Can Codex change my YouTube videos?

Only when you ask and approve. vidIQ is read-only by default. When you connect by signing in with your vidIQ account, you can approve changes to videos you own: title, description, tags, visibility, schedule, or thumbnail. API key connections stay read-only.

Does vidIQ in Codex use credits?

Yes. vidIQ works on every plan, including Free, and each tool call draws from the credits included in your plan. Most research tools cost 5 credits per call. Ask "How many vidIQ credits do I have left?" to check your balance.

Codex MCP Server

Give Codex real YouTube data

Q: Do I need a vidIQ API key for Codex?

No. Codex signs in to vidIQ in the browser. If you only need read-only access, create an API key in vidIQ Account Settings, export it as VIDIQ_API_KEY, and add bearer_token_env_var = "VIDIQ_API_KEY" to the vidIQ entry in ~/.codex/config.toml.

Add vidIQ to Codex with two commands and research channels, keywords, competitors, trends, and transcripts without leaving your terminal.

Connect vidIQ to Codex

How to connect vidIQ to Codex

1Run the two commands shown here in your terminal. The first saves vidIQ as a remote MCP server in ~/.codex/config.toml.
2The second opens your browser. Sign in with your vidIQ account and grant access.
3Start Codex with codex, then run /mcp to confirm vidIQ is connected.

Terminal

codex mcp add vidiq --url "https://mcp.vidiq.com/mcp"
codex mcp login vidiq

Only need read-only access? Create an API key in vidIQ Account Settings, export it as VIDIQ_API_KEY, and set bearer_token_env_var = "VIDIQ_API_KEY" under [mcp_servers.vidiq] instead of signing in.

vidIQ MCP Prompt Library

Ready-to-Use YouTube Prompts for Codex

Ready-to-use prompts. Paste directly into your AI tool.

vidIQ MCP Credits & Tools

52 tools and counting

46 core tools below, plus 6 free utility tools

keyword_research
Find keywords your competitors are sleeping on
outliers
Spot videos that blew up for a reason
generate_clips
Turn a long video into vertical clips
generate_thumbnail
Generate a thumbnail from a prompt
generate_titles
Generate high-CTR title ideas
subscriber_insights
Find your best time to post and who else your fans watch
video_transcript
Read any video without watching it
trending_videos
See what formats are blowing up right now

Plus 6 free utility tools: credits balance, your connected channels, async job tracking, voice library, and feedback. Tool calls draw from your vidIQ plan’s shared credit pool.

vidIQ in Codex: common questions

Run codex mcp add vidiq --url https://mcp.vidiq.com/mcp, then codex mcp login vidiq, and sign in with your vidIQ account in the browser. Codex saves the server under mcp_servers in ~/.codex/config.toml.