Automation

YouTube
Smart Playlists

Podcast-style automation for your subscriptions

The Vision

Make playlists work like podcasts

No more newest-first chaos. No more manually removing videos you've watched. Just a clean queue that plays in order and maintains itself automatically.

Oldest First

Watch in upload order

Auto-Clean

Watched videos removed

Smart Refresh

Category-based timing

Categories

Suggested playlist structure

News & Current Events Every 12 hours Keep 20
AI & Tech Updates Every 3 days Keep 30
DIY & Projects 2–3× per week Keep 50
Theology & Sermons Weekly Keep 30
Entertainment Weekly Keep 20

Process

How it works

1 Check subscribed channels for new uploads
2 Add new videos to playlist (oldest at top)
3 Check watch history for completed videos
4 Remove watched videos automatically
5 Trim playlist to max size when needed

Runs via OpenClaw cron — no external services, no Railway costs.

Requirements

What I need from you

YouTube API access
OAuth authorization to read/modify your playlists
Channel list per category
Which channels should feed into which playlist?
Category confirmation
Adjust, add, or remove from the suggested list
Playlist naming preference
e.g., "📰 News Queue" or just "News"

Next Steps

Ready when you are

Approve this plan → Set up YouTube OAuth together → Send channel lists → I'll build and test with one category first → Roll out to all.

Reply to approve

— Tony 🐾