YouTube API
Options for posting using the YouTube API
YouTube posting requires your YouTube account to have at least one Channel and be an owner on the Channel. To create a YouTube Channel, click on you profile in the YouTube Dashboard and choose “Create a Channel”. You may also use this direct link to create a YouTube Channel: http://m.youtube.com/create_channel
If you’re having issues viewing YouTube channels please see the troubleshooting guide.
Posting to YouTube requires the youTubeOptions
object with at a title
parameter - max 100 characters.
The title
is the only required field and can use autogenerated with the transcribe endpoint.
For example, to post a YouTube video with default settings:
There are several other optional fields listed below, including the video visibility
, tags
, and publishAt
date. Please see the comments for requirements and descriptions.
- The
title
must be 100 characters or less. Thepost
must be 5,000 characters or less. Thepost
andtitle
may contain any characters except < and >. - The Playlist Id can be found by opening the playlist in a browser and copying the value after
list=
. The authenticated user and channel must be the owner of the playlist to add videos. - If your video doesn’t end in a known video extension such as mp4, please use the
isVideo
parameter. See the /post endpoint for details.
YouTube Shorts
You can post a YouTube Shorts video by adding the shorts
parameter to the youTubeOptions
object.
The #Shorts hashtag will be added to the YouTube description.
Sending a video as a Short is an indication to YouTube that you would like the video to appear as a Short, but does not guarantee it will appear as a Short. The video must meet the Short video requirements, such as being 60 seconds or less and vertical aspect ratio of 9:16 to be considered a Short by YouTube.
Additional information on using the API to post YouTube Shorts.
YouTube Thumbnails
Thumbnails and other features, such as uploading 15 minute videos, require verification of your phone number. A thumbNail
is a URL of a JPEG or PNG and less than 2MB in size. Extension must end in png, jpg, or jpeg.
YouTube Shorts do not currently support thumbnails.
Enable Thumbnails in YouTube Studio
You must be granted YouTube permissions to post thumbnails. In YouTube Studio go to Settings->Channel. Select “Feature Eligibility” and click “Features that require phone verification”. Enter your phone number to enable.
YouTube may take up to 24 hours to enable thumbnails after you verify your phone number. Please note, YouTube determines eligibility for adding thumbnails. “Enabled” phone verification does not guarantee YouTube will allow thumbnail uploads.
If you have been verified for 24 hours and still have issues check that:
- You are able to manually upload thumbnails in YouTube Studio.
- If you’re working with a Brand Content Owner Account (often used for business or organization channels), make sure you have the necessary permissions. We recommend “Owner” rights.
- If you are still having issues, please see this video on solving the Thumbnail issue.
Video: Posting to YouTube via the API
Upload Limits
YouTube limits how many videos a channel can upload in a 24-hour period via the YouTube API.
Depending on a creator’s location, a channel might be able to increase their daily limit by getting access to advanced features. To learn more visit this article.
Limits may vary by country/region or channel history. Copyright strikes may impact channel history eligibility and Community Guidelines strikes will affect how much a channel can upload.
If you receive and upload limit error please wait and try again in 24 hours.
Description Links
You must activate Advanced Features in YouTube Studio to have clickable links in the YouTube video description.
Go to YouTube Studio -> Settings -> Channel -> Feature Eligibility -> Advanced Features -> Access Features to activate the advanced features.
Playlists
You can add videos to a playlist by including the playListId
in the youTubeOptions
object.
Be sure that the authenticated user and channel are the owner of the playlist.
Subtitles / Captions for Videos
You can add subtitles, also known as captions, to videos by including an SRT file or a YouTube SBV file. Use the subTitleUrl
field in the youTubeOptions
object to specify the URL to your SRT or SBV file.
subTitleUrl
: A valid SRT or SBV file. The URL must start withhttps://
and end in.srt
or.sbv
and be a valid SRT or SBV file. The file must be under 100 MB.subTitleLanguage
: Optional: The language of the subtitles. Much be a valid language code. Default: “en”.subTitleName
: Optional: The name of the caption track. The name is intended to be visible to the user as an option during playback. The maximum name length supported is 150 characters. Default: “English”.
What are SRT and SBV files?
SRT (SubRip Subtitle) and SBV (YouTube SubViewer) are subtitle file formats used for displaying timed text in videos. The main difference is that SRT uses timestamps in HH:MM:SS,MS format with arrow separators, while SBV uses HH:MM:SS.MS format with commas.
Tags
You can add tags to your videos by including the tags
array in the youTubeOptions
object.
Tags must be at least 2 characters in length each and the total length of all tags must be 400 characters or less.