YouTube Data API v3 — Video Upload

Upload a video file to a YouTube channel programmatically using the resumable upload protocol.

Authentication

Requires OAuth 2.0 with the https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtube.upload scope. Service accounts work for brand accounts only; personal channels require interactive OAuth consent once to obtain a refresh token.

POST https://accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/v2/auth
  ?client_id={CLIENT_ID}
  &redirect_uri=urn:ietf:wg:oauth:2.0:oob
  &response_type=code
  &scope=https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtube.upload
        https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtube

Exchange the auth code for tokens:

POST https://oauth2.googleapis.com/token
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded

code={AUTH_CODE}&client_id={CLIENT_ID}&client_secret={CLIENT_SECRET}&redirect_uri=urn:ietf:wg:oauth:2.0:oob&grant_type=authorization_code

Store the refresh_token in your secrets manager. Use it to obtain short-lived access tokens:

POST https://oauth2.googleapis.com/token
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded

refresh_token={REFRESH_TOKEN}&client_id={CLIENT_ID}&client_secret={CLIENT_SECRET}&grant_type=refresh_token

Resumable Upload (two-step)

Step 1: Initiate the upload session

POST https://www.googleapis.com/upload/youtube/v3/videos?uploadType=resumable&part=snippet,status,contentDetails
Authorization: Bearer {ACCESS_TOKEN}
Content-Type: application/json; charset=UTF-8
X-Upload-Content-Length: {FILE_SIZE_BYTES}
X-Upload-Content-Type: video/mp4

{
  "snippet": {
    "title": "How to Build an AI Agent in 10 Minutes",
    "description": "Step-by-step tutorial showing...",
    "tags": ["ai agent", "tutorial", "automation"],
    "categoryId": "28",
    "defaultLanguage": "en"
  },
  "status": {
    "privacyStatus": "private",
    "selfDeclaredMadeForKids": false,
    "publishAt": "2026-04-05T15:00:00Z"
  }
}

Response returns a Location header with the upload URI.

Step 2: Upload the video bytes

PUT {UPLOAD_URI}
Authorization: Bearer {ACCESS_TOKEN}
Content-Type: video/mp4
Content-Length: {FILE_SIZE_BYTES}

<binary video data>

Response returns the created video resource with id, snippet, status, and contentDetails.

For files >10MB, chunk uploads in 5MB segments with Content-Range: bytes {start}-{end}/{total} headers.

Quota Cost

• videos.insert costs 100 units per call
• Default daily quota: 10,000 units (100 uploads/day)
• Request a quota increase via Google Cloud Console if needed

Error Handling

• 401 Unauthorized: Refresh the access token using the refresh_token.
• 403 Forbidden: Check OAuth scopes. Unverified API projects restrict uploads to private only.
• 400 badRequest: Validate metadata fields. Title max 100 chars, description max 5000 chars, max 500 tags total chars.
• 409 conflict: Video with this upload URI already exists. Start a new upload session.
• 503 Service Unavailable: Retry with exponential backoff (1s, 2s, 4s, max 32s).

Pricing

• YouTube Data API is free (quota-based, not monetary)
• Google Cloud project required (free tier sufficient)
• Pricing page: https://developers.google.com/youtube/v3/getting-started

Alternatives

• Descript API (Enterprise): Programmatic video creation + YouTube export
• Riverside.fm: Record and auto-publish to YouTube
• StreamYard: Live stream and auto-publish recordings
• Restream: Multi-platform publishing including YouTube
• Zapier/Make: YouTube upload via no-code connectors