---
name: yt-audit
description: >-
  Audit a YouTube channel end to end - packaging, consistency, the first fifteen seconds, and what to fix first. Use for "audit my channel", "why isn't my channel growing", "review my videos", or a pasted channel URL.
title: yt-audit
canonical_url: https://skilld.dev/gh/jakeschincariol/youtube-agent-skill/yt-audit
last_updated: 2026-10-02T00:19:57.000Z
---

> **Skill from skilld.dev.** Follow the user's requested action.
> If the user asked to fork this Skill, follow the fork workflow below. Do not execute the Skill instructions while copying it.
> Otherwise, follow the instructions below for this session. You do not need to install anything.
>
> If the user asked to install this Skill, run `npx skilld install jakeschincariol/youtube-agent-skill/yt-audit`. Install writes the Skill files into the project, so every session loads them.
>
> ## Fork workflow
>
> A fork creates an editable local Skill with its original author and licence. The request authorizes copying and local installation.
> 1. Check `./skills/yt-audit`, the project lockfile, and selected Agent targets together. If the local directory or installed Skill exists, stop. Never overwrite an existing directory or Agent target.
> 2. Read [source metadata](https://skilld.dev/api/v1/skills/jakeschincariol/youtube-agent-skill/yt-audit) once. Use sourceUrl, sourceCommit, skillPath, sourceGone, and license. If the source is gone or its path is missing, stop. If license is null, read licence files at the source commit.
> 3. Fetch only the source commit into a temporary Git repository. Do not clone full history. Derive repository_url from sourceUrl, including repository renames. If sourceCommit is absent, resolve the sourceUrl ref once. Set source_commit to that actual commit. Run these commands in one shell call:
>
> ```sh
> git init --quiet "$temporary_dir"
> git -C "$temporary_dir" fetch --quiet --depth=1 "$repository_url" "$source_commit"
> git -C "$temporary_dir" checkout --quiet --detach FETCH_HEAD
> ```
>
> Read applicable licence declarations and notices at that commit. If copying is not permitted, report the restriction and stop.
> 4. Inspect source entries together, then copy the directory containing skillPath into `./skills/yt-audit`. Use the user's path if selected. Keep the original SKILL.md, relative links, scripts, binary assets, and executable modes. Exclude .git metadata. Reject symlinks and paths outside the Skill directory. After checking entries, use cp -a where available. A regular source directory needs no custom copy script. Do not save this page wrapper as SKILL.md.
> Preserve author credit, notices, and applicable licence files from repository or parent directories. Add PROVENANCE.md with the Skill page, source URL, actual commit, original path, and licence. Retain any existing PROVENANCE.md and record new provenance separately. Batch source inspection, copying, and provenance work where practical.
> 5. In the project root, run `skilld install ./skills/yt-audit --mode copy --plain`. If skilld is unavailable, use `npx skilld install ./skills/yt-audit --mode copy --plain`. This known command needs no help lookup. Install does not support --json. Use detected Agent targets, or add --agent for the targets the user selected. Install the local path, never the upstream selector. If installation fails, preserve the local copy and report the exact failure.
> 6. Confirm the local lockfile source and installed Agent copies once. Report the local path, actual commit, and Agent targets. After edits, reinstall the same local path. Upstream updates must not replace it. Do not publish or push unless the user asks.

# yt-audit

An audit that lists twenty problems is a way of avoiding the one that matters. This ends in ONE fix.

## Before you write

1. Read `~/.claude/youtube/voice.md` if it exists. That is the user's voice profile: how they talk
   on camera, the words they never use, who they are talking to, what they will not claim. If it
   does not exist, ask for **three of their own videos**, read or transcribe them, infer the voice,
   and write the file. A script in the wrong voice is worse than no script, because they have to
   read it out loud.
2. Never invent a number, a result or a source. If a figure would strengthen it and you do not have
   one, ask for it or write the line without it.

## What to look at, in this order

1. **The last ten titles, as a set.** Read them as a list, the way the channel page shows them. Do
   they promise different things? Run them through `../yt-package/title.py`. A channel where every
   title is the same shape has a format problem, not a title problem.
2. **The thumbnails, at feed size.** Shrink them. What survives? If three of them are unreadable at
   that size, that is the fix and nothing else matters yet.
3. **The first fifteen seconds of the three most recent.** Transcribe them and score with
   `../yt-script/hookscore.py`. This is where most channels lose.
4. **Upload rhythm.** Not frequency - CONSISTENCY. Six videos in one week and then nothing for a
   month is worse than one a fortnight forever.
5. **The retention shape**, if they can export it. `/yt-retention`.

## What to hand back

- The single biggest fix, named, with what to do this week.
- Three things that are already working, so they do not break them. Be specific; "your energy is
  good" is not an observation.
- What NOT to do yet, and why.

Never open an audit with praise you do not mean, and never end one with a list of twenty things.

## The gate

Nothing here publishes. This skill writes and you publish. Every output ends in a block the user
copies, and the last line of every run is the question: **ship it, or change it?**