How to upload a video to YouTube from Claude

The short answer

1. Add ReelGenie to Claude as a connector, or install the plugin in Claude Code, and sign in.
2. Connect your YouTube channel in ReelGenie.
3. Have a finished vertical MP4 ready. Claude doesn’t make video itself.
4. Save it to ReelGenie with the title and description, and watch the preview.
5. Choose visibility and “made for kids”, then approve the channel and time.
6. Check the result: published, or failed with YouTube’s reason.

Why Claude needs a connector

Claude works in a chat or a terminal. It can write the title and description and handle files, but it has no YouTube account, can’t sign in to Google and has no built-in way to send a video to YouTube. A connector gives Claude tools it can call. ReelGenie’s connector lets Claude save a finished video as a private post, list your connected channels and, once you approve, have ReelGenie upload the video through YouTube’s own upload API.

ReelGenie holds the Google sign-in, so Claude never sees your Google password. Working in the terminal? Claude Code uploads the file straight from disk. All the Claude setup options are on ReelGenie for Claude.

1. Connect Claude to ReelGenie

Create a free ReelGenie account first. In the Claude desktop or web app, open Settings → Connectors, choose Add custom connector and enter:

https://reelgenie.app/api/mcp/agent

Sign in on the ReelGenie page that opens and approve the permissions.

To upload images or video made in the chat, also open Settings → Capabilities, turn on Create and edit files and Use the internet while making files, add reelgenie.app under Allowed websites, then start a new chat. The Claude setup page has every step.

In Claude Code, install the ReelGenie plugin instead, as shown in the Claude Code guide.

Check that the ReelGenie connection works and list my workspaces and connected social accounts.

2. Connect your YouTube channel

Claude can’t sign in to Google for you. Open ReelGenie’s Accounts page, choose YouTube and sign in with the Google account that owns the channel.

This is an ordinary Google sign-in. You don’t create a Google Cloud project, an OAuth app or API keys, and you don’t write an upload script; ReelGenie uses its own YouTube connection.

3. Get the Short ready

YouTube treats a vertical or square video up to three minutes long as a Short. ReelGenie sends your MP4 as it is, so make it right before saving:

• Vertical 9:16, for example 1080 × 1920, or square.
• An MP4 file up to 500 MB.
• Made with your camera, an editor or a video tool you use. Claude can plan the script, the opening line and the title, but it doesn’t render video.

Uploading a regular, horizontal video instead? That works too: ReelGenie uploads the MP4 as it is, and YouTube decides whether it is a Short.

Write a YouTube Shorts title under 70 characters and a two-line description for this video about [topic], in my brand voice.

4. Get the finished file from Claude to ReelGenie

In Claude Code, Claude uploads the MP4 straight from your computer and ReelGenie checks it before the post is ready. In the Claude desktop or web app, Claude uploads it through reelgenie.app once that domain is allowed (step 1). If you cannot allow it, upload the video on ReelGenie’s Posts page, then ask Claude to find it and add the title and description.

If HeyGen, Canva or Higgsfield made the video, Claude can hand it over by its download link instead. ReelGenie downloads the video, checks it and saves a private post for review. Only those download links work; see which links ReelGenie accepts. Saving a post never uploads it to YouTube.

Save ~/Videos/short.mp4 as a private ReelGenie post with this title and description, then give me the review link. Don’t send anything yet.

Open the link and play the video in the phone frame. Edit the title or description in the conversation or in ReelGenie.

5. Review and choose visibility

Watch the post on the review link first: the phone preview plays the exact file YouTube will receive, with the title and description. Then choose the settings. Claude asks you, and never picks for you:

• Visibility: public, unlisted or private.
• Made for kids: yes, no, or your channel’s default if you leave it.

If no visibility is chosen, ReelGenie uploads the video as public, and the approval screen in ReelGenie starts on Public. Choose unlisted or private if you want to check it on YouTube before anyone else sees it.

6. Approve

Then tell Claude the channel and the time. It repeats them back before approval, so you approve every post before it goes live. You can also approve it yourself in ReelGenie. Nothing is uploaded before approval.

Upload this to my YouTube channel as public, not made for kids, on Saturday at 10:00 Sydney time. Confirm the details with me first.

Before approval, ReelGenie checks the delivery. It warns you if the Google sign-in won’t last until the scheduled time, or if YouTube’s daily upload allowance, or your team’s share of it, is already used up for that day.

7. Check it reached YouTube

Scheduled isn’t posted. The channel shows its own result:

• Scheduled: the upload is planned.
• Sending: ReelGenie is uploading the video to YouTube.
• Published: YouTube reports the video as uploaded with the visibility you chose.
• Failed: YouTube’s reason is shown in plain words. An upload limit is not retried automatically; the message says when to send again.

Each account has its own result. When the upload is published, ReelGenie’s post page shows a View live link to the video on YouTube, and Claude can read the same result and link. If ReelGenie didn’t get a clear answer from YouTube, the account shows Outcome unknown rather than Failed: check your channel before sending again, so you don’t upload the same video twice. More on this in why a scheduled post didn’t publish.

Did my Short upload to YouTube? Give me the result, or tell me why it failed.

After 24 hours Claude can read the Short’s views against your channel’s usual results. Read that as how this video did compared with your own recent ones, not as proof of growth.

What Claude can’t do here

• It doesn’t generate or edit video. Bring a finished MP4.
• It can’t sign in to your Google account or YouTube channel.
• It won’t upload anything you haven’t approved: the video, the channel, the visibility and the time.
• It can’t add videos to playlists yet.

The free plan covers 30 posts a month across your team, 1 brand and 3 connected accounts. A video sent to several accounts counts once. Solo is US$19/month for unlimited posts. Compare plans.

Questions about uploading from Claude

Can I upload regular YouTube videos, or only Shorts?

Both. ReelGenie uploads the MP4 you saved, up to 500 MB, as it is. YouTube decides what it is: a vertical or square video up to three minutes long becomes a Short, and other videos are regular uploads. ReelGenie doesn’t check the length or shape. YouTube’s own rules still apply, for example only verified accounts can upload videos longer than 15 minutes.

Is there a free plan?

Yes. ReelGenie’s free plan includes 30 posts a month, 1 brand and 3 connected accounts, with no time limit. A video sent to several accounts counts once. Your Claude plan is separate.

Does it post without my OK?

No. Saving a video makes a private post for review and never uploads it. Each upload waits for approval: yours in ReelGenie, or Claude’s after it has confirmed the channel, visibility and time with you.