Cursor MCP for YouTube research
Add the vidIQ YouTube MCP server to Cursor in one click, then research keywords, competitors, outlier videos, and transcripts without leaving your editor.
How to connect vidIQ to Cursor
Add vidIQ as a remote MCP server in three steps. All you need is Cursor and a vidIQ account on any plan, including Free.
- 1Click Add to Cursor on this page and confirm the install when Cursor opens.
- 2Prefer to add it by hand? Open Customize > MCPs, or paste the configuration shown here into
~/.cursor/mcp.json(all projects) or.cursor/mcp.json(one project). - 3Sign in with your vidIQ account when Cursor prompts you. Then confirm vidIQ is enabled under Customize > MCPs and ask your first question.
Cursor mcp.json
{
"mcpServers": {
"vidIQ": {
"url": "https://mcp.vidiq.com/mcp"
}
}
}
Add to Cursor (opens in a new tab)Prefer an API key? It connects read-only, so Cursor can research but can’t edit your videos. Create one in vidIQ Account Settings, set it as VIDIQ_API_KEY in your shell profile or system environment, restart Cursor, and add "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer ${env:VIDIQ_API_KEY}" } to the vidIQ entry.
YouTube prompts to try in Cursor
Copy a prompt, replace the [placeholders] with your topic, niche, or channel, and paste it into Cursor. Starting with “Use vidIQ to” points Cursor at the vidIQ tools, and Cursor can save the results to files in your project.
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.
What is the vidIQ YouTube MCP server for Cursor?
The vidIQ MCP server connects Cursor’s AI agent to YouTube data through the Model Context Protocol (MCP). Once it’s added, Cursor can call 50+ vidIQ tools to research keywords, compare channels, spot outlier videos, read comments, and pull transcripts, then use the results in your code, notes, and files.
Ask Cursor things like:
- Use vidIQ to find low-competition keywords for this video idea.
- Use vidIQ to find recent breakout videos in my niche.
- Use vidIQ to pull the transcript for this video and summarize the main claims.
Setup takes a few minutes and works on every vidIQ plan, including Free. Tool calls draw from your plan’s shared credits.
Cursor MCP for YouTube: common questions
Click Add to Cursor on this page, confirm the install when Cursor opens, and sign in with your vidIQ account when Cursor prompts you. To set it up by hand, add the server URL https://mcp.vidiq.com/mcp under Customize > MCPs or in ~/.cursor/mcp.json. Then ask Cursor your first YouTube question.
Yes, you can connect on every vidIQ plan, including Free. Each tool call draws from your plan’s shared credit balance, and most research tools, such as keyword research, cost 5 credits. One prompt can trigger several tool calls, so check the credits table on this page before you run a large batch.
No. Cursor connects by signing in to your vidIQ account (OAuth), and sign-in is what lets you approve edits to your videos. An API key is the read-only alternative: set it as VIDIQ_API_KEY in your shell profile or system environment, restart Cursor, and add an Authorization header of "Bearer ${env:VIDIQ_API_KEY}".
It can edit, not upload. When you connect by signing in, Cursor can update the title, description, tags, visibility, schedule, or thumbnail of a video you own, and it waits for your approval first. You may need to verify your YouTube channel. API-key connections stay read-only, and nothing can upload a new video.
Cursor can read public data for any channel or video, including stats, uploads, comments, transcripts, keyword search volume, outliers, and trending videos. Your own analytics, such as views, watch time, traffic sources, and subscriber insights, need a channel linked to your vidIQ account. Competitor research never shows another creator’s private analytics.
Yes. Put the same configuration in .cursor/mcp.json at the project root instead of the global ~/.cursor/mcp.json, and vidIQ loads only for that project. This suits a single research or content repo. Sign-in and the read-only API key option work the same way in the project file as in the global one.
Usually the server is turned off, not signed in, or misconfigured. Open Customize > MCPs and check that vidIQ is enabled, and finish the vidIQ sign-in if Cursor asks. If you edited mcp.json by hand, check that the JSON is valid and the URL is https://mcp.vidiq.com/mcp. After setting VIDIQ_API_KEY, restart Cursor.
Add the vidIQ YouTube MCP server to Cursor
Install it in one click, sign in with your vidIQ account, and ask Cursor your first YouTube research question without leaving your editor.
Connect vidIQ to CursorAlso works with Claude, ChatGPT, Perplexity, OpenClaw, Grok, Codex, Gemini CLI and any MCP-compatible tool. Available on every vidIQ plan, including Free.