YouTube Automation Agent

What's New in v2.1

• Real AI generation wired in — the Content Strategy, Script Writer, and SEO agents now call your configured AI provider (OpenAI, OpenRouter, Kimi, MiMo, GLM, or Gemini) for topics, scripts, titles, descriptions, and tags. If no provider key is set, they fall back to the built-in templates so the pipeline still runs.
• API protection — set API_KEY in .env and the mutating endpoints (POST /generate, POST /publish/:id) require a matching x-api-key header. Request bodies are validated and size-limited.
• Safer publishing — default privacy is now private (set DEFAULTPRIVACYSTATUS=public to opt in), and the uploader streams the real video file — it refuses to upload placeholder assets from simulated runs.
• Startup and scheduler fixes — added the missing sharp dependency (the app previously crashed on boot), created the missing automation_events table (every scheduled task previously threw on logging), fixed the double-insert in the content pipeline, and fixed the publish-queue removal.
• No more fabricated statistics — template scripts no longer invent numbers like "90% of people…".
• Cleaner repo — removed two dead OAuth flows (authenticate.js, simple-auth.js used Google's long-deprecated OOB flow), dead dependencies (cron, jimp), broken npm scripts, and committed build artifacts. Added ESLint (npm run lint) and GitHub Actions CI.

What's New in v2.0

• Model upgrades across the board — GPT-5.5 / GPT-5.5 Instant replace GPT-4-turbo, GPT Image 2 replaces DALL-E 3, Gemini 3.5 Flash/Pro replace Gemini 1.x, ElevenLabs Eleven v3 replaces v1, Wan 2.7 replaces Stable Video Diffusion
• OpenAI SDK v6 — upgraded from v4, along with @google/genai v2.9, replicate v1.4, googleapis v173
• Revamped setup wizard — new TTS service picker (OpenAI TTS / ElevenLabs / Azure), ElevenLabs credential setup, updated model selection menus
• Fixed deprecated API patterns — OpenAI v3 SDK calls in credential testing replaced with v4+ patterns
• Dynamic year in content strategy — no more hardcoded "2025" in trend analysis prompts
• README rewrite — developer-focused docs with Mermaid architecture diagrams, no fluff

Fully automated YouTube channel management system. AI agents handle content strategy, scriptwriting, thumbnail generation, SEO, publishing, and analytics — end to end, on a daily schedule.

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@darkzOGx. Solo builder shipping AI automation and developer tools.

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Architecture

graph TD
    A[Content Strategy Agent] --> B[Script Writer Agent]
    B --> C[Thumbnail Designer Agent]
    B --> D[SEO Optimizer Agent]
    C --> E[Production Management Agent]
    D --> E
    E --> F[Publishing & Scheduling Agent]
    F --> G[Analytics & Optimization Agent]
    G -->|feedback loop| A

How It Works

Each agent handles one stage of the pipeline:

| Agent | Role | |-------|------| | Content Strategy | Analyzes YouTube trends, identifies topics, plans content calendar | | Script Writer | Generates scripts with hooks, storytelling, CTAs | | Thumbnail Designer | Creates thumbnails, runs A/B variations | | SEO Optimizer | Keywords, titles, descriptions, tags | | Production | Coordinates TTS audio, image assets, video assembly | | Publishing | Uploads, schedules, manages playlists | | Analytics | Tracks performance, feeds insights back to strategy |

AI Providers

All OpenAI-compatible providers work out of the box — the system auto-configures the SDK base URL. Pick one, or use OpenRouter to access everything through a single key.

graph LR
    subgraph Direct
        OA[OpenAI<br/>GPT-5.5]
        GM[Gemini<br/>3.5 Flash/Pro]
        KM[Kimi<br/>K2.6]
        MM[MiMo<br/>V2.5 Pro]
        GL[GLM<br/>GLM-5]
    end
    subgraph Router
        OR[OpenRouter<br/>300+ models]
    end
    Direct --> YAA[YouTube Automation Agent]
    Router --> YAA

| Provider | Models | Base URL | Cost | |----------|--------|----------|------| | OpenAI | GPT-5.5, GPT-5.5 Instant | api.openai.com/v1 | ~$0.05–0.20/video | | OpenRouter | 300+ (GPT, Claude, Gemini, Kimi, GLM, etc.) | openrouter.ai/api/v1 | varies by model | | Google Gemini | Gemini 3.5 Flash, 3.5 Pro | via @google/genai SDK | free tier available | | Kimi (Moonshot AI) | Kimi K2.6, K2.5 | api.moonshot.ai/v1 | ~80% cheaper than GPT-5.5 | | MiMo (Xiaomi) | MiMo V2.5 Pro, V2.5 | api.xiaomimimo.com/v1 | competitive | | GLM (Zhipu AI) | GLM-5, GLM-5.1 | api.z.ai/api/paas/v4/ | ~$1/M input tokens |

Additional integrations: Anthropic Claude (claude-opus-4-8), ElevenLabs (Eleven v3 TTS), Replicate (Wan 2.7 video), local models via Ollama, any OpenAI-compatible endpoint.

Quick Start

git clone https://github.com/darkzOGx/youtube-automation-agent.git
cd youtube-automation-agent
npm install
cp .env.example .env
cp config/credentials.example.json config/credentials.json
npm run setup   # interactive credential wizard
npm start

Dashboard runs at http://localhost:3456.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• FFmpeg on your PATH (used for video assembly and audio muxing)
• Google account (YouTube Data API — free)
• At least one AI provider key (OpenAI or Gemini) — without one, agents fall back to template-based generation

Configuration

API Keys

YouTube Data API (required, free)

• Create a project in Google Cloud Console
• Enable YouTube Data API v3
• Create an OAuth 2.0 client (Desktop app)
• Save the JSON as config/credentials.json

OpenAI

• Get a key from platform.openai.com
• Set OPENAIAPIKEY in .env

OpenRouter (easiest — one key, all models)

• Get a key from openrouter.ai/keys
• Set OPENROUTERAPIKEY in .env

Google Gemini

• Get a key from Google AI Studio
• Set GEMINIAPIKEY in .env

Kimi / MiMo / GLM

| Provider | Get key at | Env var | |----------|-----------|---------| | Kimi (Moonshot AI) | platform.kimi.ai | MOONSHOTAPI_KEY | | MiMo (Xiaomi) | mimo.mi.com | MIMOAPI_KEY | | GLM (Zhipu AI) | z.ai | GLMAPI_KEY |

Environment Variables

# AI provider — pick one (or use OpenRouter for access to all)
OPENAIAPIKEY=sk-...
OPENROUTERAPIKEY=sk-or-...
GEMINIAPIKEY=...
MOONSHOTAPIKEY=...
MIMOAPIKEY=...
GLMAPIKEY=...
Optional: premium TTS
ELEVENLABSAPIKEY=...
ELEVENLABSVOICEID=...
Optional: AI video generation
REPLICATEAPIKEY=...
App config
NODE_ENV=production
PORT=3456
CHANNEL_NAME=Your Channel Name
TARGET_AUDIENCE=Your target audience
YOUTUBE_REGION=US
DEFAULTPRIVACYSTATUS=private
Optional: protect mutating API routes (POST /generate, /publish)
API_KEY=some-long-random-string

Automation Schedule

gantt
    title Daily Pipeline
    dateFormat HH:mm
    axisFormat %H:%M
section Content     Generate content (strategy + script + thumbnail + SEO) :06:00, 2h
section Publishing     Process publishing queue :crit, 08:00, 14h
section Analytics     Collect analytics     :09:00, 1h     Run optimizations     :22:00, 1h

The scheduler runs automatically after npm start. Content generation at 06:00, publishing queue processed every 15 minutes, analytics at 09:00, optimization at 22:00. Weekly strategy reviews run on Sundays.

API

# health check
curl http://localhost:3456/health
generate a video on demand (send x-api-key if API_KEY is set in .env)
curl -X POST http://localhost:3456/generate \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "x-api-key: $API_KEY" \
  -d '{"topic": "Top 10 Life Hacks", "style": "list"}'
view schedule
curl http://localhost:3456/schedule
get analytics
curl http://localhost:3456/analytics
publish a specific content item
curl -X POST http://localhost:3456/publish/:contentId

Production Pipeline

flowchart LR
    subgraph TTS["Audio Generation"]
        direction TB
        EL[ElevenLabs v3] -.->|fallback| OA[OpenAI TTS]
        OA -.->|fallback| SIM1[Simulation]
    end
subgraph IMG["Image Generation"]         direction TB         GPT[GPT Image 2] -.->|fallback| SIM2[Simulation]     end
subgraph VID["Video Assembly"]         direction TB         WAN[Wan 2.7 I2V] -.->|fallback| PW[Playwright Slideshow]         PW -.->|fallback| SIM3[Simulation]     end
TTS --> MIX[FFmpeg Mux]     IMG --> VID     VID --> MIX     MIX --> OUT[Final Video]

Each stage has graceful fallbacks. If a paid API key isn't configured, the system simulates that step so the rest of the pipeline still runs.

Extending

Custom AI provider

// utils/ai-service.js
const Anthropic = require('@anthropic-ai/sdk');
class ClaudeAIService {   constructor(apiKey) {     this.client = new Anthropic({ apiKey });   }   async generateContent(prompt) {     const message = await this.client.messages.create({       model: 'claude-opus-4-8',       max_tokens: 1024,       messages: [{ role: 'user', content: prompt }]     });     return message.content[0].text;   } }

Custom content types

// agents/content-strategy-agent.js
const contentTypes = {
  'podcast': {
    duration: '10-15 minutes',
    style: 'conversational',
    thumbnail: 'podcast-style'
  },
};

Project Structure

youtube-automation-agent/
├── agents/          # one file per agent
├── config/          # credentials, example configs
├── database/        # SQLite schema and access layer
├── data/            # generated content and assets
├── schedules/       # cron-based automation
├── utils/           # AI service wrappers, logging, credential management
├── .github/         # CI workflow (lint + tests on every push/PR)
└── index.js         # Express server + agent initialization

Troubleshooting

| Problem | Fix | |---------|-----| | YouTube API quota exceeded | Check quotas in Google Cloud Console; reduce posting frequency | | Content generation failed | Verify API keys and credits; check logs/ | | Publishing failed | Re-authenticate YouTube OAuth tokens; check video format |

Enable debug logging:

NODEENV=development DEBUGMODE=true npm start

More Tools by darkzOGx

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• open-sales-researcher: autonomous B2B company research. Works with Claude Code, Cursor, Copilot.
• darkzseo: SEO tooling

Contributing

• Fork the repo
• Create a feature branch
• Make changes and add tests
• Submit a PR

git clone <your-fork>
cd youtube-automation-agent
npm install
npm run lint   # must pass — CI runs this on every PR
npm test

License

MIT — see LICENSE.

Acknowledgments

• OpenAI — GPT-5.5, GPT Image 2, GPT-4o-mini-tts
• OpenRouter — unified multi-model API
• Google — YouTube Data API, Gemini 3.5
• Moonshot AI — Kimi K2.6
• Xiaomi — MiMo V2.5
• Zhipu AI — GLM-5
• ElevenLabs — Eleven v3 TTS
• Replicate — Wan 2.7 video generation
• ConstructionBids.ai - AI scans every federal, state & local public works bid and matches you to contracts you'll win.

This tool is for legitimate content creation. Comply with YouTube's Terms of Service and Community Guidelines.