TubeAlfred Server

Stdio MCP server for the TubeAlfred YouTube API. Bridges any MCP client that speaks stdio (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Continue, Claude Code, Zed) to the hosted streamable-HTTP server at mcp.tubealfred.com.

Use the same API key for the REST API at api.tubealfred.com and this MCP surface.

Install

Claude Desktop one-click extension

Download the latest Desktop Extension:

https://github.com/tubealfred/mcp/releases/latest/download/tubealfred-youtube.mcpb

Double-click tubealfred-youtube.mcpb, approve the Claude Desktop install prompt, then paste your TubeAlfred API key when prompted. This is the recommended path for non-terminal users.

For non-Claude Desktop clients, use the npx stdio bridge below.

Claude Desktop

Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tubealfred": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@tubealfred/mcp"],
      "env": {
        "TUBEALFRED_API_KEY": "ta_live_..."
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop. The TubeAlfred YouTube tools for video, transcript, comments, replies, related videos, channels, streams, Shorts, playlists, community posts, search, hashtags, suggestions, trending, batch lookups, and URL resolution will appear in the tool list.

Cursor

Settings → Cursor Settings → MCP → Add new MCP server. Paste the same JSON.

Continue (VS Code / JetBrains)

In ~/.continue/config.json (or per-workspace config.yaml):

{
  "experimental": {
    "modelContextProtocolServers": [
      {
        "transport": {
          "type": "stdio",
          "command": "npx",
          "args": ["-y", "@tubealfred/mcp"],
          "env": { "TUBEALFRED_API_KEY": "ta_live_..." }
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

Claude Code

claude mcp add tubealfred -- npx -y @tubealfred/mcp

Then export the key in the same shell:

export TUBEALFRED_API_KEY=ta_live_...

Smithery

npx -y @smithery/cli install tubealfred/youtube --client claude

Smithery prompts for the API key and writes the config for you.

Configuration

Env var	Required	Description
TUBEALFRED_API_KEY	yes	Your TubeAlfred team key. Create at tubealfred.com/app/api-keys.
TUBEALFRED_MCP_URL	no	Override the upstream MCP URL. Defaults to https://mcp.tubealfred.com/.

What you get

Every tool published at mcp.tubealfred.com appears in your MCP client:

• youtube_video_get and youtube_video_enhanced — video title, counts, duration, keywords, channel, transcript metadata, and enhanced detail fields
• youtube_video_transcript and youtube_video_transcript_full — optimized and full transcript fetches
• youtube_comments_list and youtube_comments_page — comment pagination
• youtube_replies_list and youtube_replies_page — reply-thread pagination
• youtube_related_videos and youtube_related_videos_page — related video discovery and pagination
• youtube_channel_get, youtube_channel_about, youtube_channel_videos, youtube_channel_videos_page, youtube_channel_streams, youtube_channel_streams_page, youtube_channel_shorts, youtube_channel_shorts_page, youtube_channel_playlists, youtube_channel_playlists_page, youtube_channel_community, and youtube_channel_community_page — channel profile, about, video, stream, Shorts, playlist, and community feeds
• youtube_search_query, youtube_search_page, youtube_search_suggest, youtube_search_hashtag, and youtube_search_hashtag_page — discovery workflows
• youtube_trending and youtube_trending_shorts — trending video and Shorts feeds
• youtube_playlist_get, youtube_playlist_metadata, and youtube_playlist_page — playlist metadata and video pagination
• youtube_url_resolve — parse YouTube URLs into canonical IDs
• youtube_videos_batch and youtube_channels_batch — batch detail lookups

Credits, rate limits, and quota are documented at https://tubealfred.com/docs#limits.

License

MIT