How do I upload videos to YouTube with an API?

Send a multipart/form-data request to Upload-Post's POST https://api.upload-post.com/api/upload with the video file (or URL), a title (required for YouTube), user and platform[]=youtube. Upload-Post ships its own dedicated YouTube API quota, so you don't need a Google Cloud project, YouTube Data API keys or a quota-increase request. You just connect the YouTube channel once via Google OAuth in the dashboard.

Steps

1. Create an account at upload-post.com and generate an API key under API Keys (Authentication).
2. Connect the YouTube channel at Manage Users via Google OAuth (or a white-label JWT link for your users).
3. Upload:

cURL

curl \
  -H 'Authorization: Apikey your-api-key-here' \
  -F 'video=@/path/to/your/video.mp4' \
  -F 'title="Your Video Title"' \
  -F 'description="Your video description"' \
  -F 'user="test"' \
  -F 'platform[]=youtube' \
  -F 'tags[]=tutorial' \
  -F 'tags[]=howto' \
  -X POST https://api.upload-post.com/api/upload

Python

import requests

response = requests.post(
    "https://api.upload-post.com/api/upload",
    headers={"Authorization": "Apikey your-api-key-here"},
    files={"video": open("/path/to/your/video.mp4", "rb")},
    data=[
        ("title", "Your Video Title"),
        ("description", "Your video description"),
        ("user", "test"),
        ("platform[]", "youtube"),
        ("tags[]", "tutorial"),
        ("tags[]", "howto"),
    ],
)
print(response.json())

JavaScript

import fs from "node:fs";

const form = new FormData();
form.append("video", new Blob([fs.readFileSync("/path/to/your/video.mp4")]), "video.mp4");
form.append("title", "Your Video Title");
form.append("description", "Your video description");
form.append("user", "test");
form.append("platform[]", "youtube");
form.append("tags[]", "tutorial");
form.append("tags[]", "howto");

const response = await fetch("https://api.upload-post.com/api/upload", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: { Authorization: "Apikey your-api-key-here" },
  body: form,
});
console.log(await response.json());

YouTube Shorts

There is no separate Shorts endpoint: YouTube automatically classifies a video as a Short when it is 60 seconds or less and vertical (9:16) or square (1:1). Upload it exactly like any other video.

Useful YouTube parameters

Full list in the Upload Video reference:

Parameter	What it does	Default
youtube_title / youtube_description	YouTube-specific title/description (fall back to title)	title
tags[]	Video tags	[]
categoryId	YouTube category	"22"
privacyStatus	public, unlisted or private	public
thumbnail / thumbnail_url	Custom thumbnail (file or URL, ≤ 2 MB; not supported for Shorts)	none
youtube_playlist_id	Playlist ID(s) to add the video to after publishing (comma-separated)	none
youtube_subtitle_file_{N} + youtube_subtitle_language_{N}	Subtitle tracks (SRT/VTT/…)	none
containsSyntheticMedia	Declare AI-generated content	false
selfDeclaredMadeForKids	COPPA declaration	false
scheduled_date	ISO-8601 date to schedule the post	none

Limits and gotchas

• title is required for YouTube uploads.
• Daily cap: YouTube videos are capped per connected channel per rolling 24 h; see upload limits.
• Big files: use async_upload=true and poll Upload Status; synchronous requests fall back to background after 59 s.
• Quota: you no longer need your own Google Cloud quota (background here).
• Formats: see Video Requirements.