YouTube MCP server: let your AI agent search videos with views and upload date
Wield is an MCP server that gives your AI agent one YouTube tool. The tool searches YouTube videos by keyword and returns the channel, view count, length, upload date and link for each result. It runs one search from your own browser, so no YouTube login is needed, and results do not pass through wield.run.
What your agent gets
Wield exposes YouTube through wield-mcp, a local MCP server. Your agent finds the recipe with find_recipe and runs it with run.
| Recipe | What it does | Login | Effect | Status (7 Nov 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
youtube.com/search-videos | Searches YouTube videos with channel, views, length and upload date | No | Read | OK at 18:53, live check: 5 of 5 checks |
The search works like the YouTube search box. You can sort by relevance, upload date, view count or rating. You can set the region and ask for 5, 10 or 20 results. Shorts shelves, ads, and channel or playlist cards are left out.
Each result has the video id, title, channel and channel link, views, length in seconds and as text, how long ago it was published, a live flag, a thumbnail and the video link. The response also includes an estimate of the total number of results.
For params and example prompts, read the YouTube search how-to page.
How a request flows
- You ask your agent: "Find the most viewed videos on how to replace a bike chain."
- The agent calls
find_recipe, thenrunwithyoutube.com/search-videos, sorted by view count. - wield-mcp hands the run to the Wield extension through a local bridge.
- The extension sends one search request from a youtube.com tab. The request carries your own browser session.
- The results return to your agent. Nothing passes through wield.run.
What leaves your computer
One search request goes to www.youtube.com per run, sent from your own browser tab. Wield logs the method, host, path, status and timing on your computer, and never logs bodies or query values. Telemetry is off by default. Passwords and cookies never leave your computer.
YouTube terms, in plain words
YouTube's terms restrict automated access. The official YouTube Data API is the sanctioned route for bulk use. This recipe makes one search request per call, from your own browser, the way you would type into the search box. It is not meant for pulling large sets of videos or building a dataset. Read YouTube's terms yourself. Wield's recipes note known restrictions, and this one is listed above.
Limits and what is not working yet
- One search per call. Each run returns one page of results: 5, 10 or 20 videos.
- Bot checks stop the run. If YouTube shows a check to your browser, the run stops with
site_challenge. You solve it in your own tab. Wield does not solve bot protection. - No benchmark yet. This recipe has no benchmark row. This page makes no speed or success claim beyond the live check.
- Recipe health. Recipes are health-checked daily when they can run from a server. A failing recipe is marked degraded, and wield-mcp falls back to the last good version.
FAQ
Is there an official YouTube MCP server?
Not that we know of as of 7 November 2026. For bulk use, the official YouTube Data API is the route YouTube's terms point to. Wield's recipe is a single search that runs in your own browser.
Which AI apps work with it?
Any MCP client. npx -y wield-mcp init sets up Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor and Codex. Other MCP clients work through the standard stdio config. See AI apps that work with Wield.
Does it need a login?
No. Searching YouTube through this recipe needs no YouTube account. Wield never reads, copies or sends your cookies or passwords.