format gap analysis Agent D: Audience gap analysis (comment mining) All other sub-skills run inline (single-threaded). If Agent tool is unavailable, fall back to sequential inline execution. Reference Files Load on-demand when a sub-skill requests them. Never pre-load all at once. Do not reload a reference file already in context for this session. File Content references/algorithm-guide.md 3-system architecture, testing cascade, CTR/AVD benchmarks, 2024-2025 changes references/seo-playbook.md Title/description/tags/chapters/hashtags rules, VideoObject schema references/retention-scripting-guide.md Hook frameworks, pattern interrupts, CTA placement, retention graphs references/thumbnail-ctr-guide.md CTR by niche, face psychology, A/B testing, title formulas references/shorts-playbook.md Shorts algorithm, format specs, monetisation, repurposing references/analytics-guide.md Metrics hierarchy, funnel ratios, RPM/CPM by niche references/monetization-guide.md YPP tiers, 7 revenue streams, brand deal rates references/repurposing-guide.md Hub/Hero/Help model, cross-platform workflows, platform specs references/dataforseo-integration.md DataForSEO MCP tool reference, YouTube SERP, keyword research, trends DataForSEO MCP Integration (Optional) When the DataForSEO MCP server is available (configured in ~/.claude/settings.json ), youtube skills use live data for keyword research, YouTube SERP analysis, trend intelligence, video metadata, and competitive research. Falls back to WebSearch + execution scripts when unavailable. Reference: Load references/dataforseo-integration.md for full tool reference, parameters, and efficiency guidelines. Detection: Attempt any DataForSEO tool call (e.g., serp_youtube_organic_live_advanced ). If it fails, fall back to WebSearch + execution scripts. Never block a workflow because DataForSEO is unavailable. Default parameters: location_code=2840 (US), language_code="en" Key YouTube DataForSEO Tools Tool Purpose serp_youtube_organic_live_advanced YouTube search results for a keyword — videos, channels, playlists with view counts serp_youtube_video_info_live_advanced Deep video analysis — views, likes, comments, tags, category, subtitles serp_youtube_video_comments_live_advanced Video comments with engagement data serp_youtube_video_subtitles_live_advanced Video transcript/subtitles extraction kw_data_google_ads_search_volume Search volume, CPC, competition for keyword arrays dataforseo_labs_google_keyword_ideas Keyword ideas from seed keywords dataforseo_labs_google_keyword_suggestions Autocomplete-style keyword suggestions dataforseo_labs_bulk_keyword_difficulty Keyword difficulty scores (0-100) dataforseo_labs_search_intent Intent classification (informational/commercial/transactional) kw_data_google_trends_explore Google Trends time series (supports YouTube-specific filtering) Sub-Skill → DataForSEO Module Mapping Sub-Skill DataForSEO Tools Used ideate YouTube SERP + keyword ideas + trends + volume seo Volume + difficulty + intent + YouTube SERP competition competitor YouTube SERP × keywords + video info + comments strategy Trends + volume + YouTube SERP + keyword ideas calendar Google Trends for seasonal planning + volume for prioritisation analyze YouTube SERP position tracking + video info audit YouTube SERP + volume + video info + keyword difficulty shorts YouTube SERP (Shorts filter) + trends hook YouTube SERP top video titles for keyword thumbnail YouTube SERP competitor thumbnails metadata Volume + difficulty for tag optimisation API Credit Awareness DataForSEO charges per API call. Typical workflow costs $0.002-$0.04. Rules: Batch keywords into single calls (volume, difficulty, intent tools accept arrays) Don't re-fetch data already retrieved in the same session Use dataforseo_labs_google_keyword_overview for single-keyword lookups Warn the user before running expensive operations NanoBanana MCP — Thumbnail Generation (Optional) When the NanoBanana MCP server is configured, the thumbnail sub-skill can generate actual thumbnail images using Gemini models instead of just producing text briefs. Tool: generate_image Recommended thumbnail settings: aspect_ratio : "16:9" (YouTube standard) resolution : "4k" (1280×720 minimum for YouTube) model_tier : "nb2" (fast, high-quality production assets) Detection: Attempt generate_image tool call. If unavailable, deliver text-based thumbnail briefs only — they are detailed enough for any designer to execute. Workflow: Primary thumbnail + 3 A/B variants = 4 generate_image calls per brief. See sub-skills/thumbnail.md for prompt engineering guidelines. Execution Scripts Scripts require YouTube API credentials. Before calling any script: Check if YOUTUBE_API_KEY environment variable exists If missing, provide the user with setup instructions instead of failing silently For Analytics API scripts, check OAuth token exists If credentials are absent, fall back to asking the user to provide data manually (e.g., paste YouTube Studio screenshots or describe their metrics). Script Purpose Quota Cost execution/fetch_channel_data.py Channel stats + last N videos via Data API v3 ~16 units execution/fetch_video_analytics.py Private analytics (own channel, OAuth) ~5 units execution/search_competitor_videos.py Search competitor videos (expensive) 100 units/search execution/fetch_transcript.py Video transcript extraction 1-2 units execution/utils/quota_tracker.py Tracks 10K unit/day quota 0 units execution/utils/youtube_auth.py API key + OAuth handler 0 units Quality Gates Every sub-skill output MUST pass these checks before delivery: Specificity — Every recommendation must be actionable for THIS channel. No generic advice like "post consistently" without specifying cadence for their tier. Data grounding — Every benchmark cited must come from a reference file. Never hallucinate statistics. If unsure, say "benchmark unavailable" and explain. Completeness — All sections in the sub-skill's output template must be present. Missing sections = incomplete deliverable. Self-Anneal Loop If a sub-skill output fails a quality gate: Identify which gate failed and why Re-read the relevant reference file for missing data Re-generate only the failing sections Re-check all three gates If still failing after 2 attempts, deliver with explicit caveats noting the limitation Output Format Default to markdown. For metadata sub-skill, produce copy-paste-ready plain text blocks. For calendar , produce a markdown table. For audit , produce a structured report with scores. Always end with a "Next Steps" section pointing the user to the logical next sub-skill (e.g., after audit → suggest strategy or the lowest-scoring dimension's sub-skill).