ChatGPT can call the YouTube Trending board and youtube search-style demand through Trends MCP. Data API v3 still wins video objects. Studio still wins owned-channel stats.
YouTube trends reach ChatGPT through Trends MCP as a public index, not as Data API v3 and not as YouTube Studio. Add a custom connector at https://api.trendsmcp.ai/mcp with a Bearer key from the account page. get_top_trends type YouTube Trending is the video board. get_growth source youtube is search-style demand in this API. Default limit 25.
Generic ChatGPT: Trends MCP for ChatGPT. Board contract: YouTube trending API. Source page: YouTube trends. Claude combo: YouTube trends in Claude.
Virlo-shaped YouTube pages win creator research. Windsor-shaped pages win YouTube Analytics in a hub. This H1 is ChatGPT plus the public index.
A title on YouTube Trending is not proof the search series is rising. Run both tools when the ticket asked for both. Skip the board when the ticket only named a phrase.
get_top_trends(type="YouTube Trending", limit=25)
get_growth(keyword="standing desk review", source="youtube", percent_growth=["30D", "3M"])
get_growth(keyword="standing desk review", source="youtube, google search, tiktok", percent_growth=["30D"])
Source youtube is not Search Console and not watch time. Studio remains the owned-channel record. Data API v3 remains objects. Type YouTube Trending takes no keyword. Sending it as source is invalid_source. REST series mode is get_time_series. Weekly grain.
Say “using TrendsMCP.” A GPT that only has browsing will recap last week’s Trending screenshot.
Do not paste today’s video titles into GPT instructions. The board turns over. Cite as_of_ts.
Subscriber counts, RPM, and video IDs are not in this payload. Fail closed. Open Data API v3 or Studio. Mixing the two without labels produces a confident paragraph with no recent_date.
A custom GPT can pin type YouTube Trending, source youtube, and a cap of one board plus one growth call. Knowledge files are snapshots.
Cross-platform is the move Virlo-shaped YouTube pages do not answer on one key: youtube plus google search plus tiktok. One request per source.
Free 100 requests per month. Starter $19 / 1,000. Pro $49 / 5,000. Business $199 / 25,000. Pricing. A proving pair is two requests. Paging limit 200 is extra.
Empty: not_found or data_unavailable. Low-volume phrases print huge percents on tiny baselines. Quote both index values. 401: www URL in the ChatGPT connector.
ChatGPT is a weak cron. A daily Trending digest belongs on REST. Recheck OpenAI connector docs. Connecting is free. Calling is not.
If the next message is “pause this campaign,” that is YouTube Ads or a hub MCP. If the next message is “upload a thumbnail,” that is Studio. This connector stays public demand in chat.
A custom GPT can pin type YouTube Trending, source youtube, and a cap of one board plus one growth call. Custom GPTs still need the connector attached. A GPT that only has browsing will recap last week’s Trending screenshot from a knowledge file. That file is a snapshot. as_of_ts is not.
OpenAI may retry a failed tool. Sending type YouTube Trending as a source is invalid_source and a wasted retry. Pin youtube in lowercase. It is not Search Console. It is not watch time. It is not Data API v3.
A title on the board is not proof the search series is rising. Run both tools when the ticket asked for both. Skip the board when the ticket only named a phrase. Skip growth when the ticket only asked what the homepage-shaped feed shows.
Cross-platform after YouTube works: google search and tiktok on the same phrase. One request per source. Virlo-shaped YouTube pages do not answer that on one key. Windsor-shaped Analytics connectors do not either unless those sources are actually connected.
A proving pair that fits the free plan: one YouTube Trending page, one get_growth on youtube. Two requests. Do not loop limit 200 “to be thorough.”
If ChatGPT starts quoting subscriber counts, stop. Open Studio or Data API v3. Mixing the two without labels produces a confident paragraph with no recent_date. Recheck OpenAI connector docs. Connecting is free. Calling is not.
Empty not_found on a later growth call is not a failed connect. Fail closed. Do not ask the model to estimate views from a snippet. Recheck OpenAI connector docs before a team rollout. Plan names move. A knowledge file of last week’s Trending screenshot is a snapshot. Studio remains the owned-channel record. Data API v3 remains objects. Virlo remains creator YouTube. This connector stays public demand. Connecting is free. Calling is not. Fail closed on subscriber counts. A GPT instruction that freezes this morning’s video titles goes stale overnight. Cite as_of_ts or call again. Data API v3 quota is Google’s. Trends MCP request caps are monthly. They are not interchangeable. Studio RPM is not source youtube. Label the object in the thread. Cross-platform after YouTube is google search and tiktok, billed per source. Stop after the proving pair unless the ticket named more.
get_top_trends type YouTube Trending is a public board. get_growth source youtube is watch-shaped demand history on a 0-100 index where the pipeline supports it. Studio remains owned-channel RPM. Data API v3 remains Google quota. Virlo remains creator YouTube. This connector stays public demand.
A custom GPT can pin type YouTube Trending, source youtube, and a cap of two requests. It still needs the connector attached. Knowledge files of last week’s Trending screenshot are snapshots. OpenAI may retry a failed tool. A wrong source string can cost two or three requests. Pin youtube in lowercase. Sending YouTube Trending into get_growth is invalid_source.
ChatGPT is a weak cron. A daily digest belongs on REST. Recheck OpenAI connector docs before a team rollout. Plan names move. The api host and Bearer pattern do not. Empty not_found on a later growth call is not a failed connect. Fail closed. Do not ask the model to estimate views from a snippet.
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