YouTube has no public trends API. Trends MCP gives you structured YouTube search interest data over time via a single POST endpoint. Weekly series, period-over-period growth, and live top searches - no scraping, no quota negotiation.
Updated 2026-08-19
YouTube publishes no keyword-level search-volume API. The Data API returns uploads, comments, and channel stats. Trends MCP returns YouTube search interest as a 0-100 index, with about 5 years of weekly history and optional absolute volume. The keyword is a search phrase such as asmr or lofi study music, not a video ID. Access is one POST to https://api.trendsmcp.ai/api or the same tools over MCP. The connection covers 25+ sources, so YouTube can sit next to Google Trends API calls in one session. The free plan includes 100 requests per month. Starter is $19/month.
Search interest on YouTube is the demand to find videos, not the count of views on a specific upload. A creator can lose subscribers while the query for a format still grows. A viral video can spike views while the generic search phrase barely moves. The Trends MCP series tracks the phrase.
Seasonal queries (christmas songs, tax software) show calendar peaks. Format queries (asmr, true crime podcast) show slower cultural ramps. Product queries (iphone 16 review) show launch cliffs. Assistants should pick the phrase that matches the decision: format health versus SKU hype versus a named creator.
get_trends is the history call. get_growth returns 3M, 1Y, and other presets in one payload. get_top_trends reads a live breakout feed and takes no keyword. That split matters: history is phrase-shaped, discovery is feed-shaped.
Natural search language works. asmr, minecraft parkour, fed chairman speech are valid. Video IDs (dQw4w9wgGc), UC... channel IDs, and https://youtu.be/... URLs are the wrong type. They belong in Data API clients.
Spelling and spacing split series (lofi vs lo-fi). If autocomplete shows both, query both. Non-English phrases resolve when YouTube search volume exists for them; thin languages return misses.
Creator names should match how people search (mrbeast), not the legal entity. Topic pages and hashtags are not required. The source field is the string youtube.
Related work on YouTube trends and YouTube search data covers editorial use of the same signal. This page is the API contract.
YouTube Data API v3 is the official path for listing videos, reading quotas in units, uploading, and moderating comments. It requires a Google Cloud project, an API key or OAuth, and quota units per method. None of those methods return a five-year search-interest curve for an arbitrary phrase.
Trends MCP does not replace analytics for a channel the team owns (Watch time, RPM, impressions). YouTube Analytics API remains that path. Trends MCP is external demand: what people type into the YouTube search box, scaled 0-100, queryable without a Google Cloud project.
Scraping trending pages or search SERPs inherits markup changes and bot checks. Social listening suites sometimes include YouTube mentions. Mentions are comments and titles, not search volume. Social media trends API covers the wider social set. Teams that already buy mention tools should check current vendor pricing for those products and keep Trends MCP for the search-interest series.
Every source shares one HTTP contract:
POST https://api.trendsmcp.ai/api
Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY
Content-Type: application/json
Time series (weekly, default window about 5 years):
{
"source": "youtube",
"keyword": "lofi study music"
}
Each point includes date, value (0-100), optional volume, keyword, and source. Daily granularity for the last 30 days adds "data_mode": "daily".
Growth in one call:
{
"source": "youtube",
"keyword": "asmr",
"percent_growth": ["3M", "1Y", "3Y"]
}
Presets include 7D 14D 30D 1M 2M 3M 6M 9M 12M 1Y 18M 24M 2Y 36M 3Y 48M 60M 5Y MTD QTD YTD. Named custom windows pass objects with recent and baseline dates.
Live discovery without a keyword uses mode: "top_trends". MCP clients express the same job as get_top_trends. History and growth map to get_trends and get_growth.
Typical errors: 400 missing_parameter or invalid_source, 401 for a bad key, 404 not_found when the phrase has no series, 429 rate_limited when the monthly plan cap is hit.
Thumbnail and title teams watch format phrases weekly so they do not chase a dead genre. Brands compare YouTube search with Google Search to see whether demand is "watch a video" or "read a page." Funds that hold media names watch franchise queries around launches. Educators watch curriculum phrases (photosynthesis, python tutorial) as a slow demand curve for explainer inventory.
Python and JavaScript callers POST the JSON above with a Bearer token. MCP clients never assemble that HTTP if the host already registered Trends MCP; they just invoke the tools.
Trends MCP is one MCP (and REST) connection covering 25+ sources. YouTube search volume is a 0-100 series with about 5 years of weekly history, growth presets, and keyword-free live feeds. Free allowance is 100 requests per month. Starter is $19/month.
The 0-100 index is relative to that keyword's window. Two phrases at 70 are not equal in searches. Kids content, music, and spam-heavy queries can look "hot" while being a poor brand fit. Shorts versus long-watch is not a separate source field; both sit inside search interest. The monthly cap is Trends MCP's budget, not YouTube Data API units. Mixing the two quotas in a runbook causes false alarms.
YouTube Data API remains the path for video objects, uploads, and owned-channel analytics.
Mention vendors and SERP scrapers remain the path for comments and result HTML. Teams should check current vendor pricing. Trends MCP is the search-interest API for agents, not a replacement for Studio.
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