YouTube MCP Server Implementation providing tools to interact with YouTube videos, channels, playlists, and transcripts
Server has 24 tools with basic schemas and descriptions, but significant quality gaps. Most tools have minimal descriptions (20-50 chars, below the 50-200 char baseline for A+ tools). Parameter descriptions are sparse or missing entirely. Output schemas are not documented. Many tools appear to be inferred from function files rather than explicitly registered with full definitions. Error handling is absent, no recovery guidance, no categorization of errors, no actionable messages. Tools like 'downloadVideo' and 'createSmartPlaylist' are destructive but lack confirmation patterns or dry-run support. Naming is inconsistent: some tools use verb_noun (getVideo), others use camelCase without clear action verbs (analyzeSentiment, extractTopics). No tool annotations (readOnlyHint, destructiveHint, idempotentHint) despite having both READ_ONLY and WRITE operations.
Analyze caption quality and complexity
Analyze channel growth trends
Analyze video sentiment
Get information about a YouTube channel
Get videos from a specific channel
Create intelligent playlist
Download video in specified format
Extract video thumbnail
Output schemas not documented. Tools return data but LLMs cannot plan downstream calls or extract required fields. No pagination info, field types, or chaining IDs documented.
Destructive tools (downloadVideo, createSmartPlaylist, optimizePlaylist) lack confirmation patterns, dry-run support, or explicit warnings. Agents can execute irreversible operations without safeguards.
No error handling guidance. Tools do not return actionable error messages, recovery suggestions, or error categorization (retryable vs user-fixable vs fatal). LLMs cannot self-correct on failures.
| Scored | Grade | Overall | Spec posture | Rubric |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-23 | F | 44 | 2026-07-28+ | v2 |
Extract key topics from video
Generate video summary from transcript
Generate key moment timestamps
Get channel details
Get channel videos
Get video download options
Get personalized video recommendations
Get video performance metrics
Optimize playlist order
Get information about a YouTube playlist
Get videos in a YouTube playlist
Predict future video performance
Generate playlist suggestions
Get the transcript of a YouTube video
Get detailed information about a YouTube video
Search for videos on YouTube
Inconsistent naming conventions. Tools mix verb_noun (getVideo, getChannel) with bare nouns (analyzeSentiment, extractTopics). Generic verbs like 'analyze', 'extract', 'generate' lack specificity. LLMs struggle to disambiguate similar tools.
Parameter descriptions missing or trivial. Many parameters lack descriptions explaining format, constraints, or valid values. E.g., 'parts' in videos_getVideo has no guidance on what parts are valid. LLMs cannot infer constraints.