Gemini CLI MCP server for YouTube research

Add vidIQ to Gemini CLI as a remote MCP server with one settings.json entry. Then research YouTube keywords, channels, competitors, trends, and transcripts from your terminal, using live vidIQ data.

Connect vidIQ to Gemini CLI

How to connect vidIQ to Gemini CLI

  1. 1Open ~/.gemini/settings.json, or create it if it does not exist, and add the vidiq entry shown here under mcpServers. If the file already lists other MCP servers, add vidiq alongside them.
  2. 2Start Gemini CLI with gemini, then run /mcp auth vidiq. Sign in with your vidIQ account in the browser and grant access.
  3. 3Run /mcp to confirm vidIQ is connected and its tools are listed. Then ask your first YouTube question.

~/.gemini/settings.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vidiq": {
      "httpUrl": "https://mcp.vidiq.com/mcp",
      "oauth": { "enabled": true }
    }
  }
}

Only need read-only access? Create an API key in vidIQ Account Settings and replace the oauth line with "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" }.

Tip: name vidIQ in your prompt

Gemini CLI decides when to call a tool, so start your prompt with "Use vidIQ to..." when you want live YouTube data instead of a general answer. For example: "Use vidIQ to research keywords for [topic] and suggest three video angles."

Prompt Library

Ready-to-Use YouTube Prompts for Gemini CLI

Copy a prompt, replace the [placeholders] with your niche, topic, or channel, and paste it into your AI tool with vidIQ connected.

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 Gemini CLI: common questions

It is a remote MCP server that connects Gemini CLI to vidIQ's YouTube data and tools. Once it is set up, you can research keywords, compare channels, find outlier videos, read transcripts, and review analytics for channels linked to your vidIQ account, all from a Gemini CLI session in your terminal.