Channels: update
Stay organized with collections
Save and categorize content based on your preferences.
The API now supports the ability to mark your
channel or
videos as "made for kids." In addition,
channel
and
video resources also now contain a property that identifies the "made for kids"
status of that channel or video. The YouTube API Services Terms of Service and Developer Policies
were also updated on 10 January 2020. For more information, see the revision histories for
the
YouTube Data API Service and the
YouTube API Services Terms of Service.
Updates a channel's metadata. Note that this method only supports updates to the channel resource's brandingSettings, invideoPromotion, and localizations objects and their child properties.
Quota impact: A call to this method has a quota cost of 50 units.
Common use cases
Request
HTTP request
PUT https://www.googleapis.com/youtube/v3/channels
Authorization
This request requires authorization with at least one of the following scopes. To read more about authentication and authorization, see Implementing OAuth 2.0 authorization.
| Scope |
|---|
https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtubepartner |
https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtube |
https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtube.force-ssl |
Parameters
The following table lists the parameters that this query supports. All of the parameters listed are query parameters.
| Parameters |
| Required parameters |
part |
string
The part parameter serves two purposes in this operation. It identifies the properties that the write operation will set as well as the properties that the API response will include.
The API only allows the parameter value to be set to either brandingSettings, invideoPromotion, or localizations. (You can only update any one of those parts with a single request.)
Note that this method overrides the existing values for all of the mutable properties that are contained in the part that the parameter value specifies. |
| Optional parameters |
onBehalfOfContentOwner |
string
This parameter can only be used in a properly authorized request.
The onBehalfOfContentOwner parameter indicates that the authenticated user is acting on behalf of the content owner specified in the parameter value. This parameter is intended for YouTube content partners that own and manage many different YouTube channels. It allows content owners to authenticate once and get access to all their video and channel data, without having to provide authentication credentials for each individual channel. The actual CMS account that the user authenticates with needs to be linked to the specified YouTube content owner.
This parameter must be provided if the request is authenticated with credentials for a CMS content owner user acting on a managed channel. If omitted, the request executes under the authenticated user's direct context and returns an HTTP 403 Forbidden error. |
Request body
Provide a channel resource in the request body.
For that resource:
-
You must specify a value for these properties:
-
You can set values for these properties:
brandingSettings.channel.countrybrandingSettings.channel.descriptionbrandingSettings.channel.defaultLanguagebrandingSettings.channel.keywordsbrandingSettings.channel.trackingAnalyticsAccountIdbrandingSettings.channel.unsubscribedTrailerlocalizations.(key)localizations.(key).titlelocalizations.(key).descriptionstatus.selfDeclaredMadeForKids
If you are submitting an update request, and your request does not specify a value for a property that already has a value, the property's existing value will be deleted.
Response
If successful, this method returns a channel resource in the response body.
Errors
The following table identifies error messages that the API could return in response to a call to this method. Fore more details, see YouTube Data API - Errors.
| Error type |
Error detail |
Description |
badRequest (400) |
brandingValidationError |
One of the values in the brandingSettings object failed validation. Use the channels.list method to retrieve the existing settings for the channel, and update the property values following the guidelines in the channels resource documentation. |
badRequest (400) |
channelTitleUpdateForbidden |
When updating a channel's brandingSettings part, you must set the brandingSettings.channel.title property's value to the channel's current title or omit the property. The API returns an error if you change the property's value. |
badRequest (400) |
defaultLanguageNotSetError |
The defaultLanguage must be set to update localizations. |
badRequest (400) |
invalidBrandingOption |
One of the branding settings that you specified does not exist. Use the channels.list method to retrieve valid values and make sure to update them following the guidelines in the channels resource documentation. |
badRequest (400) |
invalidCustomMessage |
The request metadata specifies an invalid custom message. Check the value of the invideoPromotion.items[].customMessage property in the resource that the request sent. |
badRequest (400) |
invalidDuration |
The request metadata specifies an invalid duration in the invideoPromotion part. |
badRequest (400) |
invalidDuration |
The request metadata specifies an invalid position type for determining how the promoted item is positioned in the video player. Check the value of the invideoPromotion.position.type property in the resource that the request sent. |
badRequest (400) |
invalidRecentlyUploadedBy |
The request metadata specifies an invalid channel ID. Check the value of the invideoPromotion.items[].id.recentlyUploadedBy property in the resource that the request sent. |
badRequest (400) |
invalidTimingOffset |
The request metadata specifies an invalid timing offset in the invideoPromotion part. |
badRequest (400) |
invalidTimingOffset |
The request metadata specifies an invalid timing offset for determining when the promoted item should be displayed in the video player. Check the value of the invideoPromotion.timing.offsetMs property in the resource that the request sent. |
badRequest (400) |
invalidTimingType |
The request metadata specifies an invalid timing method for determining when the promoted item should be displayed in the video player. Check the value of the invideoPromotion.timing.type property in the resource that the request sent. |
badRequest (400) |
localizationValidationError |
One of the values in the localizations object failed validation. Use the channels.list method to retrieve valid values and make sure to update them following the guidelines in the channels resource documentation. |
badRequest (400) |
tooManyPromotedItems |
Number of allowed promoted items exceeded in the invideoPromotion part. |
forbidden (403) |
channelForbidden |
The channel specified in the id parameter does not support the request or the request is not properly authorized. |
forbidden (403) |
promotedVideoNotAllowed |
The channel that the API request is attempting to update cannot be found. Check the value of the id property in the channel resource that the request sent to ensure that the channel ID is correct. |
forbidden (403) |
websiteLinkNotAllowed |
The specified website URL is not allowed. |
notFound (404) |
channelNotFound |
The channel specified in the id parameter cannot be found. |
notFound (404) |
channelNotFound |
The channel specified by the id parameter cannot be found or does not have branding options. |
notFound (404) |
unknownChannelId |
The specified channel ID was not found. |
notFound (404) |
unknownChannelId |
The specified recentlyUploadedBy channel ID was not found. |
notFound (404) |
unknownVideoId |
The video ID specified as a promoted item cannot be found. |
required (400) |
requiredItemIdType |
The request metadata must specify an item type in the invideoPromotion part. |
required (400) |
requiredItemId |
The request metadata must specify an item id the invideoPromotion part. |
required (400) |
requiredTimingOffset |
The request metadata must specify a default timing offset so that YouTube can determine when to display the promoted item. Set the value of the invideoPromotion.defaultTiming.offsetMs property in the resource that the request sends. |
required (400) |
requiredTimingOffset |
The request metadata must specify a timing offset so that YouTube can determine when to display the promoted item. Set the value of the invideoPromotion.timing.offsetMs property in the resource that the request sends. |
required (400) |
requiredTimingType |
The request metadata must specify a timing method so that YouTube can determine when to display the promoted item. Set the value of the invideoPromotion.defaultTiming.type property in the resource that the request sends. |
required (400) |
requiredTimingType |
The request metadata must specify a timing method so that YouTube can determine when to display the promoted item. Set the value of the invideoPromotion.timing.type property in the resource that the request sends. |
required (400) |
requiredTiming |
The request metadata must specify a timing for each item in the invideoPromotion part. |
required (400) |
requiredVideoId |
The request metadata must specify a video ID to identify the promoted item. |
required (400) |
requiredWebsiteUrl |
The request metadata must specify a website URL in the invideoPromotion part. Set the value of the invideoPromotion.items[].id.websiteUrl property in the resource that the request sends. |
Try it!
Use the APIs Explorer to call this API and see the API request and response.
Except as otherwise noted, the content of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License, and code samples are licensed under the Apache 2.0 License. For details, see the Google Developers Site Policies. Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.
Last updated 2026-10-15 UTC.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2026-10-15 UTC."],[],[]]
