youtube:setup

YouTube Plugin Setup

A guided walkthrough for configuring how the YouTube plugin works. Present this as a friendly, conversational experience.

Step 1 — Check Current State

Run silently (don't show raw output to the user):

node "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/extract-cookies.mjs" --status

node "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/config.mjs" --show

Determine the current auth mode:

• "No cookies configured" → currently anonymous
• "Authenticated" → currently personalized
• "Cookie file exists but appears invalid" → broken state, treat as anonymous

Store both the auth state and config output for use in the next step.

Step 2 — Present the Welcome and Options

Greet the user and present the available options. Tailor based on current state. Always include the Configure settings option.

If currently anonymous:

Present this to the user (use your own natural phrasing, but cover these points):

YouTube Plugin Setup

The YouTube plugin has two modes:

Anonymous (current) — Ready to use right now. You get full access to search, transcripts, video info, and channel browsing. Results are based on general relevance.

Personalized — Connects to your YouTube account via a dedicated Chrome window. Search results will reflect your watch history, subscriptions, and preferences — just like searching on youtube.com when you're logged in.

What would you like to do?

1. Keep anonymous — nothing to set up, you're good to go
2. Set up personalized results — takes about a minute the first time
3. Configure settings — customize search defaults, transcript language, result limits, and more

If currently personalized:

YouTube Plugin Setup

You're currently using personalized mode — search results reflect your YouTube account.

What would you like to do?

1. Keep personalized — no changes needed
2. Refresh cookies — if results seem off or you switched Google accounts
3. Switch to anonymous — removes your cookies, uses general results instead
4. Configure settings — customize search defaults, transcript language, result limits, and more

If broken state:

YouTube Plugin Setup

It looks like a previous setup didn't complete cleanly. Let's get you sorted out.

The YouTube plugin has two modes:

Anonymous — Works right now. Full access to search, transcripts, video info, and channel browsing with general results.

Personalized — Connects to your YouTube account for results that match your watch history and subscriptions.

Which would you prefer?

1. Use anonymous — I'll clean up the old config and you're good to go
2. Set up personalized — I'll walk you through it
3. Configure settings — customize search defaults, transcript language, result limits, and more

Wait for the user's response before proceeding.

Step 3a — Anonymous Path

If the user chooses anonymous:

1. If cookies exist (switching from personalized or broken state), run:

   node "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/extract-cookies.mjs" --reset
   

2. Confirm to the user:

   All set! Cookies have been removed. You'll need to restart your AI coding agent for the change to take effect (the MCP server caches cookies in memory, so a simple plugin reload isn't enough).

   If you want personalized results later, just run /youtube:setup again.

Done.

Step 3b — Personalized Path

If the user chooses personalized (or refresh):

Privacy Consent

Before any extraction, present this to the user:

Privacy & Cookie Usage

To personalize your results, this plugin needs YouTube authentication cookies from a dedicated Chrome window. Here's what you should know:

• What we access: YouTube authentication cookies only — used to identify your account
• How it works: A separate Chrome window opens where you log into YouTube. We read cookies from that session — your main browser is never touched.
• Where they're stored: Locally on your machine in the plugin data directory (CLAUDE_PLUGIN_DATA) for cookies, plus a dedicated Chrome profile at ~/.youtube/chrome-profile/. They never leave your device and are never sent to any third party.
• What they're used for: Passed to YouTube's API so search results reflect your subscriptions, watch history, and preferences
• You're in control: Run /youtube:setup anytime to switch back to anonymous mode or delete stored cookies

Do you want to proceed?

Wait for the user's response. If they decline, switch to anonymous mode instead.

Run extraction

If the user consents, run:

node "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/extract-cookies.mjs"

Handle the output:

Success (exit code 0, "Authentication looks good")

Proceed to verification (Step 4).

Login required (exit code 3, output contains "LOGIN_REQUIRED")

Tell the user:

A Chrome window has opened with a dedicated profile. Please:

1. Log into your Google/YouTube account in that window
2. Let me know when you're signed in

This is a one-time step — your login will persist for future sessions. Your main Chrome browser is not affected.

Wait for the user to confirm they've logged in, then re-run:

node "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/extract-cookies.mjs"

If it returns LOGIN_REQUIRED again, ask the user to double-check they're logged in on youtube.com in the Chrome window that opened (not their regular browser).

Chrome not found (exit code 1, "Could not find Chrome")

Tell the user:

I couldn't find Chrome installed in the usual location. Is it installed somewhere custom? If you can share the path, I can try again.

Other errors

Report the error clearly and suggest the user check that Chrome is installed and try again.

Step 3c — Settings Path

If the user chooses "Configure settings":

Gather current state

If you haven't already, run silently:

node "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/config.mjs" --show

Parse the output. Settings marked with (*) are user-customized overrides.

Present settings by category

Show the user their current settings, grouped into categories. Use friendly names and explain what each does. Present one category at a time or all at once depending on how many the user seems interested in.

Plugin Settings

Here are your current settings (starred values are ones you've customized):

Search Defaults

• Default result count: 20 — how many results are returned when no limit is specified
• Default type: video — filter by video, channel, or playlist
• Default upload date: all — filter by recency (today, week, month, year, all)
• Default duration: all — filter by length (short, medium, long, all)
• Default sort: relevance — how results are ordered (relevance, date, views, rating)

Transcript Settings

• Default language: en — language code for transcripts
• Max segments: 5000 — cap on transcript segments returned
• Cleanup enabled: true — strip bracketed annotations and normalize whitespace

Channel Settings

• Default video limit: 30 — how many videos to return from a channel
• Default sort: newest — order for channel videos (newest, popular, oldest)

Locale

• Language: en — YouTube interface language
• Location: US — YouTube region for results

Which category would you like to change? Or tell me a specific setting to update.

Apply changes

When the user says what they want to change, run the appropriate command:

node "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/config.mjs" --set <section.key> <value>

For example:

• "I want 30 search results by default" → node "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/config.mjs" --set search.defaultLimit 30
• "Change language to Spanish" → node "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/config.mjs" --set innertube.language es and node "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/config.mjs" --set transcript.defaultLanguage es

If the script returns an error (e.g., invalid value or out of range), relay the constraint to the user in a friendly way and ask them to pick a valid option.

After changes

After applying changes, confirm what was changed and offer to continue:

Updated! Here's what changed:

• Default search results: 20 → 30

The MCP server reads settings at startup, so you'll need to restart your AI coding agent for changes to take effect.

Want to change anything else, or are you all set?

If they want to change more, loop back to presenting the settings. If done, wrap up.

Reset all settings

If the user asks to reset everything to defaults:

node "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/config.mjs" --reset

Confirm:

All settings have been reset to defaults. Restart your AI coding agent for changes to take effect.

Step 4 — Verification

After successful cookie extraction, verify by running a quick search:

Use the youtube_search tool with a simple query (e.g., the user's name or a generic term like "programming tutorials").

Check the response for "mode": "personalized".

If personalized:

You're all set! Personalized mode is active — your YouTube searches will now reflect your account.

If you ever want to switch back to anonymous or refresh your cookies, just run /youtube:setup again.

If still anonymous despite cookie extraction succeeding:

The cookies were saved but the MCP server needs to restart to pick them up. Please restart your AI coding agent, then try a search — it should show personalized mode after that.

If you ever want to switch back to anonymous or refresh your cookies, just run /youtube:setup again.

Important Notes

• Never show raw script output to the user. Interpret it and present friendly messages.
• The script uses a dedicated Chrome profile — the user's main Chrome browser is never modified or accessed.
• Chrome does NOT need to be closed. The dedicated profile runs as a separate process.
• Cookie files are stored locally in the plugin's data directory. They never leave the user's machine.
• The dedicated Chrome profile persists at ~/.youtube/chrome-profile/ so the user only needs to log in once.
• Settings are stored in the plugin's persistent data directory alongside cookies. They survive plugin updates.
• When changing settings, always remind the user to restart their AI coding agent for changes to take effect.