What do the new endpoints cost?

1 credit per successful call. The list endpoints (/channel/playlists and /channel/posts) are 1 credit per page, since each page is one call. Failed calls and 404s cost nothing, and the X-Credits-Charged header on every response states the exact cost.

Which endpoints stay free?

/channel/latest, /channel/resolve and /info remain free: they need a valid key with an active plan, but no credits are deducted. On MCP, get_youtube_video_info and get_channel_latest_videos are free too.

Does /video/info work on videos without captions?

Yes. It reads metadata only, so captions are not required. If you also want the transcript and the video has no captions, that call returns a 404 and no credits are charged.

YouTube API expansion: channel and video endpoints

What shipped

The YouTube API now covers the whole channel page, not just its videos. Five REST endpoints are new: /channel/info for the channel profile, /channel/playlists for a channel's playlists, /channel/posts for its community posts, /channel/sections for the curated shelves on the channel page, and /video/info for metadata on a single video, captions or no captions.

Channel endpoints

/channel/info returns the profile: title, handle, verified flag, subscriber and video count text, description, keywords, tags, thumbnails, banners, and the tabs the channel has. Counts are display strings and are null when YouTube hides them, never a fake zero.

/channel/playlists and /channel/posts are paginated lists with the same continuation pattern you know from /channel/videos. Posts include text, publish time, like-count text, and attachments (image, multi-image, video, playlist, or poll). A channel with no community tab returns an empty results list, not an error.

/channel/sections returns the curated, grouped shelves of the channel page in the channel's own order: featured (the Home page) by default, with tab=podcasts and tab=releases for channels that have them.

Video metadata

/video/info inspects one video without needing captions: title, view and like-count text, publish date, structured description with links, the uploading channel, and thumbnails. The optional include parameter adds related (related videos) and details (duration, category, tags, and caption-track inventory with availability flags). Where data is unavailable, the response says so instead of guessing.

Upgraded endpoints

/search now returns videos, channels, playlists, or movies (type), and accepts sort (relevance or views), upload_date windows (hour, today, week, month, year), duration buckets (short, medium, long), and feature filters such as 4k, live, hd, and subtitles on the first page.

/channel/videos now takes tab: videos (the uploads feed), shorts, or streams for live. Repeat the same tab when you paginate.

MCP: 7 tools become 12

Five tools are new: get_channel_info, list_channel_playlists, list_channel_posts, get_channel_sections, and get_video_metadata. Two are upgraded: search_youtube carries the new search filters, and list_channel_videos takes the tab parameter. Your assistant can now walk a channel the way a person would: profile first, then sections, playlists, posts, and videos, shorts and streams included.

Costs, in one place

Charging is unchanged: 1 credit per successful call, never for failures or 404s, and every response states what it cost in the X-Credits-Charged header. The new metadata endpoints (/channel/info, /channel/sections, /video/info) are 1 credit per request. The list endpoints (/channel/playlists, /channel/posts) are 1 credit per page. The free endpoints stay free: /channel/latest, /channel/resolve, and /info still require a key with an active plan but charge nothing, and on MCP get_youtube_video_info and get_channel_latest_videos remain free.

Start here

Resolve any channel reference with /channel/resolve (free), pull its profile with /channel/info, then take your pick of playlists, posts, sections, or the tabbed video feeds. Full parameter reference is in the API docs.