YouTube

YouTube Data API integration with managed OAuth. Search videos, manage playlists, access channel data, and interact with comments. Use this skill when users want to interact with YouTube. For other third party apps, use the api-gateway skill (https://clawhub.ai/byungkyu/api-gateway).

Security Scan

The skill's requirements and runtime instructions match a YouTube Data API proxy implemented by Maton (MATON_API_KEY required) and there are no obvious incoherencies, but you should confirm you trust the Maton service and the skill's unknown/undocumented publisher before supplying secrets.

Purpose & Capability

Name and description describe a YouTube Data API integration and the skill only requires MATON_API_KEY and network access to Maton endpoints (gateway.maton.ai, ctrl.maton.ai). Those requirements are proportionate to a managed-OAuth proxy for YouTube.

Instruction Scope

SKILL.md instructs the agent to call Maton gateway and control endpoints and to open Maton-provided OAuth URLs. It does not instruct reading unrelated files or environment variables. All network calls are to the Maton service (which then proxies to Google) — this is coherent with the stated purpose, but it does centralize OAuth and data through Maton.

Install Mechanism

No install spec or code files (instruction-only). This minimizes on-disk risk; nothing is downloaded or written by an installer.

Credentials

Only a single environment variable (MATON_API_KEY) is required. That is consistent: Maton handles OAuth and the API key is the expected bearer credential for Maton's gateway. Note: MATON_API_KEY is sensitive (it grants access to your Maton account and proxied YouTube OAuth connections).

Persistence & Privilege

always is false and the skill requests no special persistent agent privileges or filesystem/config modifications. Model-invocation is allowed (default), which is normal for an invocable skill.

Assessment

This skill appears internally consistent for using a Maton-managed YouTube proxy, but before installing: (1) Treat MATON_API_KEY as a high-value secret — it likely gives Maton access to your YouTube account via stored OAuth connections. (2) Verify you trust Maton (maton.ai) and the skill publisher — the registry entry has no homepage and source is listed as unknown. (3) Review Maton's privacy/security policy and how it stores OAuth tokens; limit Google OAuth scopes when connecting. (4) If you prefer not to route credentials through a third party, use Google’s official APIs directly. (5) Because the skill makes network calls, only install it in environments where outbound requests to gateway.maton.ai/ctrl.maton.ai are acceptable.

Access the YouTube Data API v3 with managed OAuth authentication. Search videos, manage playlists, access channel information, and interact with comments and subscriptions.

Quick Start

# Search for videos
python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://gateway.maton.ai/youtube/youtube/v3/search?part=snippet&q=coding+tutorial&type=video&maxResults=10')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Base URL

https://gateway.maton.ai/youtube/{native-api-path}

Replace {native-api-path} with the actual YouTube Data API endpoint path. The gateway proxies requests to www.googleapis.com and automatically injects your OAuth token.

Authentication

All requests require the Maton API key in the Authorization header:

Authorization: Bearer $MATON_API_KEY

Environment Variable: Set your API key as MATON_API_KEY:

export MATON_API_KEY="YOUR_API_KEY"

Getting Your API Key

1. Sign in or create an account at maton.ai
2. Go to maton.ai/settings
3. Copy your API key

Connection Management

Manage your Google OAuth connections at https://ctrl.maton.ai.

List Connections

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://ctrl.maton.ai/connections?app=youtube&status=ACTIVE')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Create Connection

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
data = json.dumps({'app': 'youtube'}).encode()
req = urllib.request.Request('https://ctrl.maton.ai/connections', data=data, method='POST')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
req.add_header('Content-Type', 'application/json')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Get Connection

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://ctrl.maton.ai/connections/{connection_id}')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Response:

{
  "connection": {
    "connection_id": "21fd90f9-5935-43cd-b6c8-bde9d915ca80",
    "status": "ACTIVE",
    "creation_time": "2025-12-08T07:20:53.488460Z",
    "last_updated_time": "2026-01-31T20:03:32.593153Z",
    "url": "https://connect.maton.ai/?session_token=...",
    "app": "youtube",
    "metadata": {}
  }
}

Open the returned url in a browser to complete OAuth authorization.

Delete Connection

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://ctrl.maton.ai/connections/{connection_id}', method='DELETE')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Specifying Connection

If you have multiple YouTube connections, specify which one to use with the Maton-Connection header:

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://gateway.maton.ai/youtube/youtube/v3/channels?part=snippet&mine=true')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
req.add_header('Maton-Connection', '21fd90f9-5935-43cd-b6c8-bde9d915ca80')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

If omitted, the gateway uses the default (oldest) active connection.

API Reference

Search

Search Videos, Channels, or Playlists

GET /youtube/youtube/v3/search

Query parameters:

• part - Required: snippet
• q - Search query
• type - Filter by type: video, channel, playlist
• maxResults - Results per page (1-50, default 5)
• order - Sort order: date, rating, relevance, title, viewCount
• publishedAfter - Filter by publish date (RFC 3339)
• publishedBefore - Filter by publish date (RFC 3339)
• channelId - Filter by channel
• videoDuration - short (<4min), medium (4-20min), long (>20min)
• pageToken - Pagination token

Example:

curl -s -X GET "https://gateway.maton.ai/youtube/youtube/v3/search?part=snippet&q=machine+learning&type=video&maxResults=10&order=viewCount" -H "Authorization: Bearer $MATON_API_KEY"

Response:

{
  "kind": "youtube#searchListResponse",
  "nextPageToken": "CAUQAA",
  "pageInfo": {
    "totalResults": 1000000,
    "resultsPerPage": 10
  },
  "items": [
    {
      "kind": "youtube#searchResult",
      "id": {
        "kind": "youtube#video",
        "videoId": "abc123xyz"
      },
      "snippet": {
        "publishedAt": "2024-01-15T10:00:00Z",
        "channelId": "UCxyz123",
        "title": "Machine Learning Tutorial",
        "description": "Learn ML basics...",
        "thumbnails": {
          "default": {"url": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/abc123xyz/default.jpg"}
        },
        "channelTitle": "Tech Channel"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Videos

Get Video Details

GET /youtube/youtube/v3/videos?part=snippet,statistics,contentDetails&id={videoId}

Parts available:

• snippet - Title, description, thumbnails, channel info
• statistics - View count, likes, comments
• contentDetails - Duration, dimension, definition
• status - Upload status, privacy status
• player - Embedded player HTML

Example:

curl -s -X GET "https://gateway.maton.ai/youtube/youtube/v3/videos?part=snippet,statistics&id=dQw4w9WgXcQ" -H "Authorization: Bearer $MATON_API_KEY"

Get My Videos (Uploaded)

GET /youtube/youtube/v3/search?part=snippet&forMine=true&type=video&maxResults=25

Rate Video (Like/Dislike)

POST /youtube/youtube/v3/videos/rate?id={videoId}&rating=like

Rating values: like, dislike, none

Get Trending Videos

GET /youtube/youtube/v3/videos?part=snippet,statistics&chart=mostPopular&regionCode=US&maxResults=10

Get Video Categories

GET /youtube/youtube/v3/videoCategories?part=snippet&regionCode=US

Channels

Get Channel Details

GET /youtube/youtube/v3/channels?part=snippet,statistics,contentDetails&id={channelId}

Get My Channel

GET /youtube/youtube/v3/channels?part=snippet,statistics,contentDetails&mine=true

Response:

{
  "items": [
    {
      "id": "UCxyz123",
      "snippet": {
        "title": "My Channel",
        "description": "Channel description",
        "customUrl": "@mychannel",
        "publishedAt": "2020-01-01T00:00:00Z",
        "thumbnails": {...}
      },
      "statistics": {
        "viewCount": "1000000",
        "subscriberCount": "50000",
        "videoCount": "100"
      },
      "contentDetails": {
        "relatedPlaylists": {
          "uploads": "UUxyz123"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Get Channel by Username

GET /youtube/youtube/v3/channels?part=snippet,statistics&forUsername={username}

Playlists

List My Playlists

GET /youtube/youtube/v3/playlists?part=snippet,contentDetails&mine=true&maxResults=25

Get Playlist

GET /youtube/youtube/v3/playlists?part=snippet,contentDetails&id={playlistId}

Create Playlist

POST /youtube/youtube/v3/playlists?part=snippet,status
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "snippet": {
    "title": "My New Playlist",
    "description": "A collection of videos",
    "defaultLanguage": "en"
  },
  "status": {
    "privacyStatus": "private"
  }
}

Privacy values: public, private, unlisted

Update Playlist

PUT /youtube/youtube/v3/playlists?part=snippet,status
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "id": "PLxyz123",
  "snippet": {
    "title": "Updated Playlist Title",
    "description": "Updated description"
  },
  "status": {
    "privacyStatus": "public"
  }
}

Delete Playlist

DELETE /youtube/youtube/v3/playlists?id={playlistId}

Playlist Items

List Playlist Items

GET /youtube/youtube/v3/playlistItems?part=snippet,contentDetails&playlistId={playlistId}&maxResults=50

Add Video to Playlist

POST /youtube/youtube/v3/playlistItems?part=snippet
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "snippet": {
    "playlistId": "PLxyz123",
    "resourceId": {
      "kind": "youtube#video",
      "videoId": "abc123xyz"
    },
    "position": 0
  }
}

Remove from Playlist

DELETE /youtube/youtube/v3/playlistItems?id={playlistItemId}

Subscriptions

List My Subscriptions

GET /youtube/youtube/v3/subscriptions?part=snippet&mine=true&maxResults=50

Check Subscription to Channel

GET /youtube/youtube/v3/subscriptions?part=snippet&mine=true&forChannelId={channelId}

Subscribe to Channel

POST /youtube/youtube/v3/subscriptions?part=snippet
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "snippet": {
    "resourceId": {
      "kind": "youtube#channel",
      "channelId": "UCxyz123"
    }
  }
}

Unsubscribe

DELETE /youtube/youtube/v3/subscriptions?id={subscriptionId}

Comments

List Video Comments

GET /youtube/youtube/v3/commentThreads?part=snippet,replies&videoId={videoId}&maxResults=100

Add Comment to Video

POST /youtube/youtube/v3/commentThreads?part=snippet
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "snippet": {
    "videoId": "abc123xyz",
    "topLevelComment": {
      "snippet": {
        "textOriginal": "Great video!"
      }
    }
  }
}

Reply to Comment

POST /youtube/youtube/v3/comments?part=snippet
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "snippet": {
    "parentId": "comment123",
    "textOriginal": "Thanks for your comment!"
  }
}

Delete Comment

DELETE /youtube/youtube/v3/comments?id={commentId}

Code Examples

JavaScript

const headers = {
  'Authorization': `Bearer ${process.env.MATON_API_KEY}`
};

// Search videos
const results = await fetch(
  'https://gateway.maton.ai/youtube/youtube/v3/search?part=snippet&q=tutorial&type=video&maxResults=10',
  { headers }
).then(r => r.json());

// Get video details
const video = await fetch(
  'https://gateway.maton.ai/youtube/youtube/v3/videos?part=snippet,statistics&id=dQw4w9WgXcQ',
  { headers }
).then(r => r.json());

// Create playlist
await fetch(
  'https://gateway.maton.ai/youtube/youtube/v3/playlists?part=snippet,status',
  {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: { ...headers, 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      snippet: { title: 'My Playlist', description: 'Videos I like' },
      status: { privacyStatus: 'private' }
    })
  }
);

Python

import os
import requests

headers = {'Authorization': f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}'}

# Search videos
results = requests.get(
    'https://gateway.maton.ai/youtube/youtube/v3/search',
    headers=headers,
    params={'part': 'snippet', 'q': 'tutorial', 'type': 'video', 'maxResults': 10}
).json()

# Get video details
video = requests.get(
    'https://gateway.maton.ai/youtube/youtube/v3/videos',
    headers=headers,
    params={'part': 'snippet,statistics', 'id': 'dQw4w9WgXcQ'}
).json()

# Create playlist
response = requests.post(
    'https://gateway.maton.ai/youtube/youtube/v3/playlists?part=snippet,status',
    headers=headers,
    json={
        'snippet': {'title': 'My Playlist', 'description': 'Videos I like'},
        'status': {'privacyStatus': 'private'}
    }
)

Notes

• Video IDs are 11 characters (e.g., dQw4w9WgXcQ)
• Channel IDs start with UC (e.g., UCxyz123)
• Playlist IDs start with PL (user) or UU (uploads)
• Use pageToken for pagination through large result sets
• The part parameter is required and determines what data is returned
• Quota costs vary by endpoint - search is expensive (100 units), reads are cheap (1 unit)
• Some write operations require channel verification
• IMPORTANT: When using curl commands, use curl -g when URLs contain brackets (fields[], sort[], records[]) to disable glob parsing
• IMPORTANT: When piping curl output to jq or other commands, environment variables like $MATON_API_KEY may not expand correctly in some shell environments. You may get "Invalid API key" errors when piping.

Error Handling

Status	Meaning
400	Missing YouTube connection or invalid request
401	Invalid or missing Maton API key
403	Forbidden - quota exceeded or insufficient permissions
404	Video, channel, or playlist not found
429	Rate limited (10 req/sec per account)
4xx/5xx	Passthrough error from YouTube API

Troubleshooting: API Key Issues

1. Check that the MATON_API_KEY environment variable is set:

echo $MATON_API_KEY

2. Verify the API key is valid by listing connections:

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://ctrl.maton.ai/connections')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Troubleshooting: Invalid App Name

1. Ensure your URL path starts with youtube. For example:

• Correct: https://gateway.maton.ai/youtube/youtube/v3/search
• Incorrect: https://gateway.maton.ai/v3/search

Resources

• YouTube Data API Overview
• Search
• Videos
• Channels
• Playlists
• PlaylistItems
• Subscriptions
• Comments
• Quota Calculator
• Maton Community
• Maton Support