@rmdes/indiekit-endpoint-youtube

YouTube channel endpoint for Indiekit.

Display latest videos and live streaming status from any YouTube channel (or multiple channels) on your IndieWeb site.

Installation

Install from npm:

npm install @rmdes/indiekit-endpoint-youtube

Features

• Single or Multi-Channel - Monitor one channel or aggregate multiple channels
• Admin Dashboard - Overview of channel(s) with latest videos in Indiekit's admin UI
• Live Status - Shows when channel is live streaming (with animated badge)
• Upcoming Streams - Display scheduled upcoming live streams
• Latest Videos - Grid of recent uploads with thumbnails, duration, view counts
• Public JSON API - For integration with static site generators like Eleventy
• Quota Efficient - Uses YouTube API efficiently (playlist method vs search)
• Smart Caching - Respects API rate limits while staying current

Configuration

Single Channel

Add to your indiekit.config.js:

import YouTubeEndpoint from "@rmdes/indiekit-endpoint-youtube";

export default {
  plugins: [
    new YouTubeEndpoint({
      mountPath: "/youtube",
      apiKey: process.env.YOUTUBE_API_KEY,
      channelId: process.env.YOUTUBE_CHANNEL_ID,
      // OR use channel handle instead:
      // channelHandle: "@YourChannel",
      cacheTtl: 300_000,      // 5 minutes
      liveCacheTtl: 60_000,   // 1 minute for live status
      limits: {
        videos: 10,
      },
    }),
  ],
};

Multiple Channels

Monitor multiple YouTube channels simultaneously:

import YouTubeEndpoint from "@rmdes/indiekit-endpoint-youtube";

export default {
  plugins: [
    new YouTubeEndpoint({
      mountPath: "/youtube",
      apiKey: process.env.YOUTUBE_API_KEY,
      channels: [
        { id: "UC...", name: "Main Channel" },
        { handle: "@SecondChannel", name: "Second Channel" },
        { id: "UC...", name: "Third Channel" },
      ],
      cacheTtl: 300_000,
      liveCacheTtl: 60_000,
      limits: {
        videos: 10,
      },
    }),
  ],
};

In multi-channel mode:

• Dashboard shows all channels with separate sections
• API endpoints aggregate data from all channels
• Videos are sorted by date across all channels
• Live status shows any channel that is currently live

Environment Variables

Variable	Required	Description
YOUTUBE_API_KEY	Yes	YouTube Data API v3 key
YOUTUBE_CHANNEL_ID	Yes*	Channel ID (starts with UC...)
YOUTUBE_CHANNEL_HANDLE	Yes*	Channel handle (e.g., @YourChannel)

*Either channelId or channelHandle is required for single-channel mode. In multi-channel mode, use the channels array instead.

Getting a YouTube API Key

1. Go to Google Cloud Console
2. Create a new project or select an existing one
3. Enable the "YouTube Data API v3"
4. Go to Credentials > Create Credentials > API Key
5. (Optional) Restrict the key to YouTube Data API only

Finding Your Channel ID

• Go to your YouTube channel
• The URL will be youtube.com/channel/UC... - the UC... part is your channel ID
• Or use a tool like Comment Picker

Routes

Admin Routes (require authentication)

Route	Description
GET /youtube/	Dashboard with channel info, live status, latest videos
POST /youtube/refresh	Clear cache and refresh data (returns JSON)

Public API Routes (JSON)

Route	Description
GET /youtube/api/videos	Latest videos (supports ?limit=N)
GET /youtube/api/channel	Channel information
GET /youtube/api/live	Live streaming status (efficient by default)
GET /youtube/api/live?full=true	Live status using search API (more accurate, costs more quota)

Example: Eleventy Integration

// _data/youtube.js
import EleventyFetch from "@11ty/eleventy-fetch";

export default async function() {
  const baseUrl = process.env.SITE_URL || "https://example.com";

  const [channel, videos, live] = await Promise.all([
    EleventyFetch(`${baseUrl}/youtube/api/channel`, { duration: "15m", type: "json" }),
    EleventyFetch(`${baseUrl}/youtube/api/videos?limit=6`, { duration: "5m", type: "json" }),
    EleventyFetch(`${baseUrl}/youtube/api/live`, { duration: "1m", type: "json" }),
  ]);

  return {
    channel: channel.channel,
    videos: videos.videos,
    isLive: live.isLive,
    liveStream: live.stream,
  };
}

API Response Examples

GET /youtube/api/live

Single channel:

{
  "isLive": true,
  "isUpcoming": false,
  "stream": {
    "videoId": "abc123",
    "title": "Live Stream Title",
    "thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/abc123/mqdefault.jpg",
    "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abc123"
  },
  "cached": true
}

Multi-channel:

{
  "isLive": true,
  "isUpcoming": false,
  "stream": {
    "videoId": "abc123",
    "title": "Live Stream Title"
  },
  "liveStatuses": [
    {
      "channelConfigName": "Main Channel",
      "isLive": true,
      "stream": { "videoId": "abc123" }
    },
    {
      "channelConfigName": "Second Channel",
      "isLive": false,
      "stream": null
    }
  ],
  "cached": true
}

GET /youtube/api/videos

Single channel:

{
  "videos": [
    {
      "id": "abc123",
      "title": "Video Title",
      "thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/abc123/mqdefault.jpg",
      "duration": 3661,
      "durationFormatted": "1:01:01",
      "viewCount": 12345,
      "publishedAt": "2024-01-15T10:00:00Z",
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abc123",
      "isLive": false
    }
  ],
  "count": 10,
  "cached": true
}

Multi-channel:

{
  "videos": [],
  "videosByChannel": {
    "Main Channel": [],
    "Second Channel": []
  },
  "count": 20,
  "cached": true
}

GET /youtube/api/channel

Single channel:

{
  "channel": {
    "id": "UC...",
    "title": "Channel Name",
    "description": "Channel description",
    "thumbnail": "https://...",
    "subscriberCount": 12345,
    "videoCount": 100,
    "viewCount": 999999
  },
  "cached": true
}

Multi-channel:

{
  "channels": [
    { "id": "UC...", "title": "Channel 1", "configName": "Main Channel" },
    { "id": "UC...", "title": "Channel 2", "configName": "Second Channel" }
  ],
  "channel": {},
  "cached": true
}

Options

Option	Default	Description
mountPath	/youtube	URL path for the endpoint
apiKey	-	YouTube Data API key
channelId	-	Channel ID (UC...) - single channel mode
channelHandle	-	Channel handle (@...) - single channel mode
channels	null	Array of channels for multi-channel mode
cacheTtl	300000	Cache TTL in ms (5 min)
liveCacheTtl	60000	Live status cache TTL in ms (1 min)
limits.videos	10	Number of videos to fetch per channel

Channels Array Format

For multi-channel mode, the channels option accepts an array of objects:

channels: [
  { id: "UC...", name: "Display Name" },          // Using channel ID
  { handle: "@username", name: "Display Name" },  // Using handle
  { id: "UC..." }                                  // Name defaults to channel title
]

Either id or handle is required. The name field is optional and used for display purposes.

YouTube Likes Sync

Sync your YouTube liked videos as "like" posts on your IndieWeb blog. Only new likes (added after connecting) produce posts — existing likes are baselined without generating any content.

How it works

First sync after connecting:
  YouTube API → fetch all liked video IDs → store in youtubeLikesSeen collection
  (no posts created — baseline snapshot only)

Every subsequent sync (hourly background + manual trigger):
  YouTube API → fetch liked videos → compare against youtubeLikesSeen
    ↓ new like found (not in seen set)
  Insert into youtubeLikesSeen + create "like" post in posts collection
    ↓ already seen
  Skip

The baseline prevents mass post creation when you connect an account with hundreds of existing likes.

Setup

1. Go to Google Cloud Console
2. Create an OAuth 2.0 Client ID (Application type: Web application)
3. Add an authorized redirect URI: https://yourdomain.com/youtube/likes/callback
4. Make sure YouTube Data API v3 is enabled for the project
5. Set the environment variables:

Variable	Required	Description
YOUTUBE_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID	Yes	OAuth 2.0 client ID
YOUTUBE_OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET	Yes	OAuth 2.0 client secret

6. Add the OAuth config to your Indiekit configuration:

"@rmdes/indiekit-endpoint-youtube": {
  mountPath: "/youtube",
  apiKey: process.env.YOUTUBE_API_KEY,
  channelId: process.env.YOUTUBE_CHANNEL_ID,
  oauth: {
    clientId: process.env.YOUTUBE_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID,
    clientSecret: process.env.YOUTUBE_OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET,
  },
  likes: {
    syncInterval: 3_600_000,  // 1 hour (default)
    maxPages: 3,              // 50 likes per page, up to 150 per sync
    autoSync: true,           // enable background sync
  },
},

7. Visit /youtube/likes in the Indiekit admin panel and click Connect YouTube Account
8. Authorize access — your refresh token is stored in MongoDB and persists across restarts

Brand Account caveat: If your YouTube channel runs under a Brand Account, you must select that account (not your personal Google account) during the OAuth consent screen. The myRating=like API only returns likes for the authenticated account. Selecting the wrong account results in an "account is closed" error.

Likes Options

Option	Default	Description
oauth.clientId	-	Google OAuth 2.0 client ID
oauth.clientSecret	-	Google OAuth 2.0 client secret
likes.syncInterval	3600000	Background sync interval in ms (1 hour)
likes.maxPages	3	Max pages per sync (50 likes/page)
likes.autoSync	true	Enable background periodic sync

Admin Dashboard (/youtube/likes)

The likes page in the Indiekit admin panel provides a full overview:

Connection section

• Green "Connected" badge when authorized, with a Disconnect button
• "Not connected" badge when not authorized, with a description and Connect button that initiates the OAuth flow

Overview section (only when connected)

• Summary table showing: videos seen (baseline + subsequent), like posts created, baseline status and timestamp, last sync timestamp
• Sync result counts from the most recent run (new / skipped / total)

Sync section (only when connected)

• "Sync Now" button to trigger a manual sync. Redirects back to the dashboard with a flash message showing results.

Recent Likes section (only when connected)

• List of the 10 most recent like posts with YouTube thumbnail, video title (linked), channel name, and publication date
• "View All" link to the JSON API when more than 10 likes exist

Flash messages

• Query-param driven via Indiekit's notificationBanner: ?connected=1 (success), ?disconnected=1 (notice), ?synced=N&skipped=N (success), ?error=message (error)

Likes Routes

Admin Routes (require authentication)

Route	Method	Description
/youtube/likes	GET	Dashboard: connection status, overview stats, sync controls, recent likes
/youtube/likes/connect	GET	Redirects to Google OAuth consent screen
/youtube/likes/disconnect	POST	Deletes stored OAuth tokens, redirects to dashboard
/youtube/likes/sync	POST	Triggers manual sync, redirects to dashboard with results

Public Routes

Route	Method	Description
/youtube/likes/callback	GET	OAuth callback — Google redirects here after authorization
/youtube/api/likes	GET	JSON API for synced likes (?limit=N&offset=N, max 100)

MongoDB Collections

Collection	Purpose
youtubeMeta	OAuth tokens (key: "oauth_tokens"), sync status (key: "likes_sync"), baseline flag (key: "likes_baseline")
youtubeLikesSeen	Set of all video IDs ever seen (indexed on videoId, unique). Prevents duplicate posts and ensures only new likes after baseline produce posts.

Likes API Response

GET /youtube/api/likes

{
  "likes": [
    {
      "post-type": "like",
      "like-of": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abc123",
      "name": "Liked \"Video Title\" by Channel Name",
      "published": "2024-01-15T10:00:00Z",
      "url": "https://yourdomain.com/likes/yt-like-abc123/",
      "youtube-video-id": "abc123",
      "youtube-channel": "Channel Name",
      "youtube-thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/abc123/mqdefault.jpg"
    }
  ],
  "count": 20,
  "total": 142,
  "offset": 0
}

Likes Quota Usage

Fetching liked videos uses videos.list with myRating=like — 1 quota unit per page (50 videos). With default settings (3 pages per sync, hourly), that's ~72 units/day.

Eleventy Integration for Likes

// _data/youtubeLikes.js
import EleventyFetch from "@11ty/eleventy-fetch";

export default async function() {
  const baseUrl = process.env.SITE_URL || "https://example.com";
  const data = await EleventyFetch(
    `${baseUrl}/youtube/api/likes?limit=50`,
    { duration: "15m", type: "json" }
  );
  return data.likes;
}

Troubleshooting

"The YouTube account of the authenticated user is closed" You authorized the wrong Google account. Your liked videos live on a Brand Account, but OAuth used your personal account. Disconnect (POST /youtube/likes/disconnect), reconnect, and pick the correct account.

First sync created zero posts This is expected. The first sync snapshots existing likes as baseline. Posts are only created for likes added after that point.

Want to reset the baseline? Delete the likes_baseline document from youtubeMeta and all documents from youtubeLikesSeen. The next sync will re-baseline.

Quota Efficiency

YouTube Data API has a daily quota (10,000 units by default). This plugin is optimized:

Operation	Quota Cost	Method
Get videos	2 units	Uses uploads playlist (not search)
Get channel	1 unit	Cached for 24 hours
Check live status (efficient)	2 units	Checks recent videos
Check live status (full)	100 units	Only when explicitly requested

Single channel: With default settings (5-min cache), ~600 units/day.

Multi-channel: Quota usage scales linearly. 3 channels = ~1,800 units/day.

Requirements

• Indiekit >= 1.0.0-beta.25
• YouTube Data API v3 enabled
• Valid API key with YouTube Data API access
• Node.js >= 20

License

MIT