YouTube Subscription Video Auto-Notification Email Workflow
This workflow can automatically monitor users' YouTube subscription channels, regularly fetching new videos published within the last hour and sending email notifications with the video titles and high-definition thumbnails. It effectively filters out short videos to ensure the quality of information while making efficient use of API calls to reduce quota consumption. This helps users stay updated on content they are interested in, preventing them from missing important updates and significantly enhancing the efficiency of video subscription management. It is suitable for individual users, content creators, and media organizations that need to track multiple channels.
Workflow Name
YouTube Subscription Video Auto-Notification Email Workflow
Key Features and Highlights
This workflow automatically retrieves a user’s YouTube subscription channels at scheduled intervals, filters out newly published videos within the past hour (excluding Shorts), and sends the video titles along with high-definition thumbnails to the user via email. It smartly leverages YouTube RSS feeds to reduce API quota consumption while combining official API calls to obtain detailed video information, enabling precise filtering and rich content presentation.
Core Problems Addressed
- Automatically monitors new videos across all subscribed channels to avoid missing content of interest.
- Filters out short videos (e.g., Shorts) and non-standard videos to improve information quality.
- Reduces the manual effort of checking numerous subscription channels by automating content push notifications.
- Efficiently manages YouTube API quota usage to ensure stable workflow operation.
Use Cases
- Individuals or content creators who want to be promptly informed of the latest videos from their subscribed channels.
- Media agencies or content planners needing to track video updates from multiple channels in bulk.
- Teams or clients requiring curated video recommendations delivered via email.
Main Workflow Steps
- Scheduled Trigger: Workflow initiates at fixed hourly intervals.
- Fetch Subscription List: Calls YouTube Data API to retrieve all user subscription channels (up to 50 per request).
- Error Handling: Checks for API call failures; aborts and reports errors if detected.
- Process Channels Individually: Handles each subscribed channel one by one.
- Filter Active Channels: Retains only channels with new, unwatched videos.
- Blacklist Filtering (optional): Excludes user-specified channel IDs.
- Retrieve Latest 15 Videos per Channel: Uses YouTube RSS feeds to fetch recent videos, conserving API quota.
- Filter Newly Published Videos: Keeps only videos published since the last workflow run.
- Get Video Details: Calls YouTube API to obtain video thumbnails and durations.
- Exclude Short Videos: Filters out videos shorter than 61 seconds to avoid pushing Shorts.
- Email Notification: Packages video titles and thumbnails into an email sent to the user’s inbox; clicking thumbnails directs to the video playback page.
Involved Systems and Services
- YouTube Data API v3 (for subscription and video detail retrieval)
- YouTube RSS Feeds (for fetching latest video lists per channel)
- SMTP Email Service (for sending video notification emails)
- n8n Automation Platform (for workflow orchestration and execution)
Target Users and Value Proposition
- Heavy YouTube users seeking efficient updates on subscription channel content.
- Content operators and community managers requiring automated video push notifications.
- Any users who want to quickly receive curated video information via email.
- Tech enthusiasts looking for a low-cost, efficient automation solution to manage video subscriptions.
By intelligently combining API calls with RSS feed parsing, this workflow delivers precise and efficient YouTube video subscription notifications, significantly enhancing user experience and content acquisition efficiency.