How to get a YouTube Data API key for Writerify

Why add a key at all?

When the Embed relevant YouTube videos option is on, Writerify searches YouTube for your article's keyword and places 1–3 of the best-matching videos inside the article as responsive, lazy-loaded, privacy-friendly embeds (served from youtube-nocookie.com). Without a key Writerify has to scrape YouTube's search page, which works most of the time but can break whenever YouTube changes its layout or rate-limits your IP.

With a key, Writerify talks to the official YouTube Data API v3 instead: structured results, exact titles and channel names, and no scraping fragility. The key costs nothing — Google gives every project a free daily quota that is more than enough for normal article production.

What you need

• Any Google account (a Gmail address is fine — it does not have to be the account that owns your YouTube channel).
• About five minutes.
• No credit card and no billing account. The YouTube Data API's free quota does not require billing to be enabled.

Step 1 — Open Google Cloud Console

Go to console.cloud.google.com and sign in. If this is your first visit, Google shows a short welcome dialog: pick your country, accept the Terms of Service and click Agree and continue. You do not need to start the free trial or add payment details.

Step 2 — Create a project

1. At the very top of the page, next to the Google Cloud logo, click the project picker (it says "Select a project" or shows the name of an existing project).
2. In the dialog that opens, click New Project (top-right corner).
3. Give it a name you will recognise later, for example Writerify YouTube. Leave Location / Organization as it is.
4. Click Create. Wait a few seconds until the notification bell says the project was created, then make sure the picker at the top now shows your new project.

Already have a project you use for other things? You can reuse it — the API key is tied to the project, not to a specific website.

Step 3 — Enable the YouTube Data API v3

1. Open the left menu (☰) and go to APIs & Services → Library. You can also open it directly: YouTube Data API v3 in the library.
2. If you used the menu, type YouTube Data API v3 in the search box and click the result with that exact name (not "YouTube Analytics API" or "YouTube Reporting API").
3. Click the blue Enable button. After a moment the page switches to the API's overview and the button changes to "Manage" — the API is now switched on for your project.

Step 4 — Create the API key

1. In the left menu go to APIs & Services → Credentials (direct link: Credentials page).
2. Click + Create credentials at the top and choose API key.
3. Google generates the key immediately and shows it in a dialog. Click the copy icon next to it. The key is a long string that starts with AIza….

Keep the dialog open for a second — the next step starts from there. If you closed it, no problem: the key is listed under API keys on the Credentials page and you can click it any time to see or copy it.

Step 5 — Restrict the key (recommended, 30 seconds)

A key that can only call the YouTube Data API is harmless even if it ever leaks. In the dialog click Edit API key (or click the key's name on the Credentials page), then:

1. Under API restrictions choose Restrict key.
2. In the dropdown tick YouTube Data API v3 only.
3. Leave Application restrictions on None. Writerify calls the API from your own computer (desktop app) or from the Writerify server (web app), so IP or website restrictions would only get in the way.
4. Click Save. Restrictions can take a few minutes to apply.

Step 6 — Paste the key into Writerify

1. Open Writerify (desktop app or writerify.org/dashboard).
2. In the left sidebar open Configure → Settings.
3. Scroll to the Embed relevant YouTube videos card and tick the checkbox if it is not on yet.
4. Choose how many videos you want per article with the YouTube videos per article slider (1 = just before the final verdict; 2 = middle + before the verdict; 3 = after the first sub-heading + middle + before the verdict).
5. Paste the key into the YouTube Data API key box. Use the eye icon on the right to check that it pasted correctly.
6. Click Save at the top of the page.

That is all. From the next article onwards Writerify uses the official API for video search. Nothing else changes — placement, the number of videos and the privacy-friendly embed code stay exactly as configured.

How much can you use for free?

Every Google Cloud project gets 10,000 quota units per day for the YouTube Data API, reset at midnight Pacific Time. A video search costs 100 units, so that is roughly 100 article searches per day — Writerify does one search per article, so 100 articles a day with videos is covered. If you ever need more, Google lets you request a quota increase from the API's Quotas page, still without billing.

Troubleshooting

"API key not valid" or "The request is missing a valid API key"

Check that you pasted the whole key (it is long and starts with AIza) with no spaces before or after. Use the eye icon in Writerify's settings to reveal what is actually in the box.

"YouTube Data API v3 has not been used in project … before or it is disabled"

Step 3 was skipped or done in a different project. Open the project picker, make sure the right project is selected, and enable the API there. Wait two or three minutes after enabling before trying again.

"Requests from this … are blocked"

The key has an Application restriction (HTTP referrer or IP address). Edit the key and set Application restrictions back to None; keep only the API restriction from Step 5.

"quotaExceeded"

You hit the 10,000-unit daily quota. It resets automatically at midnight Pacific Time; the next day's articles will embed videos again. For very high volumes request a quota increase in Google Cloud.

Videos still not appearing in articles

Make sure Embed relevant YouTube videos is ticked and saved, and that the slider is at 1 or more. Writerify also skips videos silently when YouTube returns nothing relevant for a very niche keyword — the article is still published normally.

Frequently asked questions

Is the YouTube Data API key really free?

Yes. The daily quota is free and does not need a billing account. You are never charged for staying within it.

Does the key give Writerify access to my YouTube channel?

No. An API key can only read public YouTube data (search results, video titles, channel names). It cannot sign in to your account, upload, comment or change anything.

Can I use the same key in the desktop app and the web app?

Yes. Paste the same key into Settings on both — they each keep their own settings, so save it in each one.

What happens if I leave the box empty?

Writerify falls back to its built-in no-key scraper. It usually works, but it is more fragile than the official API, which is why we recommend adding a key when you rely on video embeds.