A plain-language overview of the access we'll request, who on your team should connect, and what to expect during setup.

What to expect

Connecting takes a couple of minutes. When you add the YouTube integration in Medialake, you'll be redirected to the official Google sign-in screen — you pick the Google account (or Brand Account) that owns your YouTube channel, then Google shows a consent screen describing what Medialake is asking for. You approve it yourself and can revoke access at any time. We never see or store your password — the login happens entirely on Google's site, and once you approve you're returned to Medialake.

> If your Google account has connected to Medialake before (for example, another Medialake integration), Google may show "medialakeAI already has some access" instead of re-listing the permissions. That's Google confirming what you previously granted — nothing new is being added.

We follow the principle of least privilege — and YouTube is the easy case: Google offers a genuinely read-only scope for YouTube, and that single scope is all we request. We never upload, edit, or delete anything on your channel. All data is read through Google's official YouTube Data API (v3).

You                    Medialake                  Google│  connect source         │                         ││────────────────────────▶│                         ││  redirect to Google     │                         ││◀────────────────────────│                         ││  sign in & grant access │                         ││──────────────────────────────────────────────────▶││  redirect with code     │                         ││◀──────────────────────────────────────────────────││                         │  exchange code          ││                         │────────────────────────▶││                         │  access + refresh token ││                         │◀────────────────────────││  source authorized      │                         ││◀────────────────────────│                         ││                         │  renews automatically   ││                         │────────────────────────▶│

Verifying it's really us

On Google's consent screen, check that the app requesting access is:

App name: MedialakeAI

If the app name doesn't match, stop and contact us. Never approve a Google access request you weren't expecting.

Who should do the connecting

The connection is tied to the account that signs in, and the integration reads that account's own channel. Please have it done by:

Someone who signs in as the channel itself — for personal channels that's the owner's Google account; for channels owned by a Brand Account, pick the Brand Account on Google's account chooser during sign-in (channel owners and managers can do this).
A permanent member of your team. If the person who authorized us loses their access to the channel, the connection stops working and someone else will need to reconnect.

Their Google login is used only to authorize the connection — we get access to your YouTube channel's content and statistics, never their email or other Google services.

You choose what we sync

After you approve and are redirected back to Medialake, you select what to sync — your channel's full video library ("All videos") or specific playlists. Either way, Medialake only ever sees the channel belonging to the account that connected.

The permission we request

Permission (scope)	What it lets us do	How we use it
`youtube.readonly`	View your YouTube channel — playlists, videos, and their statistics.	READ ONLY

On Google's consent screen this appears as "View your YouTube account" — and unlike most ad platforms, this wording matches exactly what it is: a read-only permission. There is no fine print; the scope itself cannot upload, edit, comment, or delete.

Verified by Google

The MedialakeAI app has completed Google's OAuth app verification: our branding is verified (the name and identity you see on the consent screen are vetted by Google) and our data access is verified (Google has reviewed the scopes we request and why). Unverified apps show a warning screen and are capped by Google — you'll see neither when connecting to Medialake.

What we can't see or do

We cannot:

See or store your password, or log in as you
Access Gmail, Google Drive, or any other Google service — only the YouTube Data API
Upload, edit, or delete videos; post or moderate comments; change any channel setting
See private viewer data or channels other than the one that connected

Staying connected

Google issues refresh tokens, so the connection renews itself — there's no fixed expiry to plan around. A connection only stops working if it goes unused for about six months, if the connecting account loses the channel, or if access is revoked — the full list of cases is in Google's OAuth 2.0 documentation under "Refresh token expiration". If that happens, just reconnect from the YouTube integration in Medialake — it takes a minute.

Revoking access

You're in control at any time. To remove Medialake:

Google Account → Third-party apps & services → select the Medialake app → Remove access, or
Disconnect the YouTube source from its settings page in Medialake.

Revoking from the Google side invalidates the tokens and data collection stops without any action needed from us — Google notes it may take a short time for the revocation to take full effect.

Troubleshooting

Issues while connecting typically relate to signing in with an account that doesn't own or manage the channel (especially Brand Account channels — make sure to pick the Brand Account on Google's account chooser), or to your organization's Google Workspace settings restricting third-party app access. If you get stuck, contact [email protected] and we'll walk you through it.

YouTube — Authentication