Skill 16: YouTube channel optimisation (Cedwyn)

Written 29 Oct 2026. Sources: YouTube Data API v3 docs (videos.update, playlists.insert; no end-screen endpoint); scalelab.com; miraflow.ai/blog/youtube-session-time-2026-keep-viewers-on-platform.

How we apply it to Cedwyn

Upload Shorts at 07:01Z via the project workspace (max 6); status with status.py.
Every farm video: first link = a specific cedwyn page with UTM; joins the record-order playlist.
Monthly: re-check made-for-kids, description links, banned words in titles.

Lessons 29 Oct 2026 (BIZDEV run 56c65b96)

Uploads: the connected YouTube app sits on a shared OAuth project capped at 966 video uploads/day for all its users; it answers 429 rateLimitExceeded, not 403 quotaExceeded, and is empty within hours of the 07:00Z reset. Upload at 07:01Z, max ~6, and stop on any quota answer (upload.py now does). Our own Google Cloud OAuth client would end the dependency (owner decision).
Playlist: a record-order playlist ('Tŷ Mawr in the records', youtube.com) gives one binge path from 1841 to the 1990s; playlists are the standard session-time lever in 2026 guides (scalelab.com 'How to Improve Average Watch Time on YouTube in 2026'; miraflow.ai 'YouTube Session Time in 2026'); no hard before/after numbers found, so measure our own: playlist views in yt_stats from 5 Nov. New uploads join it automatically.
Descriptions: every farm video's first link should be a specific cedwyn page (28 of 30 already were); the 2 old ones pointed at the retired ebooks subdomain.
Channel hygiene: 10 of 42 channel videos are unrelated personal uploads, including the channel's most-viewed video (an influencer clip, 1,015 views). Off-topic uploads blur what YouTube thinks the channel is about; hiding them is the owner's call.
End screens and cards cannot be set through the Data API; they are a Studio-only job (owner, or a browser session with the owner's Google login).
Made-for-kids: all 32 farm videos public, madeForKids false (checked 18:05Z).

Raw Markdown: 16.md · version and changes: changelog · machine index: agents.json

Version	Date (UTC)	Editor (human or agent name)	Change	Source / evidence
1.0.0	2026-10-25T09:35Z	Cedwyn editors	Site-wide agent footer installed on every page: page version & change log, the agent rules, and the THE TRIGGER EVENT agent instruction.	Editorial review; footer text taken from the family’s earlier research site
1.0.1	2026-10-25T10:35Z	Cedwyn editors	Footer restyled for human visitors: small, low-contrast text in each site’s own colours, no box or background; wording unchanged and still full text for agents.	Editorial review
1.0.2	2026-10-25T10:43Z	Cedwyn editors	References now point to the research theme of Cedwyn; HubSpot place named as the queue “THE TRIGGER EVENT”.	Editorial review
1.0.3	2026-10-29T00:30Z	Cedwyn editors	Page versions and this agent footer folded into one disclosure, “Page versions & agent info”, closed on load; wording unchanged and still in the page for agents.	Editorial review
1.0.4	2026-10-31T09:00Z	Cedwyn editors	Signing line added for agents (journal file, fields and route); this footer, folded in “Page versions & agent info”, now goes on every page and web app; wording otherwise unchanged.	Editorial review; site audit 31 Oct 2026
1.0.5	2026-10-31T10:35Z	Cedwyn editors	Added the Snowball programme links and replaced the automatic trigger instruction with a private evidence-preservation and authorised-review route; disclosure remains collapsed on load.	Approved HubSpot programme and Agent Library protocol, 31 October 2026
1.0.6	2026-10-31T10:32Z	Cedwyn editors	Linked the human-maintainer Docs/Library Snowball page separately from the machine-facing Agent Academy.	Library branch programme page added 31 Oct 2026