YouTube Channel Search: Bring Your Own Key (BYOK)

Velaro can index YouTube channels and pull video transcripts into your bot's knowledge index. Out of the box, every site gets 25 channel searches per day on a shared Velaro YouTube API key. Transcript extraction itself is unmetered — the daily limit only counts channel search calls.

If you need more searches per day, recurring reindex jobs that run unattended, or you want to keep your YouTube ingestion fully under your own account, add your own Google service account credentials. This page walks through the 5-minute setup.

When you need BYOK

You should add your own key if any of the following are true:

• You hit the "25 / 25 searches today" banner regularly.
• You want to schedule a recurring reindex of one or more YouTube channels — recurring jobs only run on your own key, not the shared trial key.
• You're on an enterprise plan and want full control over which Google project pays for the API quota.
• You'd rather isolate your YouTube ingestion from other Velaro customers (your quota, your project, your audit trail).

If you only need to grab a handful of transcripts manually a few times a week, the shared trial key is enough — you don't need BYOK.

Why we don't just give everyone an unlimited shared key

YouTube Data API quota is granted per Google Cloud project, not per key. A single project gets 10,000 units/day by default. A single channel search costs 100 units, so the math is 100 searches/day across every customer combined. More importantly, the project owner (Velaro) is liable under YouTube's terms of service for what the key is used for. To protect every customer's ability to use the feature, the shared trial key is intentionally small, and heavier use lives on your own credentials.

Setup (5 minutes)

Step 1 — Create or pick a Google Cloud project

Go to console.cloud.google.com. If you already have a project you use for Google APIs, use that. Otherwise click the project picker at the top and New Project, give it a name like velaro-youtube, and create it. No billing account is required for the YouTube Data API free tier.

Step 2 — Enable the YouTube Data API v3

In the left sidebar go to APIs & Services → Library. Search for YouTube Data API v3, click it, and click Enable. Wait a few seconds for it to activate.

Step 3 — Create a service account

Still in the Cloud Console, go to IAM & Admin → Service Accounts → + Create service account. Give it a name like velaro-youtube-reader. You can skip the optional "Grant this service account access to project" step — the YouTube Data API doesn't require any IAM role. Click Done.

Step 4 — Generate a JSON key

Click the new service account in the list, go to the Keys tab, click Add Key → Create new key → JSON → Create. Your browser will download a JSON file containing the credentials. Open that file in any text editor and copy its full contents.

Step 5 — Paste it into Velaro

In Velaro go to Bots → AI Training → YouTube Channel Search. If you haven't configured a key before, click Configure YouTube API. If you're already using the shared trial key, click the Configure your own YouTube key → link in the daily-quota banner. Paste the entire JSON into the textarea and click Save Credentials.

That's it. The banner will switch from "X / 25 searches today" to Using your YouTube key, and searches no longer count toward the shared trial cap.

How quota works on your own key

A fresh Google Cloud project has 10,000 YouTube Data API units per day. That's roughly 100 channel searches per day. If you need more, in the Cloud Console go to APIs & Services → YouTube Data API v3 → Quotas and click Edit quotas or Request more. Google routinely approves higher limits for legitimate SaaS use; approvals typically come back in 24–48 hours.

Removing your key

If you want to go back to the shared Velaro trial key, click Remove credentials next to the project ID in the YouTube Channel Search panel. The shared key resumes immediately. Any recurring reindex jobs that were running on your key will pause — recurring jobs require BYOK.

Troubleshooting

"YouTube channel search not configured (missing Google credentials)." The JSON was rejected. Most often this is because the YouTube Data API v3 wasn't enabled on the project (Step 2), or the JSON is incomplete. Re-download the key from the Cloud Console and paste the whole file.

"quotaExceeded" error from Google. Your own project ran out of daily quota. Either wait until midnight Pacific time (when Google resets) or request a quota increase from the Cloud Console.

"keyInvalid" or 403 errors. The service account JSON was revoked or the project was deleted. Generate a new key with Step 4 and re-paste.