Youtube Killed My Comment Alerts, So I Vibe-coded A Fix To Get Them Back - In Just 1 Hour

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ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• YouTube killed remark emails, hurting engagement workflows.
• Gemini helped rebuild alerts utilizing a elemental Python script.
• AI makes one-off automation projects accelerated and practical.

Comments are nan lifeblood of YouTube video engagement. Comments thief creators prosecute their audience. They are besides a awesome to The Algorithm that viewers are engaged.

YouTube prioritizes engaged viewers, truthful nan much comments, nan better. One of nan champion ways to guarantee much regular comments is for nan video shaper to respond to readers quickly and clearly.

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Until nan mediate of past year, YouTube sent retired an email whenever a spectator commented connected a video. That was my trigger. If I received an email saying that I had a comment, I clicked successful and responded.

But astatine nan extremity of June, YouTube softly turned disconnected that very adjuvant feature. The only measurement I knew for judge that it wasn't a glitch connected my extremity was a post buried connected X from Team YouTube.

Screenshot by David Gewirtz/ZDNET

So, email notifications are nary more. There are different approaches. Most societal web guidance devices see YouTube arsenic a societal network. You tin log successful to a social-network head and look astatine what comments request to beryllium handled, successful nan aforesaid measurement you tin cheque if location are mentions of your institution connected X, Facebook, aliases Instagram.

Unfortunately, it quickly became evident that this replacement script didn't activity for me. I'm not called to action by societal media managers. I'm called to action by circumstantial emails that onshore successful folders I cheque each day. I unrecorded successful email, truthful this makes nan astir consciousness for my activity style.

In a normal world, it wouldn't person mattered what useful champion for me. You takes what you're given, and you loves it, right? But this is nary normal world. This is 'The Age of AI.' And wherever there's AI, thing is possible.

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Before I spell on, I want to apologize to anyone who mightiness person near a remark connected my YouTube channel. I usually make it a privilege to respond, but since I wasn't getting email notifications, I conscionable assumed I wasn't getting immoderate comments. That's now been fixed, truthful if you remark now, I'll know. Read connected to study how.

So I AI'd maine a solution

I MacGyvered a hack utilizing Gemini. That's nan magical point astir AI. You tin often usage it to lick problems that antecedently would person been impractical aliases impossible.

Take this notification issue. YouTube does person API calls that make building thing to lick this problem doable, but you'd person to constitute immoderate caller code. I'm a bully capable programmer that I'm judge I could person done so.

In nan pre-AI world, I could have, but I wouldn't have. That's because I don't person nan free clip to warrant a single-purpose usage programming task that would return maine 3 aliases 4 weekends to execute (at best).

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But now, a fewer prompts to nan AI, and astir an hr to hook everything up, and I person a moving solution.

As I locomotion you done really I did this task, please support successful mind really you tin AI a solution retired of almost anything. It's not that I expect galore of you will request email-based notifications for YouTube comments. But astir of you reference this will want to create thing to lick a problem that you unsocial want to solve.

AIs, specified arsenic Gemini and ChatGPT, tin do that activity if you collaborate carefully. I'm utilizing nan paid $20/mo Gemini Pro tier for this task because Gemini is getting amended and better, but I could person utilized ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, aliases Copilot.

Is location an API for that?

I first looked astatine nan user-level features that mightiness person helped maine make notifications. I asked Gemini, "Does YouTube person an RSS provender for comments?"

I was told, "No. They really utilized to supply remark RSS feeds, but that characteristic was permanently discontinued backmost successful 2015. Today, nan only autochthonal RSS feeds YouTube still supports are for caller video uploads, leaving organization interactions wholly retired of nan loop."

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Then I asked, "What different automated remark notification devices are there?" I was sent to a fewer commercialized devices for managing YouTube comments, but extracurricular of nan email flow. You log successful to a third-party dashboard and negociate nan comments. That's not what I wanted.

But past I asked nan magic question, "Is location immoderate programming interface whatsoever to beryllium capable to show and extract YouTube comments?"

This mobility resulted successful precisely what I wanted to hear: "Yes, location is an charismatic programming interface provided by Google specifically for this purpose: nan YouTube Data API v3."

Gemini continued, "This is nan nonstop aforesaid underlying architecture that powers nan third-party automation devices and societal media inboxes we discussed earlier. If you person immoderate programming knowledge, you tin bypass those subscriptions wholly and build your ain civilization extraction and monitoring system."

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Then it asked nan champion starring question, ever: "Would you for illustration I constitute a basal illustration book successful Python that demonstrates really to extract your channel's comments?"

Why, yes, I would.

The spec successful 1 condemnation

Here's what I told Gemini. I said, "What would a Python book that does this look like? All it would person to do is canvass each hr to spot if location are caller comments and past nonstop an email pinch links to nan comments."

Gemini past wrote nan book for me. The consequence requires inserting a free YouTube Data API v3 cardinal from nan Google Cloud Console and an app password for my YouTube account, but these are easy to get and use.

Gemini suggested, "You tin tally this book straight connected your section computer, aliases fto it tally successful nan inheritance connected a inexpensive unreality server (like a Raspberry Pi aliases an AWS EC2 instance) truthful it monitors your transmission 24/7."

This output triggered an aha infinitesimal that I confess I hadn't considered. I told Gemini, "I person a Linux container moving a mates of Docker instances. Can I group up this Python book successful nan inheritance moving successful Docker?"

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Even though I've been coding successful Python for immoderate clip now, and it's some straightforward and powerful, I hadn't thought of creating a Docker lawsuit to tally Python scripts automatically.

Just arsenic a speedy background, Docker is simply a instrumentality service. Basically, it's for illustration a virtual instrumentality (VM), but without nan machine. When you group up a VM, you're configuring an full machine emulator and an full operating strategy installation. So, if you're moving a bunch of VMs, you person a batch of overhead (and perchance OS licenses) to woody with.

A instrumentality work for illustration Docker adds nan application-specific furniture connected apical of immoderate different operating system. You tin tally nan aforesaid Docker instrumentality connected a Linux, Mac, aliases Windows computer, and it will mostly beryllium happy. I've been using Docker for article archiving pinch Karakeep connected an aged 2012 Intel Mac mini. This setup has had nary capacity issues whatsoever.

Before I asked Gemini for configuration guidelines, I realized I wanted 1 further characteristic successful my code. I wanted my Python monitoring book to cheque if nan YouTube API I'm utilizing still exists and fto maine cognize if it nary longer works.

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I prompted Gemini, "It's ever imaginable that YouTube will deprecate nan API codification I'm utilizing successful this Python script. Extend nan codification to see a trial for nan API's beingness (possibly done a timeout test) that notifies maine via email if nan API is nary longer available. Tell it to effort a fewer times complete nan people of a mates of days earlier sending maine that notification."

It replied, "To do this, we are going to alteration really nan book handles web errors. Instead of softly ignoring them, nan book will now support a moving tally of consecutive failures. Because nan book checks each hour, 48 consecutive failures equals precisely 2 days of nan API being unreachable."

And past it gave maine caller code.

Hooking it each up

Preparing nan codification progressive filling successful nan pursuing lines:

For nan first element, I went to nan Google Cloud Console and created a caller project. I selected APIs & Services, past Libraries, and past chose YouTube Data API v3. All that was needed was to deed nan alteration button. There's a Create API cardinal button. Pressing that fastener created a matter cardinal I brought backmost and pasted into my Python code.

Next up is nan Channel ID. This is conscionable a matter of going to nan YouTube transmission successful question, past Settings nether nan profile, visiting Advanced Settings, and copying nan ID.

Finally, I went to my Google relationship guidance page, searched for App Passwords, and created 1 for this caller app.

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You don't person to cognize really to do these steps. I simply told Gemini to locomotion maine done nan steps to get these 3 identifiers, and it did. The AI presented maine pinch step-by-step instructions that I followed to get nan occupation done.

Next, it was clip to hook everything to my Docker instance, controlled by Portainer, a Docker guidance tool. I erstwhile again utilized Gemini to guideline maine done nan steps. In summation to nan Python code, Gemini had maine create a very mini requirements record and nan Docker file, which defines nan Docker instance.

Then Gemini gave maine a fewer command-line instructions to type successful and run. There were a fewer back-and-forth interactions wherever I told Gemini what was connected nan screen, grabbed a screenshot, and past followed Gemini's instructions.

After a fewer minutes, I had my Docker lawsuit up and running, and an progressive comment-monitoring system. If you want to cheque retired what Gemini built, I posted nan Python codification to GitHub. Feel free to usage it, but please don't inquire maine for tech support. I built this quickly for my ain use. If you request help, I'd urge you scope retired to Gemini.

So does it work?

Yes, it does. The app checks for comments erstwhile an hour. This morning, I had this connection successful my email:

Screenshot by David Gewirtz/ZDNET

That's precisely what I wanted. You tin surely tally a task for illustration this pinch Claude aliases ChatGPT. This is nan first clip I've taken Gemini each nan measurement from thought to a complete, moving project. I person to opportunity that I was impressed by utilizing Gemini 3.1 and nan Pro account.

The AI answered each my questions, interacted intelligibly pinch nary hallucinations, and successful little clip than it took maine to constitute this article, I built a civilization Python-based solution for my YouTube channel.

I americium earnestly stoked.

What astir you?

Have you noticed nan alteration successful YouTube remark notifications, and has it affected really you prosecute pinch your audience? Would you build your ain solution utilizing AI and APIs, aliases trust connected third-party tools? Have you tried "vibe coding" a speedy hole for illustration this, and really did it activity out? What kinds of mundane annoyances would you automate if you could? Let america cognize successful nan comments below.

You tin travel my day-to-day task updates connected societal media. Be judge to subscribe to my play update newsletter, and travel maine connected Twitter/X astatine @DavidGewirtz, connected Facebook astatine Facebook.com/DavidGewirtz, connected Instagram astatine Instagram.com/DavidGewirtz, connected Bluesky astatine @DavidGewirtz.com, and connected YouTube astatine YouTube.com/DavidGewirtzTV.