YouTube Shorts Pipeline

Fully automated pipeline that turns a topic into a published YouTube Short — research, AI script, generated visuals, voiceover, burned-in captions, background music, and upload. Cost: ~$0.11/video.

You have access to the YouTube Shorts Pipeline through the OpenLabor connector API.

How to Use

use youtube-shorts <TOOL_NAME> '<json_args>'

Pipeline Stages

The pipeline runs in three stages. Each stage can be run independently or as a full pipeline.

1. Draft — Research & Script Generation

DuckDuckGo research → Claude script + b-roll prompts + YouTube metadata + thumbnail prompt.

• Tool: YOUTUBE_SHORTS_DRAFT
• Args: { "topic": "your topic here" }
• Optional args:
  • "context" — channel branding/style guidance
  • "lang" — language code ("en" or "hi")

2. Produce — Video Assembly

Gemini Imagen b-roll with Ken Burns effect → ElevenLabs voiceover → Whisper word-level captions → royalty-free background music with voice ducking → ffmpeg assembly.

• Tool: YOUTUBE_SHORTS_PRODUCE
• Args: { "draft_id": "DRAFT_ID" }

3. Upload — Publish to YouTube

Uploads video as private, attaches SRT captions and AI-generated thumbnail.

• Tool: YOUTUBE_SHORTS_UPLOAD
• Args: { "draft_id": "DRAFT_ID" }

Full Pipeline

Run all three stages end-to-end:

• Tool: YOUTUBE_SHORTS_RUN
• Args: { "topic": "your topic here" }

Parameters

Topic Discovery

Auto-discover trending topics instead of providing one manually:

• Tool: YOUTUBE_SHORTS_DISCOVER
• Args: { "auto_pick": true }

Discovery sources (all optional, configured per-source):

Examples

# Full pipeline — research a topic and publish
use youtube-shorts YOUTUBE_SHORTS_RUN '{"topic": "AI regulation in 2026"}'

# Discover trending topic, let Claude auto-pick
use youtube-shorts YOUTUBE_SHORTS_RUN '{"auto_pick": true}'

# Dry run — draft only, no video production
use youtube-shorts YOUTUBE_SHORTS_DRAFT '{"topic": "Space tourism updates", "dry_run": true}'

# Step-by-step for review between stages
use youtube-shorts YOUTUBE_SHORTS_DRAFT '{"topic": "Remote work productivity tips"}'
use youtube-shorts YOUTUBE_SHORTS_PRODUCE '{"draft_id": "abc123"}'
use youtube-shorts YOUTUBE_SHORTS_UPLOAD '{"draft_id": "abc123"}'

# With channel branding context
use youtube-shorts YOUTUBE_SHORTS_RUN '{"topic": "Best new AI tools", "context": "Tech channel, energetic tone, younger audience"}'

# Hindi language Short
use youtube-shorts YOUTUBE_SHORTS_RUN '{"topic": "Cricket highlights", "lang": "hi"}'

Response Format

Returns JSON with:

• draft_id — Unique identifier for the draft
• stage — Current pipeline stage (draft, produce, upload)
• status — Stage status (complete, in_progress, failed)
• script — Generated script text (after draft stage)
• video_url — Local path to assembled MP4 (after produce stage)
• youtube_url — YouTube URL of uploaded Short (after upload stage)
• cost — Estimated API cost breakdown

Services Used

Workflows

Daily Shorts Machine

1. Use YOUTUBE_SHORTS_DISCOVER to find trending topics
2. Review discovered topics, pick the best fit for your channel
3. Run YOUTUBE_SHORTS_RUN with channel context for branding consistency
4. Review the uploaded Short (private by default), then publish manually

Batch Production

1. Draft multiple topics with YOUTUBE_SHORTS_DRAFT (dry run first)
2. Review and edit scripts as needed
3. Produce all approved drafts with YOUTUBE_SHORTS_PRODUCE
4. Upload the batch with YOUTUBE_SHORTS_UPLOAD

Cross-Platform Content

1. Generate a Short with YOUTUBE_SHORTS_RUN
2. Use the generated script with x-strategy skill for tweet threads
3. Use the b-roll images with instagram-manager for Reels
4. Repurpose the script with linkedin-manager for a post

Guidelines

1. Always use the exact use youtube-shorts command format
2. Videos upload as private by default — review before making public
3. The anti-hallucination gate ensures scripts only use facts from live research
4. Pipeline supports resume — re-running skips already-completed stages
5. ElevenLabs is optional; falls back to macOS say for voiceover
6. Hindi language support requires ElevenLabs VOICE_ID_HI configured
7. Never expose API credentials to the user
8. Estimated cost per video: ~$0.11 ($0.02 Claude + $0.04 Gemini + $0.05 ElevenLabs)