How to post YouTube Shorts from Claude Code

The short answer

1. Install the ReelGenie plugin in Claude Code and sign in with /mcp.
2. Connect your YouTube channel in ReelGenie.
3. Tell Claude Code which finished vertical MP4s to post. It doesn’t make video itself.
4. Claude Code uploads each file from disk; you watch it on the review link.
5. Choose visibility and “made for kids”, then approve the channel and time.
6. Check the result: published, or failed with YouTube’s reason.

Can Claude Code upload YouTube Shorts?

Not by itself. Claude Code can read and write files, but it has no YouTube account and can’t sign in to Google. With the ReelGenie plugin it can: Claude Code sends the MP4 to ReelGenie, and ReelGenie uploads it to the channel you connected, after you approve. You don’t need a Google Cloud project, a YouTube API key or a script of your own.

Using the Claude desktop app or Cowork instead of the terminal? Follow Post YouTube Shorts from Claude.

A YouTube upload MCP vs your own Google Cloud keys

You can upload to YouTube from Claude Code with your own script or a self-hosted upload MCP. That route needs your own Google Cloud setup: a project with the YouTube Data API turned on, an OAuth consent screen and client, somewhere to keep the sign-in tokens, and YouTube’s daily upload allowance to watch.

With ReelGenie as the upload MCP, three things are different:

• Nothing to set up in Google Cloud. You sign in with Google on ReelGenie’s Accounts page. There’s no OAuth app, Cloud project or API key of your own.
• A clear result for each account. Each channel shows Published with a link to the video, Failed with YouTube’s reason, or Outcome unknown when YouTube didn’t give a clear answer. ReelGenie doesn’t call an unclear upload a failure and doesn’t resend it by itself, so a false “failed” never leads you to upload the same video twice. Check the channel first; here’s what to check.
• A person approves. Claude Code saves each video as a private post. It goes to YouTube only after the channel, visibility and time are approved, by you in ReelGenie or by Claude Code after you say yes in the chat.

If you upload one video now and then, YouTube Studio is enough. Using the Claude app instead of the terminal? The setup is on ReelGenie for Claude.

1. Install the ReelGenie plugin

Create a free ReelGenie account first. Then, in a terminal where Claude Code runs, install the ReelGenie plugin. It adds the ReelGenie skill and the connection to https://reelgenie.app/api/mcp/agent.

claude plugin marketplace add lidemin/reelgenie-claude-plugin
claude plugin install reelgenie@reelgenie

Start Claude Code, type /mcp, choose plugin:reelgenie:reelgenie and sign in. A ReelGenie page lists what Claude can do, including publishing after your explicit approval.

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

2. Connect your YouTube channel

Claude Code 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. Connect TikTok and Instagram there too if the same video should go out as a TikTok and a Reel.

3. Point Claude Code at your Shorts

Bring finished videos from your camera, an editor or a video tool you use. Claude Code doesn’t make video itself, but it can check the files before anything is uploaded. YouTube treats a vertical or square video up to three minutes long as a Short, and ReelGenie sends your MP4 as it is.

• Shape: vertical 9:16, for example 1080 × 1920, or square.
• File: MP4, up to 500 MB.
• Words: Claude Code writes a title under 70 characters and a short description for each video, from the file name, your notes or a transcript you keep next to it.

Look at the MP4s in ~/Videos/shorts. Tell me each one’s size and length, flag any that aren’t vertical or are over three minutes, and draft a title and two-line description for each. Don’t upload anything yet.

4. Upload from disk and preview

Claude Code uploads each MP4 straight from your computer to private storage, with no base64 and no file-size tricks in the chat. ReelGenie checks the file before the post is ready, so the preview is the exact video YouTube receives.

Save ~/Videos/shorts/tip-1.mp4 as a private ReelGenie post with the title and description we agreed, then give me the review link. Don’t send anything yet.

Open the link and play the video in the phone frame. Change the title or description in the terminal or in ReelGenie; the video stays the same file.

5. Choose visibility and approve

Claude Code 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.

Then tell Claude Code the channel and the time. It repeats them back, so you approve every post before it goes live. You can also approve in ReelGenie instead.

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.

6. Check whether it actually posted

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.

Did my Shorts upload to YouTube? Give me the result for each one, or tell me why it failed.

After 24 hours Claude Code can read each 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.

Claude YouTube Shorts automation: what runs on its own

Most of the routine work can run from one terminal prompt. The decision to post stays with you.

• Runs on its own: checking the files, drafting titles and descriptions, uploading each MP4, picking each channel’s next free posting time, and sending at the scheduled time.
• Waits for you: the visibility, “made for kids”, the channel and the time. You approve each post, even when you schedule a week of Shorts in one sitting.
• Same video, more places: one post can also go to TikTok and Instagram Reels. It counts as one post on your plan.

Save the five Shorts in ~/Videos/shorts as private ReelGenie posts, one per video. Suggest my YouTube channel’s next free posting times for them and list each video with its title and time. Wait for my approval.

What Claude Code 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.