YouTube Research MCP

Turn YouTube videos into citation-ready research for Codex, Claude, Cursor, and other MCP clients. Paste a video URL and get transcript evidence with timestamps and links that open at the exact quoted moment. Its 14 documented tools cover video, videos, transcript, research. It runs locally over stdio via the published package.

People connecting media tools to Claude, Cursor, VS Code, or another MCP client. The project is written in JavaScript.

VERIFIED ACTIVE

LAST COMMIT 2026-08-17 · ★ 17 · #60 OF 155 MAINTAINED MEDIA · VERIFIED 2026-08-25

MIT · JavaScript servers · how we verify → /methodology

01 · Install YouTube Research MCP

before you install - you'll need

Set LIVE_TEST_VIDEO, MCP_BEARER_TOKEN, CORS_ORIGIN, MAX_SESSIONS, SESSION_IDLE_TIMEOUT_MS, YOUTUBE_MCP_TOKEN before connecting. YOUTUBE_API_KEY is optional or environment-specific per the README.

Claude Code

claude mcp add coyasong-youtube-mcp-server -- npx -y @coyasong/youtube-mcp-server

Claude Desktop / Cursor / VS Code - add to config

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "coyasong-youtube-mcp-server": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@coyasong/youtube-mcp-server"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Same JSON for Cursor. For VS Code, rename the top-level key from `mcpServers` to `servers`.

Using another client? Same JSON, different key

Claude Desktop · mcpServers

Cursor · mcpServers

VS Code · servers

Windsurf · mcpServers

Zed · context_servers

Cline · mcpServers

Roo Code · mcpServers

Continue · mcpServers

LibreChat · mcpServers

Gemini CLI · mcpServers

Codex CLI · mcp_servers

Full setup guides: every client.

02 · Evidence

Security posture

What to check before giving this server access to your agent - from the registry, GitHub, and our own probes. We don't score safety; we show what's verifiable.

runs as local process (stdio) - runs on your machine with your user's permissions

license MIT - declared in the repository

npm package @coyasong/youtube-mcp-server - published under the repo owner's npm scope (@coyasong)

registry namespace io.github.coyaSONG is GitHub-verified and matches the repo owner

03 · What YouTube Research MCP can do

Prose above is summarized from the project's README and registry record - no invented capabilities.

What you can build

With this server connected, an agent can get citation-ready transcript evidence from a URL or video ID without an API key, compare timestamp-linked evidence across 2–5 videos without an API key, search for YouTube videos with advanced filtering options, and get comments for a specific video.

Capability map

Tools grouped from the project's README - what YouTube Research MCP lets an agent do.

read & search

5 tools - e.g. Search for YouTube videos with advanced filtering options; Extract key moments with timestamps from a video transcript for easier navigation; Divide a video transcript into segments for easier analysis

search-videos · get-key-moments · get-segmented-transcript · get-channel-stats · get-trending-videos

Video

4 tools - e.g. Get comments for a specific video; Get transcript for a specific video with optional language; Get statistical information for a specific video

get-video-comments · get-video-transcript · get-video-stats · get-video-categories

Research

2 tools - e.g. Get citation-ready transcript evidence from a URL or video ID without an API key; Compare timestamp-linked evidence across 2–5 videos without an API key

research-video · research-videos

Enhanced

1 tool - e.g. Advanced transcript extraction with filtering, search, and multi-video capabilities

enhanced-transcript

Compare

1 tool - e.g. Compare statistics across multiple videos

compare-videos

Analyze

1 tool - e.g. Analyze performance trends of videos from a specific channel

analyze-channel-videos

Latest releases

v1.2.0 · 2026-07-12

YouTube Research MCP v1.2.0 makes citation-ready evidence self-identifying and completes one-click desktop distribution. · Highlights · Every research-video and research-videos result now includes video title, channel…

v1.1.1 · 2026-07-11

Patch release correcting the case-sensitive publisher namespace used by the official MCP Registry. · One-click desktop install · Download youtube-research-mcp.mcpb and open it in Claude Desktop or another…

v1.1.0 · 2026-07-11

YouTube MCP Server is now YouTube Research MCP: a citation-first research tool for Codex, Claude, Cursor, VS Code, and any MCP client. · Highlights · Research transcripts without a YouTube API key. · Open every…

04 · Who maintains YouTube Research MCP

YouTube Research MCP is maintained by coyasong. It's the only MCP server we track from this author; the repo dates to Mar 2025.

05 · Facts

repository: github.com/coyasong/youtube-mcp-server
category: media - ranked #60 of 155 actively-maintained media servers as of 2026-08-25.
release cadence: 3 releases in the last 90 days (latest 2026-07-12)
registry: io.github.coyaSONG/youtube-research (active, first published 2026-07-11 · 2 versions)
packages: npm:@coyasong/youtube-mcp-server

06 · YouTube Research MCP FAQ

Is YouTube Research MCP still maintained?

Yes - as of 2026-08-25, its last commit was 2026-08-17 and it shipped 3 releases in the last 90 days. We re-verify nightly.

What can YouTube Research MCP do?

How do I install YouTube Research MCP?

Run `npx -y @coyasong/youtube-mcp-server`. The README documents 7 environment variables (LIVE_TEST_VIDEO, YOUTUBE_API_KEY, MCP_BEARER_TOKEN…) to set first. Set LIVE_TEST_VIDEO, MCP_BEARER_TOKEN, CORS_ORIGIN, MAX_SESSIONS, SESSION_IDLE_TIMEOUT_MS, YOUTUBE_MCP_TOKEN before connecting. YOUTUBE_API_KEY is optional or environment-specific per the README. You can also paste the ready-made client config above.

Does YouTube Research MCP run locally?

Yes - it's a stdio server: it runs on your machine (via npx) with your user's permissions. Your data stays local unless the server itself calls external APIs.

07 · Alternatives to YouTube Research MCP

Alternatives to YouTube Research MCP

Maintained media servers if YouTube Research MCP isn't the fit.

More media MCP servers · Createya - AI Image & Video Generation · Creative Claw · Mediagen · Music Production AI MCP · Met Museum MCP Server

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