pp-youtube

The saved excerpt is a snapshot from when this skill was listed. The external source remains the complete and most current version.

---
name: pp-youtube
description: "A self-maintained competitor-monitoring machine for YouTube: the read surfaces that matter for market and competitor research plus a local databank of channel histories, snapshots, comments, and packaging assets - market data hours old, not weeks. Trigger phrases: `monitor my youtube competitors`, `which competitor videos are gaining views right now`, `find fresh breakout videos in a niche`, `youtube packaging and thumbnail analysis data`, `mine youtube comments for audience signal`, `new niche research workspace`, `switch youtube api key`, `backfill youtube channel history`, `get the transcript of this youtube video`, `use youtube`, `run youtube`."
author: "Justin"
license: "Apache-2.0"
argument-hint: "<command> [args] | install cli|mcp"
allowed-tools: "Read Bash"
metadata:
  openclaw:
    requires:
      bins:
        - youtube-pp-cli
    install:
      - kind: go
        bins: [youtube-pp-cli]
        module: github.com/mvanhorn/printing-press-library/library/media-and-entertainment/youtube/cmd/youtube-pp-cli
---
<!-- GENERATED FILE — DO NOT EDIT.
     This file is a verbatim mirror of library/media-and-entertainment/youtube/SKILL.md,
     regenerated post-merge by tools/generate-skills/. Hand-edits here are
     silently overwritten on the next regen. Edit the library/ source instead.
     See the repository agent guide, section "Generated artifacts: registry.json, cli-skills/". -->

# YouTube — Printing Press CLI

## Prerequisites: Install the CLI

This skill drives the `youtube-pp-cli` binary. **You must verify the CLI is installed before invoking any command from this skill.** If it is missing, install it first:

1. Install via the Printing Press installer. It defaults binaries to `$HOME/.local/bin` on macOS/Linux and `%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\PrintingPress\bin` on Windows:
   ```bash
   npx -y @mvanhorn/printing-press-library install youtube --cli-only
   ```
2. Verify: `youtube-pp-cli --version`
3. Ensure the reported install directory is on `$PATH` for the agent/runtime that will invoke this skill.

If the `npx` install fails (no Node, offline, etc.), fall back to a direct Go install (requires Go 1.26.6 or newer). This installs into `$GOPATH/bin` (default `$HOME/go/bin`), so add that directory to `$PATH` instead:

```bash
go install github.com/mvanhorn/printing-press-library/library/media-and-entertainment/youtube/cmd/youtube-pp-cli@latest
```

If `--version` reports "command not found" after install, the runtime cannot see the binary directory on `$PATH`. Do not proceed with skill commands until verification succeeds.

The YouTube Data API v3 read surfaces that matter for market and competitor research with complete parameter wiring, feeding a local SQLite databank designed for competitor monitoring: `watch` your ~15 competitors, `monitor` refreshes them for ~20-40 quota units per run, and `velocity`, `growth`, `breakouts`, `comments-mine`, and `packaging` turn the accumulated snapshots into current market intelligence that lagging analytics platforms deliver one to two weeks late.

## When to Use This CLI

Reach for this CLI whenever the task is YouTube market or competitor research: tracking a fixed set of competitor channels over time, measuring what is gaining views right now, discovering fresh breakout videos in a niche, mining comments for audience signal, or collecting titles, thumbnails, and hooks for packaging analysis. It is the right tool when the answer should come from a locally owned, regularly refreshed databank instead of a lagging external analytics platform.

## Anti-triggers

Do not use this CLI for:
- Do not use this CLI for your own channel's private analytics (revenue, retention, demographics, traffic sources) - that is the OAuth-only YouTube Analytics API, which this CLI deliberately excludes
- Do not use it to upload, edit, rate, or delete videos or manage a channel - all write operations are out of scope
- Do not use it to download video or audio media - use