I’m stuck trying to get my YouTube videos through the Data API v3 using a Google Service Account. I’ve set everything up, but when I try to fetch my videos, it says I have none. This is weird because I definitely have uploaded content.
I followed the API docs and used their sample code. But it looks like the credentials are pulling info from the service account instead of my actual YouTube channel.
Here’s a simplified version of what I’m doing:
import google.auth
from googleapiclient.discovery import build
scopes = ['https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtube.readonly']
creds, _ = google.auth.default(scopes=scopes)
youtube = build('youtube', 'v3', credentials=creds)
request = youtube.channels().list(part='contentDetails', mine=True)
response = request.execute()
upload_playlist = response['items'][0]['contentDetails']['relatedPlaylists']['uploads']
print(f'Upload playlist ID: {upload_playlist}')
The upload_playlist I get back is for an empty channel. It’s like the service account isn’t connecting to my real YouTube account properly. Any ideas on what I’m doing wrong or how to fix this?
I’ve encountered this issue before. The problem lies in how service accounts operate. They’re separate entities from personal YouTube accounts and don’t have inherent access to your channel’s content.
To resolve this, you need to implement domain-wide delegation. This allows the service account to act on behalf of your YouTube account. It’s a bit complex, but essentially involves:
- Configuring delegation in the Google Workspace admin console
- Modifying your authentication flow to include your account email
You’ll need to use a different authentication method, like oauth2client or google-auth, to create credentials that can impersonate your account. Once set up correctly, the service account should be able to access your channel’s videos.
Remember to handle your credentials securely and follow YouTube API quotas and policies.
hey there, i had the same issue. turns out service accounts don’t have direct access to ur personal youtube stuff. u gotta set up domain-wide delegation to make it work. it’s a bit tricky but basically lets the service account act like ur youtube account. google has some docs on it if u wanna check it out. good luck!
I experienced a similar problem initially when using the YouTube Data API. The core issue is that service accounts are separate from regular YouTube channels. They don’t inherently have access to the videos on a personal channel because, by default, they operate independently.
The workaround that helped me was setting up domain-wide delegation so that the service account can impersonate the YouTube account owner. This involves configuring delegation on the Google Workspace admin console and modifying your JWT auth flow to include the account owner’s email when creating credentials.
For example:
from google.oauth2 import service_account
from googleapiclient.discovery import build
SCOPES = ['https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtube.readonly']
SERVICE_ACCOUNT_FILE = 'path/to/service_account.json'
USER_EMAIL = '[email protected]'
credentials = service_account.Credentials.from_service_account_file(
SERVICE_ACCOUNT_FILE, scopes=SCOPES)
delegated_credentials = credentials.with_subject(USER_EMAIL)
youtube = build('youtube', 'v3', credentials=delegated_credentials)
This method allowed the service account to act with the permissions of the real account and fetch the correct channel data. Hope this insight helps.