YouTube

YouTube handles both traditional long-form videos and Shorts (vertical video). The API comes with legal requirements you can't ignore.

Supported Content Types

Videos: long-form content. 1 video, up to 4 hours. Max 5 GB.
Shorts: vertical/square video, max 3 minutes. YouTube auto-detects based on duration and aspect ratio.

Quirks & Gotchas

"Made for Kids" (COPPA)

This is not just a quirk, it's a legal requirement.

You must flag content as madeForKids: true if it targets children.
Failure to do so can result in penalties — real ones, from the FTC.
We expose this field in the data.YOUTUBE object. Use it. Don't skip it. Don't "figure it out later".

Shorts Detection

There is no special "upload as Short" button. YouTube decides for you based on the file:

Duration: under 3 minutes (180 seconds).
Aspect Ratio: vertical (9:16) or square (1:1). Technically 1:3 to 1:1.

If your video meets these criteria, it becomes a Short. If it doesn't, it's a regular video.

YouTube Title is Required

Unlike most platforms where you just need text, YouTube treats data.YOUTUBE.text as the video title. If you leave it empty, YouTube can reject the upload.

Text & Field Limits

Field	Limit
`text` (video title)	Max 100 characters
`description`	Max 5,000 characters

Post Options

Send YouTube-specific options inside data.YOUTUBE.

Field	Type	Description
`type`	`enum`	`VIDEO` or `SHORT`. Default: `SHORT`.
`uploadIds`	`string[]`	Required. One uploaded video.
`text`	`string`	Video title. Max 100 characters.
`description`	`string`	Video description. Max 5,000 characters.
`thumbnail`	`string`	Optional thumbnail image URL uploaded through Bulkit.
`privacy`	`enum`	`PRIVATE`, `PUBLIC`, or `UNLISTED`. Default sent to YouTube is public if omitted.
`madeForKids`	`boolean`	Required by YouTube policy. Set `true` when the video is made for children.
`containsSyntheticMedia`	`boolean`	Set `true` when the video contains AI-generated or synthetic content.
`hasPaidProductPlacement`	`boolean`	Set `true` when the video contains paid product placement.

{
  "teamId": "team_123",
  "title": "YouTube launch video",
  "status": "SCHEDULED",
  "postDate": "2026-06-01T15:00:00.000Z",
  "socialAccountTypes": ["YOUTUBE"],
  "data": {
    "YOUTUBE": {
      "type": "VIDEO",
      "uploadIds": ["upload_video_123"],
      "text": "Product launch walkthrough",
      "description": "A full walkthrough of the new release.",
      "privacy": "PUBLIC",
      "madeForKids": false,
      "containsSyntheticMedia": false,
      "hasPaidProductPlacement": false
    }
  }
}

Analytics

YouTube analytics are all lifetime values. There is no rolling window — everything is cumulative from day one.

Profile (Channel) Analytics

Period: Lifetime.

Metric	Description	Note
`impressions`	Total channel views
`impressionsUnique`	—	Same as impressions (YouTube doesn't distinguish)
`views`	Total channel views	Same as impressions
`viewsUnique`	—	Same as views
`likes`	—	Returns `0` (not available at channel level)
`comments`	Total comments	Across all videos
`postCount`	Total videos
`followers`	Subscribers
`following`	—	Returns `0` (not applicable to channels)

Post (Video) Analytics

Period: Lifetime.

Metric	Description	Note
`impressions`	Video views
`impressionsUnique`	—	Same as impressions (YouTube doesn't distinguish)
`views`	Video views	Same as impressions
`viewsUnique`	—	Same as views
`likes`	Likes
`dislikes`	Dislikes	Available via API even though YouTube hides them on the UI
`comments`	Comments
`shares`	—	Returns `0` (not provided by YouTube API)
`saves`	Favorites

Quirks

YouTube doesn't distinguish between impressions and unique impressions at any level.
Dislikes are available through the API (though YouTube no longer shows dislike counts publicly). Handy if you want to know the truth.
Channel-level likes are not available. Post shares are not available. YouTube gives us a lot, but not everything.

Raw Analytics — Demographics & Audience Data

YouTube raw analytics include demographics data when enabled for your organization. We query the YouTube Analytics API for each video and return age/gender breakdowns and country-level view counts.

{
  "video": {
    "id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "snippet": {
      "title": "My Video",
      "publishedAt": "2026-01-15T10:00:00Z"
    },
    "statistics": {
      "viewCount": "125000",
      "likeCount": "8900",
      "commentCount": "342"
    }
  },
  "demographics": {
    "ageGender": {
      "columnHeaders": [
        { "name": "ageGroup", "columnType": "DIMENSION" },
        { "name": "gender", "columnType": "DIMENSION" },
        { "name": "viewerPercentage", "columnType": "METRIC" }
      ],
      "rows": [
        ["age18-24", "female", 12.3],
        ["age18-24", "male", 18.7],
        ["age25-34", "female", 14.1],
        ["age25-34", "male", 22.4],
        ["age35-44", "female", 8.2],
        ["age35-44", "male", 11.5]
      ]
    },
    "country": {
      "columnHeaders": [
        { "name": "country", "columnType": "DIMENSION" },
        { "name": "views", "columnType": "METRIC" }
      ],
      "rows": [
        ["US", 45200],
        ["GB", 12800],
        ["DE", 8900],
        ["BR", 7200]
      ]
    }
  }
}

Empty demographics data is normal. YouTube has undocumented thresholds for when demographics become available. Unlike Instagram (~1,000 followers), nobody knows YouTube's minimum. If demographics comes back empty or null for your videos, it likely means the account or video hasn't hit the threshold yet.

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