How to Install and Use YouTube Watcher in OpenClaw

Open your terminal and install the youtube-watcher skill. The package includes the YouTube Data API v3 client, the channel polling engine, and the notification formatter that generates AI summaries of new uploads. After installation, the skill will show as 'inactive' until you configure a valid YOUTUBE_API_KEY — this is expected. The skill cannot connect to YouTube's API without a key, so it remains dormant until credentials are provided. Check the installed version after the install command — the version number matters because the skill's polling mechanism was significantly improved in version 2.0+. If you see a version below 2.0, run `clawhub update youtube-watcher` to ensure you have the latest polling implementation with improved rate limit handling.

1# Install YouTube Watcher
2clawhub install youtube-watcher
3
4# Verify installation
5clawhub list --installed | grep youtube-watcher
6
7# Check version (should be 2.0 or higher for best rate limit handling)
8clawhub info youtube-watcher | grep version
9
10# Update if needed
11clawhub update youtube-watcher

The YouTube Data API v3 is free for most usage levels, and getting an API key takes about 5 minutes through Google Cloud Console. Go to console.cloud.google.com and log in with your Google account. Create a new project by clicking the project dropdown at the top, then 'New Project'. Name it 'OpenClaw YouTube' and click 'Create'. With your project selected, go to 'APIs & Services' > 'Library'. Search for 'YouTube Data API v3' and click on it. Click 'Enable'. Now go to 'APIs & Services' > 'Credentials'. Click '+ Create Credentials' > 'API key'. Google generates the key immediately and shows it in a popup — copy it now. For security, click 'Edit API key' on the credentials page and add an API restriction: under 'API restrictions', choose 'Restrict key' and select only 'YouTube Data API v3'. This ensures the key can only be used for YouTube API calls, not any other Google service. The free tier provides 10,000 quota units per day. Each channel check consumes approximately 1-3 units, so you can monitor 50+ channels hourly without hitting the limit for normal use.

1# YouTube Data API v3 free quota limits:
2# 10,000 units per day (free)
3# Cost per operation:
4#   - channels.list: 1 unit
5#   - search.list: 100 units (most expensive — use sparingly)
6#   - videos.list: 1 unit
7#   - playlistItems.list: 1 unit (used for channel uploads)
8
9# Recommended API key restrictions in Google Cloud Console:
10# Application restrictions: None (or HTTP referrers if your server has a fixed domain)
11# API restrictions: YouTube Data API v3 only

Open the OpenClaw config file at `~/.openclaw/config.yaml` and add the youtube-watcher skill configuration. The YOUTUBE_API_KEY goes under the skill's settings block. You can also specify default channel watch settings at this level — these become the defaults for all channels you add later. The `channels` array is optional at this stage — you can leave it empty and add channels through the OpenClaw chat interface instead, which is more convenient for most users. The channels added via chat are saved to the config automatically. After saving the config, run `clawhub reload` to apply the changes. The skill should transition from 'inactive' to 'active' within a few seconds as it verifies the API key with a test call.

1# ~/.openclaw/config.yaml
2skills:
3  youtube-watcher:
4    api_key: "YOUR_YOUTUBE_DATA_API_V3_KEY_HERE"
5    poll_interval: 60           # Minutes between checks (default: 60, minimum: 15)
6    summary_length: medium      # short | medium | long (default: medium)
7    notify_on_first_run: false  # If true, notifies about existing videos on first scan
8    max_results_per_channel: 5  # How many recent videos to check per poll (default: 3)
9    channels:                   # Optional: pre-configure channels here
10      - handle: "@mkbhd"
11        name: "MKBHD"           # Friendly name for notifications
12      - handle: "@fireship"
13        name: "Fireship"

With the skill active, you can manage your channel watch list directly from OpenClaw chat without editing the config file. This is the most convenient way to add, remove, and list watched channels. Channel handles are the @username format shown in a channel's YouTube URL. You can also use a channel ID (starting with UC) if you cannot find the handle. Both formats work with the youtube-watcher skill. When you add a channel, the skill immediately checks the channel's recent uploads to establish a baseline — on the next polling cycle, only videos uploaded after this baseline trigger notifications. This prevents a flood of notifications about old content when you first start watching a channel. List your current watch channels at any time from chat to verify the configuration. The skill stores this list in `~/.openclaw/skill-data/youtube-watcher/channels.json` — you can edit this file directly if needed, though the chat interface is easier.

1# Managing channels from OpenClaw chat:
2
3# Add a channel by handle
4"Watch YouTube channel @veritasium"
5"Add @3blue1brown to my YouTube watch list"
6
7# Add by channel ID (for channels without handles)
8"Watch YouTube channel UCbmNph6atAoGfqLoCL_duAg"
9
10# List all watched channels
11"List my YouTube watch channels"
12"Show me all channels I'm monitoring on YouTube"
13
14# Remove a channel
15"Stop watching YouTube channel @veritasium"
16"Remove @mkbhd from my YouTube watch list"
17
18# Check for new videos now (manual trigger)
19"Check YouTube channels for new videos now"

YouTube Watcher delivers notifications when new videos are detected. By default, each notification includes the video title, channel name, upload time, view count, and an AI-generated summary of the description and auto-captions (when available). You can customize what appears in each notification through the config or by asking OpenClaw to change the format. For research workflows, the `long` summary setting extracts more detail from the video description and chapter markers. For quick awareness monitoring where you just need to know a new video exists, `short` summaries keep notifications brief. The `medium` default is a good balance for most use cases. To test that everything is working correctly, manually trigger a check from OpenClaw chat. If the channels you added have videos from the past week, OpenClaw will return summaries of the most recent ones as a proof of concept. Going forward, new upload notifications arrive automatically during the polling cycle.

1# Advanced notification settings in ~/.openclaw/config.yaml:
2skills:
3  youtube-watcher:
4    api_key: "YOUR_KEY"
5    notification_format:
6      include_thumbnail_url: true    # Include video thumbnail URL in notification
7      include_duration: true         # Include video length
8      include_view_count: false      # View count (not available immediately on new uploads)
9      include_tags: false            # Video tags
10      include_description: true      # Full description snippet
11    summary_prompt: "Summarize this YouTube video in 3 bullet points focusing on the key takeaways"
12    # Custom prompt overrides the default summary generation