Apps Script Code Samples
Stay organized with collections
Save and categorize content based on your preferences.
The following Apps Script code samples are available for the YouTube Data API
. You can download these code samples from the apps-script
folder of the YouTube APIs code sample repository on GitHub
.
Retrieve my uploads
This function retrieves the current script user's uploaded videos. To execute, it requires the OAuth read/write scope for YouTube as well as user authorization. In Apps Script's runtime environment, the first time a user runs a script, Apps Script will prompt the user for permission to access the services called by the script. After permissions are granted, they are cached for some period of time. The user running the script will be prompted for permission again once the permissions required change, or when they are invalidated by the ScriptApp.invalidateAuth()
function.This script takes the following steps to retrieve the active user's uploaded videos: - Fetches the user's channels.
- Fetches the user's 'uploads' playlist.
- Iterates through this playlist and logs the video IDs and titles.
- Fetches a next page token, if any. If there is one, fetches the next page. Repeat step 3.
/**
*
This
function
retrieves
the
current
script
user
's uploaded videos. To execute,
*
it
requires
the
OAuth
read
/
write
scope
for
YouTube
as
well
as
user
authorization
.
*
In
Apps
Script
's runtime environment, the first time a user runs a script, Apps
*
Script
will
prompt
the
user
for
permission
to
access
the
services
called
by
the
*
script
.
After
permissions
are
granted
,
they
are
cached
for
some
periodF
of
time
.
*
The
user
running
the
script
will
be
prompted
for
permission
again
once
the
*
permissions
required
change
,
or
when
they
are
invalidated
by
the
*
ScriptApp
.
invalidateAuth
()
function
.
*
*
This
script
takes
the
following
steps
to
retrieve
the
active
user
's uploaded videos:
*
1.
Fetches
the
user
's channels
*
2.
Fetches
the
user
's '
uploads
' playlist
*
3.
Iterates
through
this
playlist
and
logs
the
video
IDs
and
titles
*
4.
Fetches
a
next
page
token
(
if
any
)
.
If
there
is
one
,
fetches
the
next
page
.
GOTO
Step
3
*/
function
retrieveMyUploads
()
{
var
results
=
YouTube
.
Channels
.
list
(
'contentDetails'
,
{
mine
:
true
});
for
(
var
i
in
results
.
items
)
{
var
item
=
results
.
items
[
i
];
//
Get
the
playlist
ID
,
which
is
nested
in
contentDetails
,
as
described
in
the
//
Channel
resource
:
https
:
//
developers
.
google
.
com
/
youtube
/
v3
/
docs
/
channels
var
playlistId
=
item
.
contentDetails
.
relatedPlaylists
.
uploads
;
var
nextPageToken
=
''
;
//
This
loop
retrieves
a
set
of
playlist
items
and
checks
the
nextPageToken
in
the
//
response
to
determine
whether
the
list
contains
additional
items
.
It
repeats
that
process
//
until
it
has
retrieved
all
of
the
items
in
the
list
.
while
(
nextPageToken
!=
null
)
{
var
playlistResponse
=
YouTube
.
PlaylistItems
.
list
(
'snippet'
,
{
playlistId
:
playlistId
,
maxResults
:
25
,
pageToken
:
nextPageToken
});
for
(
var
j
=
0
;
j
<
playlistResponse
.
items
.
length
;
j
++
)
{
var
playlistItem
=
playlistResponse
.
items
[
j
];
Logger
.
log
(
'[
%s
] Title:
%s
'
,
playlistItem
.
snippet
.
resourceId
.
videoId
,
playlistItem
.
snippet
.
title
);
}
nextPageToken
=
playlistResponse
.
nextPageToken
;
}
}
}
Search by keyword
This function searches for videos related to the keyword 'dogs'
. The video IDs and titles of the search results are logged to Apps Script's log.Note that this sample limits the results to 25. To return more results, pass additional parameters as documented in Search:list
. /**
* This function searches for videos related to the keyword 'dogs'. The video IDs and titles
* of the search results are logged to Apps Script's log.
*
* Note that this sample limits the results to 25. To return more results, pass
* additional parameters as documented here:
* https://developers.google.com/youtube/v3/docs/search/list
*/
function
searchByKeyword
()
{
var
results
=
YouTube
.
Search
.
list
(
'id,snippet'
,
{
q
:
'dogs'
,
maxResults
:
25
}
);
for
(
var
i
in
results
.
items
)
{
var
item
=
results
.
items
[
i
]
;
Logger
.
log
(
'[%s] Title: %s'
,
item
.
id
.
videoId
,
item
.
snippet
.
title
);
}
}
Search by topic
This function searches for videos that are associated with a particular Freebase topic, logging their video IDs and titles to the Apps Script log. This example uses the topic ID for Google Apps Script.Note that this sample limits the results to 25. To return more results, pass additional parameters as documented in Search:list
. /**
* This function searches for videos that are associated with a particular Freebase
* topic, logging their video IDs and titles to the Apps Script log. This example uses
* the topic ID for Google Apps Script.
*
* Note that this sample limits the results to 25. To return more results, pass
* additional parameters as documented here:
* https://developers.google.com/youtube/v3/docs/search/list
*/
function
searchByTopic
()
{
var
mid
=
'/m/0gjf126'
;
var
results
=
YouTube
.
Search
.
list
(
'id,snippet'
,
{
topicId
:
mid
,
maxResults
:
25
}
);
for
(
var
i
in
results
.
items
)
{
var
item
=
results
.
items
[
i
]
;
Logger
.
log
(
'[%s] Title: %s'
,
item
.
id
.
videoId
,
item
.
snippet
.
title
);
}
}
Subscribe to channel
This sample subscribes the active user to the Google Developers YouTube channel, specified by the channelId. /**
*
This
sample
subscribes
the
active
user
to
the
Google
Developers
*
YouTube
channel
,
specified
by
the
channelId
.
*/
function
addSubscription
()
{
//
Replace
this
channel
ID
with
the
channel
ID
you
want
to
subscribe
to
var
channelId
=
'UC_x5XG1OV2P6uZZ5FSM9Ttw'
;
var
resource
=
{
snippet
:
{
resourceId
:
{
kind
:
'youtube#channel'
,
channelId
:
channelId
}
}
};
try
{
var
response
=
YouTube
.
Subscriptions
.
insert
(
resource
,
'snippet'
);
Logger
.
log
(
response
);
}
catch
(
e
)
{
if
(
e
.
message
.
match
(
'subscriptionDuplicate'
))
{
Logger
.
log
(
'Cannot subscribe; already subscribed to channel: '
+
channelId
);
}
else
{
Logger
.
log
(
'Error adding subscription: '
+
e
.
message
);
}
}
}
Update video
This sample finds the active user's uploads, then updates the most recent upload's description by appending a string. /**
*
This
sample
finds
the
active
user
's uploads, then updates the most recent
*
upload
's description by appending a string.
*/
function
updateVideo
()
{
//
1.
Fetch
all
the
channels
owned
by
active
user
var
myChannels
=
YouTube
.
Channels
.
list
(
'contentDetails'
,
{
mine
:
true
});
//
2.
Iterate
through
the
channels
and
get
the
uploads
playlist
ID
for
(
var
i
=
0
;
i
<
myChannels
.
items
.
length
;
i
++
)
{
var
item
=
myChannels
.
items
[
i
];
var
uploadsPlaylistId
=
item
.
contentDetails
.
relatedPlaylists
.
uploads
;
var
playlistResponse
=
YouTube
.
PlaylistItems
.
list
(
'snippet'
,
{
playlistId
:
uploadsPlaylistId
,
maxResults
:
1
});
//
Get
the
videoID
of
the
first
video
in
the
list
var
video
=
playlistResponse
.
items
[
0
];
var
originalDescription
=
video
.
snippet
.
description
;
var
updatedDescription
=
originalDescription
+
' Description updated via Google Apps Script'
;
video
.
snippet
.
description
=
updatedDescription
;
var
resource
=
{
snippet
:
{
title
:
video
.
snippet
.
title
,
description
:
updatedDescription
,
categoryId
:
'22'
},
id
:
video
.
snippet
.
resourceId
.
videoId
};
YouTube
.
Videos
.
update
(
resource
,
'id,snippet'
);
}
}
Except as otherwise noted, the content of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
, and code samples are licensed under the Apache 2.0 License
. For details, see the Google Developers Site Policies
. Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.
Last updated 2025-08-28 UTC.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-28 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eThese code samples, available on GitHub, demonstrate various interactions with the YouTube Data API using Apps Script.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe \u003ccode\u003eretrieveMyUploads\u003c/code\u003e function retrieves a user's uploaded videos, requiring OAuth read/write scope and user authorization, iterating through the user's 'uploads' playlist and logging video details.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003e\u003ccode\u003esearchByKeyword\u003c/code\u003e and \u003ccode\u003esearchByTopic\u003c/code\u003e functions demonstrate searching for videos based on keywords or Freebase topics, respectively, both with the option to adjust the number of results.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe \u003ccode\u003eaddSubscription\u003c/code\u003e function allows users to subscribe to a specified YouTube channel, providing error handling for duplicate subscription attempts.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe \u003ccode\u003eupdateVideo\u003c/code\u003e function illustrates how to modify the description of the most recent video uploaded by the active user.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],["Apps Script code samples for the YouTube Data API perform several key actions. `retrieveMyUploads` fetches a user's channels, then their \"uploads\" playlist, logging video IDs and titles iteratively. `searchByKeyword` and `searchByTopic` find videos based on a keyword or Freebase topic, respectively, logging the results. `addSubscription` subscribes the active user to a specified channel. Finally, `updateVideo` retrieves the user's uploads and appends text to the most recent video's description. These samples require OAuth permissions.\n"],null,["# Apps Script Code Samples\n\nThe following Apps Script code samples are available for the YouTube Data API. You can download these code samples from the `apps-script` folder of the [YouTube APIs code sample repository on GitHub](https://github.com/youtube/api-samples).\n\nRetrieve my uploads\n-------------------\n\nThis function retrieves the current script user's uploaded videos. To execute, it requires the OAuth read/write scope for YouTube as well as user authorization. In Apps Script's runtime environment, the first time a user runs a script, Apps Script will prompt the user for permission to access the services called by the script. After permissions are granted, they are cached for some period of time. The user running the script will be prompted for permission again once the permissions required change, or when they are invalidated by the `ScriptApp.invalidateAuth()` function. \n\nThis script takes the following steps to retrieve the active user's uploaded videos:\n\n1. Fetches the user's channels.\n2. Fetches the user's 'uploads' playlist.\n3. Iterates through this playlist and logs the video IDs and titles.\n4. Fetches a next page token, if any. If there is one, fetches the next page. Repeat step 3.\n\n```gdscript\n/**\n * This function retrieves the current script user's uploaded videos. To execute,\n * it requires the OAuth read/write scope for YouTube as well as user authorization.\n * In Apps Script's runtime environment, the first time a user runs a script, Apps\n * Script will prompt the user for permission to access the services called by the\n * script. After permissions are granted, they are cached for some periodF of time.\n * The user running the script will be prompted for permission again once the\n * permissions required change, or when they are invalidated by the\n * ScriptApp.invalidateAuth() function.\n *\n * This script takes the following steps to retrieve the active user's uploaded videos:\n * 1. Fetches the user's channels\n * 2. Fetches the user's 'uploads' playlist\n * 3. Iterates through this playlist and logs the video IDs and titles\n * 4. Fetches a next page token (if any). If there is one, fetches the next page. GOTO Step 3\n */\nfunction retrieveMyUploads() {\n var results = YouTube.Channels.list('contentDetails', {mine: true});\n for(var i in results.items) {\n var item = results.items[i];\n // Get the playlist ID, which is nested in contentDetails, as described in the\n // Channel resource: https://developers.google.com/youtube/v3/docs/channels\n var playlistId = item.contentDetails.relatedPlaylists.uploads;\n\n var nextPageToken = '';\n\n // This loop retrieves a set of playlist items and checks the nextPageToken in the\n // response to determine whether the list contains additional items. It repeats that process\n // until it has retrieved all of the items in the list.\n while (nextPageToken != null) {\n var playlistResponse = YouTube.PlaylistItems.list('snippet', {\n playlistId: playlistId,\n maxResults: 25,\n pageToken: nextPageToken\n });\n\n for (var j = 0; j \u003c playlistResponse.items.length; j++) {\n var playlistItem = playlistResponse.items[j];\n Logger.log('[%s] Title: %s',\n playlistItem.snippet.resourceId.videoId,\n playlistItem.snippet.title);\n\n }\n nextPageToken = playlistResponse.nextPageToken;\n }\n }\n}\n```\n\nSearch by keyword\n-----------------\n\nThis function searches for videos related to the keyword `'dogs'`. The video IDs and titles of the search results are logged to Apps Script's log. \n\nNote that this sample limits the results to 25. To return more results, pass additional parameters as documented in [Search:list](https://developers.google.com/youtube/v3/docs/search/list). \n\n```transact-sql\n/**\n * This function searches for videos related to the keyword 'dogs'. The video IDs and titles\n * of the search results are logged to Apps Script's log.\n *\n * Note that this sample limits the results to 25. To return more results, pass\n * additional parameters as documented here:\n * https://developers.google.com/youtube/v3/docs/search/list\n */\nfunction searchByKeyword() {\n var results = YouTube.Search.list('id,snippet', {q: 'dogs', maxResults: 25});\n for(var i in results.items) {\n var item = results.items[i];\n Logger.log('[%s] Title: %s', item.id.videoId, item.snippet.title);\n }\n}\n```\n\nSearch by topic\n---------------\n\nThis function searches for videos that are associated with a particular Freebase topic, logging their video IDs and titles to the Apps Script log. This example uses the topic ID for Google Apps Script. \n\nNote that this sample limits the results to 25. To return more results, pass additional parameters as documented in [Search:list](https://developers.google.com/youtube/v3/docs/search/list). \n\n```transact-sql\n/**\n * This function searches for videos that are associated with a particular Freebase\n * topic, logging their video IDs and titles to the Apps Script log. This example uses\n * the topic ID for Google Apps Script.\n *\n * Note that this sample limits the results to 25. To return more results, pass\n * additional parameters as documented here:\n * https://developers.google.com/youtube/v3/docs/search/list\n */\nfunction searchByTopic() {\n var mid = '/m/0gjf126';\n var results = YouTube.Search.list('id,snippet', {topicId: mid, maxResults: 25});\n for(var i in results.items) {\n var item = results.items[i];\n Logger.log('[%s] Title: %s', item.id.videoId, item.snippet.title);\n }\n}\n```\n\nSubscribe to channel\n--------------------\n\nThis sample subscribes the active user to the Google Developers YouTube channel, specified by the channelId. \n\n```gdscript\n/**\n * This sample subscribes the active user to the Google Developers\n * YouTube channel, specified by the channelId.\n */\nfunction addSubscription() {\n // Replace this channel ID with the channel ID you want to subscribe to\n var channelId = 'UC_x5XG1OV2P6uZZ5FSM9Ttw';\n var resource = {\n snippet: {\n resourceId: {\n kind: 'youtube#channel',\n channelId: channelId\n }\n }\n };\n\n try {\n var response = YouTube.Subscriptions.insert(resource, 'snippet');\n Logger.log(response);\n } catch (e) {\n if(e.message.match('subscriptionDuplicate')) {\n Logger.log('Cannot subscribe; already subscribed to channel: ' + channelId);\n } else {\n Logger.log('Error adding subscription: ' + e.message);\n }\n }\n}\n```\n\nUpdate video\n------------\n\nThis sample finds the active user's uploads, then updates the most recent upload's description by appending a string. \n\n```gdscript\n/**\n * This sample finds the active user's uploads, then updates the most recent\n * upload's description by appending a string.\n */\nfunction updateVideo() {\n // 1. Fetch all the channels owned by active user\n var myChannels = YouTube.Channels.list('contentDetails', {mine: true});\n // 2. Iterate through the channels and get the uploads playlist ID\n for (var i = 0; i \u003c myChannels.items.length; i++) {\n var item = myChannels.items[i];\n var uploadsPlaylistId = item.contentDetails.relatedPlaylists.uploads;\n\n var playlistResponse = YouTube.PlaylistItems.list('snippet', {\n playlistId: uploadsPlaylistId,\n maxResults: 1\n });\n\n // Get the videoID of the first video in the list\n var video = playlistResponse.items[0];\n var originalDescription = video.snippet.description;\n var updatedDescription = originalDescription + ' Description updated via Google Apps Script';\n\n video.snippet.description = updatedDescription;\n\n var resource = {\n snippet: {\n title: video.snippet.title,\n description: updatedDescription,\n categoryId: '22'\n },\n id: video.snippet.resourceId.videoId\n };\n YouTube.Videos.update(resource, 'id,snippet');\n }\n}\n```"]]
