YouTube Video Read Tool - Public Video Metadata API

What is YouTube Video Read Tool?

YouTube Video Read turns a public YouTube URL or video ID into a normalized metadata row. It is useful when an agent needs to verify a video citation, prepare a source for summarization, or collect creator research signals.

Setup

For Vernclaw users, enable the connector in Connector Settings, then authenticate the CLI with your Vernclaw API key:

vernclaw-cli status
vernclaw-cli login --api-key YOUR_VERNCLAW_API_KEY

Connector access is managed by Vernclaw. Individual users do not need to configure separate service credentials.

Parameters

Provide one of:

• url (optional): public YouTube watch, Shorts, embed, live, youtu.be, or youtube-nocookie URL
• id (optional): 11-character YouTube video ID

Example

# Replace VIDEO_ID_HERE with a real public YouTube video ID before running.
vernclaw-cli invoke read.youtube.video --url "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID_HERE"
vernclaw-cli invoke read.youtube.video --id VIDEO_ID_HERE

Output

The CLI returns compact JSON by default:

{"status":200,"data":{}}

The data payload includes a normalized result plus a single items row with:

• title and canonical watch URL
• channel details
• publish time and duration
• public views, likes, and comments when available
• default output omits provider/source metadata and raw payloads

Use --pretty only for human-readable inspection. For automation, parse the JSON envelope and numeric status.

Limits

Only public videos are supported. Transcript text, comments, captions, private videos, and authenticated YouTube account data are not included in this version.

Troubleshooting

• CONNECTOR_UNAVAILABLE: retry shortly, then contact support if the issue persists.
• Invalid video ID or URL: provide a public watch, Shorts, embed, live, youtu.be, youtube-nocookie URL, or an 11-character YouTube video ID.