# YouTube Creator Sourcing

> Install the repo. Get a vetted shortlist of YouTube creators daily, with a first message drafted for each. A free, open-source tool (MIT licence, v0.1.0) that runs in Claude Code on your own computer. It never sends anything: you review, edit and send.

Web page: https://www.fluencrs.com/youtube-creator-sourcing

## Get the repo

The GitHub repo link is sent by email. Fill in the form on the web page (first name, last name and email). We send a confirmation link first; once it is pressed, the repo opens on the confirmation page and arrives by email with the setup guide. An optional, unticked box adds you to our updates (new free tools, tips and training offers, at most twice a month); that is the only other use of your email.

## What it does

You give Claude Code your website. Claude researches your brand and proposes your markets, competitors and search phrases, and you correct them. It then finds YouTube creators in your niche, checks their views, their comments and which brands they already work with, and writes a vetting note plus a ready-to-edit first message per creator.

Built for brand-side partnership managers, founders doing influencer marketing themselves, and agencies sourcing for clients.

## The problem it solves

Manual creator sourcing is slow and noisy. For every single channel, you do it all by hand: search YouTube page after page, calculate the median views, check the audience stats, scan the comments for bots, check they're safe to work with, hunt for an email, add them to the CRM and draft the first message. And you keep seeing the same channels, over and over again. That's why we built the YouTube Creator Sourcing engine: it does all of this for you.

## How it works

Everything you check by hand, done before you look.

1. You (1 min): share your website link. Paste it into Claude with one prompt.
2. Claude (10 min): proposes your setup: markets, competitors and searches from your site. You correct them.
3. The engine (15-30 min): finds and checks creators. Every channel checked, the noise rejected with a reason, while you get on with your day.
4. You: open your shortlist, a vetting note and a ready-to-edit first message per creator.
5. You, once (20 min): mark its calls right or wrong on the calibration page, and the engine is tuned to your judgment.

## Features

- Starts from one URL; you correct Claude's proposed setup
- Three ways to find creators: moment searches, competitor reviews, and lookalikes from your own best videos and creators
- Comment check: real questions or generic praise, whether the creator replies, how many commenter accounts are brand new
- Sponsorship history: which competitors a creator worked with, how often and how recently (last 50 uploads)
- Audience geography estimate with a confidence level
- Emails only from what the creator published, each with its source; never guessed
- A 0-100 score, every point explained
- A 20-minute calibration page after the first run that tunes it to your judgment
- Safe by design: never sends, treats creator pages as untrusted, Claude never sees your API key, everything stays on your computer
- Free: runs keyless out of the box; a free YouTube API key doubles the depth and allows 4 free runs a day (Google gives 10,000 units a day; a run uses at most 2,400)

## Privacy and control

- Drafts only: nothing is ever sent
- Everything stays on your computer: run results, notes, drafts, brand files and settings
- Claude never sees your key: it goes into a Terminal helper, and the project settings stop Claude from reading the key file
- Creator pages are treated as untrusted data, never as instructions
- Public YouTube data only, through the official API or public pages; it never logs in
- Only published email addresses, each with its source

What it can't see: who watches a video (commenters are the visible part of an audience, so geography is an estimate with a confidence), and undisclosed sponsorships (they are read from video descriptions).

## Setup guide

Written for people who run creator partnerships, not for developers. Every command is something you paste, and Claude can run any of them for you.

### 1. Copy the repo link

It's in your email and on the page that opens after you confirm your address.

### 2. Paste it into Claude (a few minutes)

No Claude Code yet? Install guide: https://code.claude.com/docs/en/setup (desktop app or terminal; Mac, Linux, or Windows with WSL).

Open Claude Code (desktop app: start a session in the Code tab in a folder where you keep projects, like Documents; or type `claude` in a terminal) and paste, with the repo link and your own website:

```
Install this repo and set up YouTube creator sourcing for my brand: [paste the repo link]. My website is: https://your-site.com
```

Claude downloads the repo, runs the setup, then asks one choice: quick start (keyless, results today) or the free YouTube API key (recommended, about 10 minutes, no credit card).

### 3. Get the free YouTube API key (recommended, about 10 minutes)

a. Create a project at https://console.cloud.google.com/projectcreate named "YouTube Creator Sourcing". Close any free-trial or billing offer; none is needed.
b. Turn on "YouTube Data API v3" (not the Analytics or Reporting API): click Enable.
c. Credentials, then "+ Create credentials", then "API key". Restrict it to YouTube Data API v3 only; leave Application restrictions on "None". Copy the key.
d. Never paste the key into the chat. Claude opens a Terminal tab running `set_key.py`; paste the key there (nothing shows while you paste, on purpose) and press Enter.
e. Claude runs a check that confirms "works": you're on the full engine.

### 4. Review Claude's proposed setup

Direct and indirect competitors (and who's missing), existing partners to skip, long-form or Shorts, subscriber range (default 1,000 to 250,000) and the view floor, and where your audience needs to be.

### 5. First run (15-30 minutes, mostly waiting)

Claude then vets every creator and writes a vetting note and a draft first message for each. Nothing is sent.

### 6. Calibrate (20 minutes)

Mark each call right or wrong on the calibration page; Claude tunes the engine to you.

### Optional, later

Add your brand pack (ICPs, guidelines, what works) and your 5-10 best videos with results, for sharper, lookalike-based searches.

## Troubleshooting

- Google asks for a credit card: close it, the key is free.
- "Enable" is missing or greyed out: the wrong project is selected in the top bar, or the API is already on.
- It asks to configure a consent screen: you clicked "OAuth client ID"; go back and choose "API key".
- Pasting in the Terminal shows nothing: that's on purpose; press Enter.
- The key test fails in the first 5 minutes: new keys take a few minutes; wait and retry.
- Accidentally pasted the key in the chat: rotate the key in Google Cloud and add the new one with the Terminal helper.

## FAQ

- Is it free? Yes. Open source under the MIT licence, keyless out of the box. You need Claude Code to run it.
- Does it contact creators? No. It never sends anything.
- Do I need to be technical? No. Every command is something you paste, and Claude can run them for you.
- Where does my data go? Nowhere: it stays in the project folder on your computer.

## Want it set up with you?

Fluencrs sets up systems like this one live in your own tools, in 1:1 sessions. Book a free 30-minute call: https://calendly.com/hakon-fluencrs/intro-call