YouTube API

Posting to YouTube requires the youTubeOptions object with at a title parameter - max 100 characters. The title is the only required field and can use autogenerated with the transcribe endpoint.

For example, to post a YouTube video with default settings:

{
  // Required: Video description
  "post": "My Best YouTube Description",

  // Required: Platform to post to
  "platforms": ["youtube"],

  // Required: URL of video (only 1 allowed)
  "mediaUrls": ["https://img.ayrshare.com/012/vid.mp4"],

  "youTubeOptions": {
    // Required: Video title (max 100 characters)
    "title": "Your Best Title"
  }
}

There are several other optional fields listed below, including the video visibility, tags, and publishAt date. Please see the comments for requirements and descriptions.

{
  // Required fields
  "post": "My Best YouTube Description", // Video description, up to 5,000 characters
  "platforms": ["youtube"], // Platform to post to
  "mediaUrls": ["https://img.ayrshare.com/012/vid.mp4"], // URL of video (1 allowed)

  "youTubeOptions": {
    // Required fields
    "title": "Your Best Title", // Video Title (max 100 characters)

    /** Optional Fields **/

    // Visibility: "public", "unlisted", or "private" (default: "private")
    "visibility": "private",

    // Thumbnail settings - JPEG/PNG URL under 2MB, must end in png/jpg/jpeg
    "thumbNail": "https://img.ayrshare.com/012/gb.jpg",

    // Video organization
    "playListId": "PLrav6EfwgDX5", // Playlist ID to add the video
    "tags": ["dancing", "dogs"], // Tag array (400 chars total, 2+ chars each)

    // Video settings
    "madeForKids": false, // Self-declared kids content (default: false)
    "shorts": true, // Post as YouTube Short (max 60s, adds #Shorts)
    "notifySubscribers": true, // Send notification to subscribers (default: true)
    "categoryId": 24, // Video category (24 = Entertainment)

    // Scheduling - UTC publish time (sets visibility to private)
    "publishAt": "2022-10-08T21:18:36Z"
  }
}

• The title must be 100 characters or less. The post must be 5,000 characters or less. The post and title may contain any characters except < and >.
• The Playlist Id can be found by opening the playlist in a browser and copying the value after list=. The authenticated user and channel must be the owner of the playlist to add videos.
• If your video doesn’t end in a known video extension such as mp4, please use the isVideo parameter. See the /post endpoint for details.

​

YouTube Shorts

A YouTube Short is a short-form vertical video that can be up to 60 seconds long. These are similiar to TikTok videos and Instagram or Facebook Reels.

​

Posting YouTube Shorts

You can post a YouTube Shorts video of up to 60 seconds by adding the shorts parameter to the youTubeOptions object.

{
  "youTubeOptions": {
    "shorts": true
  }
}

The #Shorts hashtag will be added to the YouTube description.

​

Important Information on YouTube Shorts

• Sending a video as a Short is an indication to YouTube that you would like the video to appear as a Short, but does not guarantee it will appear as a Short. The video must meet the Short video requirements, such as being 60 seconds or less and vertical aspect ratio of 9:16 to be considered a Short by YouTube.

• While YouTube does allow uploading of longer shorts of three minutes with YouTube Studio or the YouTube mobile app, the API currently only supports 60 second shorts.

• YouTube Shorts do not support thumbnails.

• Additional information on using the API to post YouTube Shorts.

​

YouTube Thumbnails

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Adding YouTube Thumbnails

YouTube Thumbnails and other features, such as uploading 15 minute videos, require verification of your phone number. A thumbNail is a URL of a JPEG or PNG and less than 2MB in size. The file extension must end in png, jpg, or jpeg.

{
  "youTubeOptions": {
    "thumbNail": "https://img.ayrshare.com/012/gb.jpg"
  }
}

YouTube Shorts do not currently support thumbnails.

​

Enable Thumbnails in YouTube Studio

You must be granted YouTube permissions to post thumbnails. In YouTube Studio go to Settings->Channel. Select “Feature Eligibility” and click “Features that require phone verification”. Enter your phone number to enable.

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Video: Posting to YouTube via the API

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Upload Limits

YouTube limits how many videos a channel can upload in a 24-hour period via the YouTube API.

• Depending on a creator’s location, a channel might be able to increase their daily limit by getting access to advanced features. To learn more visit this article.

• Limits may vary by country/region or channel history. Copyright strikes may impact channel history eligibility and Community Guidelines strikes will affect how much a channel can upload.

If you receive and upload limit error please wait and try again in 24 hours.

​

Description Links

You must activate Advanced Features in YouTube Studio to have clickable links in the YouTube video description.

Go to YouTube Studio -> Settings -> Channel -> Feature Eligibility -> Advanced Features -> Access Features to activate the advanced features.

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Playlists

You can add videos to a YouTube playlist by including the playListId in the youTubeOptions object. Be sure that the authenticated user and channel are the owner of the playlist.

{
  "youTubeOptions": {
    "playListId": "PLrav6EfwgDX5"
  }
}

​

Subtitles / Captions for Videos

You can add YouTube subtitles, also known as YouTube captions, to videos by including an SRT file or a YouTube SBV file. Use the subTitleUrl field in the youTubeOptions object to specify the URL to your SRT or SBV file.

{
  "youTubeOptions": {
    "title": "My new post from Ayrshare to Youtube",
    "subTitleUrl": "https://img.ayrshare.com/012/captions.srt",
    "subTitleLanguage": "en",
    "subTitleName": "English"
  }
}

• subTitleUrl: A valid SRT or SBV file. The URL must start with https:// and end in .srt or .sbv and be a valid SRT or SBV file. The file must be under 100 MB.

• subTitleLanguage: Optional: The language of the subtitles. Much be a valid language code. Default: “en”.

• subTitleName: Optional: The name of the caption track. The name is intended to be visible to the user as an option during playback. The maximum name length supported is 150 characters. Default: “English”.

## SRT Format Example
1
00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:04,000
Welcome to our tutorial on subtitle formats.

2
00:00:04,500 --> 00:00:08,000
Today we'll learn about SRT and SBV files.

## SBV Format Example
0:00:01.000,0:00:04.000
Welcome to our tutorial on subtitle formats.

0:00:04.500,0:00:08.000
Today we'll learn about SRT and SBV files.

​

Tags

You can add YouTube tags to your videos by including the tags array in the youTubeOptions object. Tags must be at least 2 characters in length each and the total length of all tags must be 400 characters or less.

{
  "youTubeOptions": {
    "tags": ["dancing", "dogs"]
  }
}

​

Additional Endpoints