YouTube

Upload videos to YouTube programmatically using the PostPost REST API. A simpler alternative to the official YouTube Data API, YouTube API client libraries, or Google APIs.

YouTube API Overview

PostPost provides a unified REST API for uploading and publishing videos to YouTube with configurable privacy settings (public, unlisted, private) and metadata (title, description). No need to manage Google OAuth flows, handle resumable uploads, or navigate YouTube API quotas.

Why Use PostPost Instead of YouTube Data API?

Feature	PostPost API	YouTube Data API
Authentication	Single API key	Complex Google OAuth 2.0
Video upload	Simple REST endpoint	Resumable upload protocol
Quota management	Handled automatically	Manual quota tracking
Multi-platform	Post to 11 platforms	YouTube only
Setup time	5 minutes	Hours (Google Cloud setup)
Privacy controls	Full support	Full support

Keywords: YouTube API, YouTube upload video API, YouTube Data API, upload to YouTube programmatically, YouTube video upload API, YouTube posting API, YouTube REST API, YouTube developer API, YouTube automation API, publish video YouTube API, YouTube content API

Platform ID Format

youtube-{channelId}

Where {channelId} is your YouTube channel ID assigned during account connection via Google OAuth.

Requirements

A YouTube channel connected via Google OAuth through the PostPost dashboard
API key from PostPost
Video content is required (YouTube is a video platform)

Refresh token lifespan: When the OAuth provider does not specify an expiry, PostPost defaults the refresh token lifespan to approximately 182 days (~6 months), calculated as 365/2 days in the code. After that period, the user will need to re-authenticate via the PostPost dashboard to reconnect their YouTube channel.

Supported Content

Type	Supported	Limits
Text only	No	YouTube requires a video
Images	No	Not supported as standalone posts
Videos	Yes	MP4, MOV, AVI, WebM formats, single video only

Important: YouTube posts through PostPost support only a single video per post. If you attempt to attach multiple videos, the API will reject the request. To publish multiple videos, create separate posts for each.

Platform-Specific Settings

YouTube supports a platformSettings object to control video privacy and title:

{
  "platformSettings": {
    "youtube": {
      "privacy": "public",
      "title": "My Video Title"
    }
  }
}

Setting	Values	Default	Description
`privacy`	`"private"`, `"public"`, `"unlisted"`	`"public"`	Video visibility on YouTube
`title`	string	`""` (empty string)	Title displayed on the video page. The publisher service may derive a title from the first 70 characters of the post content at publish time, but the API stores an empty string by default at post creation.

Note: If no title is specified, the API defaults the title to an empty string "" at post creation. The publisher service may derive a title from the first 70 characters of the post content at publish time. To set a custom title, pass it explicitly via platformSettings in the create-post request body. The API merges user-provided settings with defaults per platform.

Privacy Settings

Value	Description
`private`	Only you can view the video
`public`	Anyone can search for and view the video
`unlisted`	Anyone with the link can view, but it will not appear in search results

Title Behavior

If you do not specify a title in the platform settings, the API defaults the title to an empty string "" at post creation. The publisher service may derive a title from the first 70 characters of the post content at publish time. The full content is used as the video description. Pass platformSettings directly in the create-post request body. The API merges user-provided settings with defaults per platform.

Examples

Upload a Public Video

JavaScript (fetch)

const response = await fetch('https://api.postpost.dev/api/v1/create-post', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    'x-api-key': 'YOUR_API_KEY'
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    content: 'How to Build a REST API in 10 Minutes - A complete tutorial covering Express.js setup, routing, middleware, error handling, and deployment to production. Perfect for beginners who want to get started with backend development.',
    platforms: ['youtube-UCxxxxxxxx'],
    platformSettings: {
      youtube: {
        privacy: 'public',
        title: 'How to Build a REST API in 10 Minutes'
      }
    }
  })
});

const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);
// Response: { "success": true, "postGroupId": "abc123..." }

Python (requests)

import requests

response = requests.post(
    'https://api.postpost.dev/api/v1/create-post',
    headers={
        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
        'x-api-key': 'YOUR_API_KEY'
    },
    json={
        'content': 'How to Build a REST API in 10 Minutes - A complete tutorial covering Express.js setup, routing, middleware, error handling, and deployment to production. Perfect for beginners who want to get started with backend development.',
        'platforms': ['youtube-UCxxxxxxxx'],
        'platformSettings': {
            'youtube': {
                'privacy': 'public',
                'title': 'How to Build a REST API in 10 Minutes'
            }
        }
    }
)

data = response.json()
print(data)
# Response: { "success": true, "postGroupId": "abc123..." }

cURL

curl -X POST https://api.postpost.dev/api/v1/create-post \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "content": "How to Build a REST API in 10 Minutes - A complete tutorial covering Express.js setup, routing, middleware, error handling, and deployment to production. Perfect for beginners who want to get started with backend development.",
    "platforms": ["youtube-UCxxxxxxxx"],
    "platformSettings": {
      "youtube": {
        "privacy": "public",
        "title": "How to Build a REST API in 10 Minutes"
      }
    }
  }'
# Response: { "success": true, "postGroupId": "abc123..." }

Node.js (axios)

const axios = require('axios');

const response = await axios.post('https://api.postpost.dev/api/v1/create-post', {
  content: 'How to Build a REST API in 10 Minutes - A complete tutorial covering Express.js setup, routing, middleware, error handling, and deployment to production. Perfect for beginners who want to get started with backend development.',
  platforms: ['youtube-UCxxxxxxxx'],
  platformSettings: {
    youtube: {
      privacy: 'public',
      title: 'How to Build a REST API in 10 Minutes'
    }
  }
}, {
  headers: {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    'x-api-key': 'YOUR_API_KEY'
  }
});

console.log(response.data);
// Response: { "success": true, "postGroupId": "abc123..." }

Note: YouTube requires a video. First create the post, then upload the video using the media upload workflow with the returned postGroupId.

Upload an Unlisted Video

JavaScript (fetch)

const response = await fetch('https://api.postpost.dev/api/v1/create-post', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    'x-api-key': 'YOUR_API_KEY'
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    content: 'Internal demo recording for the team. This video covers the new dashboard features and upcoming roadmap items. Please do not share this link externally.',
    platforms: ['youtube-UCxxxxxxxx'],
    platformSettings: {
      youtube: {
        privacy: 'unlisted',
        title: 'Internal Demo - Q1 Dashboard Features'
      }
    }
  })
});

const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);
// Response: { "success": true, "postGroupId": "abc123..." }

Python (requests)

import requests

response = requests.post(
    'https://api.postpost.dev/api/v1/create-post',
    headers={
        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
        'x-api-key': 'YOUR_API_KEY'
    },
    json={
        'content': 'Internal demo recording for the team. This video covers the new dashboard features and upcoming roadmap items. Please do not share this link externally.',
        'platforms': ['youtube-UCxxxxxxxx'],
        'platformSettings': {
            'youtube': {
                'privacy': 'unlisted',
                'title': 'Internal Demo - Q1 Dashboard Features'
            }
        }
    }
)

data = response.json()
print(data)
# Response: { "success": true, "postGroupId": "abc123..." }

cURL

curl -X POST https://api.postpost.dev/api/v1/create-post \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "content": "Internal demo recording for the team. This video covers the new dashboard features and upcoming roadmap items. Please do not share this link externally.",
    "platforms": ["youtube-UCxxxxxxxx"],
    "platformSettings": {
      "youtube": {
        "privacy": "unlisted",
        "title": "Internal Demo - Q1 Dashboard Features"
      }
    }
  }'
# Response: { "success": true, "postGroupId": "abc123..." }

Node.js (axios)

const axios = require('axios');

const response = await axios.post('https://api.postpost.dev/api/v1/create-post', {
  content: 'Internal demo recording for the team. This video covers the new dashboard features and upcoming roadmap items. Please do not share this link externally.',
  platforms: ['youtube-UCxxxxxxxx'],
  platformSettings: {
    youtube: {
      privacy: 'unlisted',
      title: 'Internal Demo - Q1 Dashboard Features'
    }
  }
}, {
  headers: {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    'x-api-key': 'YOUR_API_KEY'
  }
});

console.log(response.data);
// Response: { "success": true, "postGroupId": "abc123..." }

Upload with Auto-Generated Title

If you omit the title setting, the API defaults the title to an empty string "" at post creation. The publisher service may derive a title from the first 70 characters of the post content at publish time. To set a custom title, include it in platformSettings when calling create-post.

JavaScript (fetch)

const response = await fetch('https://api.postpost.dev/api/v1/create-post', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    'x-api-key': 'YOUR_API_KEY'
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    content: 'Weekly Vlog: What I learned shipping 3 features in 5 days. This week was intense but incredibly productive. We managed to ship the new analytics dashboard, the team collaboration feature, and a complete redesign of the onboarding flow.',
    platforms: ['youtube-UCxxxxxxxx']
  })
});

const data = await response.json();
// Note: title defaults to an empty string at post creation — the publisher service may derive one from content at publish time. Include platformSettings.youtube.title to set a custom one
// Description will be the full content
console.log(data);
// Response: { "success": true, "postGroupId": "abc123..." }

Python (requests)

import requests

response = requests.post(
    'https://api.postpost.dev/api/v1/create-post',
    headers={
        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
        'x-api-key': 'YOUR_API_KEY'
    },
    json={
        'content': 'Weekly Vlog: What I learned shipping 3 features in 5 days. This week was intense but incredibly productive. We managed to ship the new analytics dashboard, the team collaboration feature, and a complete redesign of the onboarding flow.',
        'platforms': ['youtube-UCxxxxxxxx']
    }
)

data = response.json()
# Note: title defaults to an empty string at post creation — the publisher service may derive one from content at publish time. Include platformSettings.youtube.title to set a custom one
print(data)
# Response: { "success": true, "postGroupId": "abc123..." }

cURL

curl -X POST https://api.postpost.dev/api/v1/create-post \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "content": "Weekly Vlog: What I learned shipping 3 features in 5 days. This week was intense but incredibly productive. We managed to ship the new analytics dashboard, the team collaboration feature, and a complete redesign of the onboarding flow.",
    "platforms": ["youtube-UCxxxxxxxx"]
  }'
# Response: { "success": true, "postGroupId": "abc123..." }

Node.js (axios)

const axios = require('axios');

const response = await axios.post('https://api.postpost.dev/api/v1/create-post', {
  content: 'Weekly Vlog: What I learned shipping 3 features in 5 days. This week was intense but incredibly productive. We managed to ship the new analytics dashboard, the team collaboration feature, and a complete redesign of the onboarding flow.',
  platforms: ['youtube-UCxxxxxxxx']
}, {
  headers: {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    'x-api-key': 'YOUR_API_KEY'
  }
});

// Note: title defaults to an empty string at post creation — the publisher service may derive one from content at publish time. Include platformSettings.youtube.title to set a custom one
console.log(response.data);
// Response: { "success": true, "postGroupId": "abc123..." }

Platform Quirks

Video only: YouTube does not support text-only or image-only posts through the API. A video file must always be included.
MP4, MOV, AVI, WebM supported: PostPost validates video format server-side using the platform limits configuration (postValidationService.js calls isVideoFormatSupported(platform, mimeType) for all platforms including YouTube). YouTube accepts MP4, MOV, AVI, and WebM formats. If you upload an unsupported format, PostPost will reject it before it reaches the YouTube API.
Single video only: PostPost supports uploading one video per post. If you attempt to attach multiple videos, the API will reject the request with an error.
Default title is empty string: When no title is specified in platform settings, the API defaults the title to an empty string "" at post creation. The publisher service may derive a title from the first 70 characters of the post content at publish time. It is recommended to explicitly set the title via platformSettings in the create-post request for best results.
Content becomes description: The full content text is used as the YouTube video description, while the title (or auto-generated title) is used as the video title.
Processing time: After upload, YouTube processes the video before it becomes available. This can take from a few seconds to several minutes depending on video length and resolution.
Daily upload quota: YouTube enforces daily upload quotas. If you hit the quota, PostPost will return the error from the YouTube API.
Privacy changes: You can upload as private or unlisted first, then manually change the privacy to public later through YouTube Studio.

API Limits

Text Limits

Element	Limit
Video title	100 characters
Video description	1,000 characters (frontend validation only; YouTube allows up to 5,000)
Default title	Empty string `""` at post creation (the publisher service may derive a title from the first 70 characters of post content at publish time)
Visible description	First 150 characters (shown before "Show more")

Media Limits

Media Type	Max Size	Max Duration	Supported Formats
Videos	512 MB (PostPost server limit; YouTube natively allows up to 256 GB)	12 hours	MP4, MOV, AVI, WebM
Images	Not supported	-	-

Additional Notes

YouTube is a video-only platform; images cannot be posted as standalone content
The first 150 characters of the description are visible without clicking "Show more"
Video processing time varies based on length and resolution
YouTube natively allows videos up to 256 GB and 12 hours. However, PostPost's upload endpoint enforces a server-side limit of 512 MB (via multer configuration). Videos exceeding 512 MB will be rejected by PostPost before reaching YouTube.
PostPost enforces a 1,000-character limit on video descriptions via frontend validation only. The API itself does not enforce this limit, so API users can send up to YouTube's native 5,000-character limit.

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