Why does YouTube need OAuth rather than a service account?

YouTube Analytics only authorises the channel owner, and Google provides no service-account path for it. You mint a refresh token consenting as the brand channel and paste it once.

Which scopes are required?

youtube.readonly and yt-analytics.readonly. The first covers channel, playlist, video and comment data; the second covers the analytics metrics.

Does this cover YouTube ads?

No. This is organic channel data. YouTube advertising is bought and reported through Google Ads, which Rig syncs separately.

Can I sync more than one channel?

Yes. Add a source per channel so each lands in its own dataset and stays comparable.

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YouTube integration for Rig

The easiest way to connect YouTube to Claude and other AI tools

YouTube is the video platform where brands publish channel content, and its Analytics API reports how that content performs for the channel owner.

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What Rig syncs from YouTube

Once connected, Rig models these objects so questions resolve to the right tables and joins:

Channel
Playlists
Videos
Comments
Daily channel metrics
Per-video metrics
Traffic sources
Demographics

How YouTube connects to Rig

YouTube Analytics only supports OAuth as the channel owner, with no service-account option, so you paste an OAuth client ID and secret plus a refresh token minted with the youtube.readonly and yt-analytics.readonly scopes, consenting as the brand channel. Rig then syncs channel, playlist, video and comment data alongside daily channel and per-video metrics, traffic sources and demographics.

See which videos earn attention over time

YouTube content has a long tail, and the studio view is weighted to the recent. Daily per-video metrics in the warehouse let you see which videos keep working months after publication, which is usually a different list from the ones that launched well.

Ask Rig

Which videos still drive views a year after publishing?
What is the typical view curve after publication by video type?
Which older videos deserve refreshing?

Read traffic sources properly

Where views come from decides what to do next: search, suggested, external or browse each imply a different strategy. Rig syncs traffic source breakdowns so those can be compared across videos and periods rather than checked one video at a time.

Ask Rig

Which videos get most of their views from YouTube search?
How much of our traffic is suggested video, and is it growing?
Which external sources send us the most viewers?

Line video up against the rest of marketing

YouTube usually reports in isolation. Once channel metrics sit beside site traffic and orders, you can look at whether publishing activity coincides with demand, and compare video against your other channels on the same terms.

Ask Rig

Do video publishing weeks show higher site traffic?
How does YouTube compare with our other channels on driving signups?
Which videos coincided with our strongest acquisition periods?

Ask your YouTube data in Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor

Rig serves your YouTube data to AI assistants over MCP. Once YouTube is synced into your warehouse, you can ask questions in plain English from the tool you already use, and every answer is backed by validated, governed SQL.

Frequently asked questions

Why does YouTube need OAuth rather than a service account?: YouTube Analytics only authorises the channel owner, and Google provides no service-account path for it. You mint a refresh token consenting as the brand channel and paste it once.
Which scopes are required?: youtube.readonly and yt-analytics.readonly. The first covers channel, playlist, video and comment data; the second covers the analytics metrics.
Does this cover YouTube ads?: No. This is organic channel data. YouTube advertising is bought and reported through Google Ads, which Rig syncs separately.
Can I sync more than one channel?: Yes. Add a source per channel so each lands in its own dataset and stays comparable.