Environment Variables

Complete reference for all environment variables used in YouTube Automation Agent

Environment variables control the behavior of the YouTube Automation Agent. Configure them in a .env file in the project root.

Setup

1. Copy Example File

   cp .env.example .env
   
2. Edit Configuration

   Open .env in your text editor and fill in the required values.

3. Verify Settings

   npm run setup
   

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Required Variables

These variables must be set for the system to function:

OpenAI Configuration

OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-proj-...

Required for content generation, DALL-E image creation, and text-to-speech features.

Get your key from OpenAI Platform.

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Application Settings

Control the core behavior of the application:

Node Environment

NODE_ENV=production

Available Values

• development - Enables verbose logging and debug features
• production - Optimized for deployment
• test - For running tests

Server Port

PORT=3456

The port where the web interface will be accessible. Default: 3456

Logging Level

LOG_LEVEL=info

Available Levels

• error - Only errors
• warn - Warnings and errors
• info - General information (recommended)
• debug - Detailed debugging information
• verbose - Everything including API calls

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Channel Settings

Configure your YouTube channel identity:

CHANNEL_NAME=Your Channel Name
DEFAULT_AUTHOR=Your Name
TARGET_AUDIENCE=Your target audience description

Examples:

CHANNEL_NAME=Tech Explainers
DEFAULT_AUTHOR=Alex Johnson
TARGET_AUDIENCE=Tech enthusiasts aged 18-35 interested in AI and automation

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YouTube Settings

Control YouTube-specific behavior:

Region

YOUTUBE_REGION=US

Two-letter country code for content trending and recommendations.

Common Region Codes

• US - United States
• GB - United Kingdom
• CA - Canada
• AU - Australia
• IN - India
• DE - Germany
• FR - France
• JP - Japan

Default Privacy Status

DEFAULT_PRIVACY_STATUS=public

public

Videos are visible to everyone and appear in search results and recommendations.

unlisted

Videos are only accessible via direct link. Not shown in search or recommendations.

private

Videos are only visible to you and users you specifically share with.

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Content Settings

Control how content is processed and formatted:

AUTO_SHORTEN_CONTENT=true
AUTO_ADD_BACKLINKS=true
PRESERVE_FORMATTING=true
AUTO_RESIZE_IMAGES=true
MAX_IMAGE_WIDTH=1280
MAX_IMAGE_HEIGHT=720
IMAGE_QUALITY=90

Content Processing

Variable	Type	Default	Description
AUTO_SHORTEN_CONTENT	boolean	true	Automatically trim content to optimal length
AUTO_ADD_BACKLINKS	boolean	true	Add channel links in video descriptions
PRESERVE_FORMATTING	boolean	true	Maintain original text formatting

Image Processing

Variable	Type	Default	Description
AUTO_RESIZE_IMAGES	boolean	true	Automatically resize images to optimal dimensions
MAX_IMAGE_WIDTH	number	1280	Maximum image width in pixels
MAX_IMAGE_HEIGHT	number	720	Maximum image height in pixels
IMAGE_QUALITY	number	90	JPEG quality (1-100)

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Rate Limiting

Prevent API quota exhaustion:

GLOBAL_RATE_LIMIT_PER_HOUR=50
DEFAULT_DELAY_BETWEEN_POSTS=60000

YouTube API has strict quota limits. Exceeding them will result in temporary suspension of API access.

Variable	Type	Default	Description
GLOBAL_RATE_LIMIT_PER_HOUR	number	50	Maximum API requests per hour
DEFAULT_DELAY_BETWEEN_POSTS	number	60000	Delay between operations in milliseconds

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Text-to-Speech Settings

TTS_VOICE=en-US-JennyNeural

Available Azure Voices

Female Voices:

• en-US-JennyNeural - Friendly, professional
• en-US-AriaNeural - Clear, expressive
• en-US-AmberNeural - Warm, conversational

Male Voices:

• en-US-GuyNeural - Professional, authoritative
• en-US-DavisNeural - Clear, trustworthy
• en-US-TonyNeural - News-style delivery

---

Security

JWT_SECRET=generate-a-random-secret-here

Generate a strong, random secret for JWT token signing. Never use the default value in production.

Generate a secure secret:

node -e "console.log(require('crypto').randomBytes(64).toString('hex'))"

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Analytics & Monitoring

ENABLE_ANALYTICS=true
ANALYTICS_DB_PATH=./data/analytics.db

Variable	Type	Default	Description
ENABLE_ANALYTICS	boolean	true	Track video performance metrics
ANALYTICS_DB_PATH	string	./data/analytics.db	SQLite database location

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File Upload Settings

MAX_FILE_SIZE=52428800
UPLOAD_PATH=./uploads

Variable	Type	Default	Description
MAX_FILE_SIZE	number	52428800	Maximum upload size in bytes (50MB)
UPLOAD_PATH	string	./uploads	Directory for uploaded files

YouTube supports videos up to 256GB, but initial uploads are limited to 15 minutes (or 128GB for verified accounts).

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Error Handling

RETRY_ATTEMPTS=3
RETRY_DELAY=5000

Variable	Type	Default	Description
RETRY_ATTEMPTS	number	3	Number of retry attempts for failed operations
RETRY_DELAY	number	5000	Delay between retries in milliseconds

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Automation Settings

These are generated by the setup script but can be manually configured:

DAILY_CONTENT_ENABLED=true
AUTO_PUBLISH_ENABLED=true
OPTIMIZATION_ENABLED=true
CONTENT_BUFFER_DAYS=3
MAX_DAILY_POSTS=1

Content Automation

DAILY_CONTENT_ENABLED

Enable daily content generation pipeline.

CONTENT_BUFFER_DAYS

Number of days of content to keep in the buffer (queue).

MAX_DAILY_POSTS

Maximum number of videos to publish per day.

Publishing

AUTO_PUBLISH_ENABLED

Automatically publish videos at scheduled times.

Set to false to manually review content before publishing.

Optimization

OPTIMIZATION_ENABLED

Enable AI-powered SEO and performance optimization.

Includes:

• Title/description optimization
• Tag generation
• Thumbnail A/B testing
• Best time to publish analysis

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Notification Settings

NOTIFICATION_ENABLED=true

Enable console notifications for important events (uploads, errors, milestones).

---

Debug Settings

DEBUG_MODE=false
VERBOSE_LOGGING=false
SAVE_SCREENSHOTS=false
SCREENSHOT_PATH=./debug/screenshots

Only enable debug settings during development. They generate large log files and slow down the system.

Variable	Type	Default	Description
DEBUG_MODE	boolean	false	Enable detailed debugging
VERBOSE_LOGGING	boolean	false	Log all API requests/responses
SAVE_SCREENSHOTS	boolean	false	Save screenshots during video generation
SCREENSHOT_PATH	string	./debug/screenshots	Screenshot storage location

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Optional API Keys

These can be set as environment variables instead of in credentials.json:

# ElevenLabs (Premium TTS)
ELEVENLABS_API_KEY=your_api_key
ELEVENLABS_VOICE_ID=your_voice_id

# Azure Speech Services
AZURE_SPEECH_KEY=your_subscription_key
AZURE_SPEECH_REGION=eastus

# Replicate (Advanced Video Generation)
REPLICATE_API_KEY=r8_...

# Google Gemini
GEMINI_API_KEY=your_gemini_key

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Example Complete Configuration

# YouTube Automation Agent Environment Configuration

# Required
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-proj-abc123...

# Application
NODE_ENV=production
PORT=3456
LOG_LEVEL=info

# Channel
CHANNEL_NAME=AI Tech Stories
DEFAULT_AUTHOR=Sarah Chen
TARGET_AUDIENCE=Tech enthusiasts interested in AI and automation

# YouTube
YOUTUBE_REGION=US
DEFAULT_PRIVACY_STATUS=public

# Content
AUTO_SHORTEN_CONTENT=true
AUTO_ADD_BACKLINKS=true
PRESERVE_FORMATTING=true
AUTO_RESIZE_IMAGES=true
MAX_IMAGE_WIDTH=1280
MAX_IMAGE_HEIGHT=720
IMAGE_QUALITY=90

# Rate Limiting
GLOBAL_RATE_LIMIT_PER_HOUR=50
DEFAULT_DELAY_BETWEEN_POSTS=60000

# TTS
TTS_VOICE=en-US-JennyNeural

# Security
JWT_SECRET=a1b2c3d4e5f6...

# Analytics
ENABLE_ANALYTICS=true
ANALYTICS_DB_PATH=./data/analytics.db

# Files
MAX_FILE_SIZE=52428800
UPLOAD_PATH=./uploads

# Error Handling
RETRY_ATTEMPTS=3
RETRY_DELAY=5000

# Automation
DAILY_CONTENT_ENABLED=true
AUTO_PUBLISH_ENABLED=true
OPTIMIZATION_ENABLED=true
CONTENT_BUFFER_DAYS=3
MAX_DAILY_POSTS=1

# Notifications
NOTIFICATION_ENABLED=true

# Debug (Development only)
DEBUG_MODE=false
VERBOSE_LOGGING=false

Next Steps

AI Providers

Configure OpenAI, Gemini, and other AI services

YouTube Setup

Complete YouTube API configuration and authentication