Uploading to YouTube

YouTube works the same way as the other two platforms in Lusiesta Studio: the engine takes one vertical clip, puts it into the phone gallery and runs the upload scenario inside the YouTube app. The main format is Shorts. This article covers what has to be ready on the phone before you start, how to create the task, what happens on the device and why YouTube statistics need a separate setup.

How YouTube differs from TikTok and Instagram

• The account here is not an app account but the Google account on the phone itself. You sign in once by hand, either in the device system settings or in YouTube.
• If the account has several channels, the app publishes from the channel selected in the YouTube app on the phone. There is no channel switch in the task - pick the right channel manually in advance.
• YouTube clones can be installed and used as well, but every clone is a separate copy of the app with its own sign-in.
• Statistics for YouTube clips are collected differently from TikTok and Instagram: you need your own YouTube Data API key.

What to prepare

1. Connect the phone over USB and make sure it is visible on the "Home" page.
2. Install the Siesta input agent with the "Initialize agent" button in the "Quick actions" panel on the right.
3. Sign in to the right Google account on the phone and open YouTube at least once, going through all the first-run screens.
4. Assign a proxy to the device if your accounts are split across networks.
5. Prepare vertical clips and a caption list - see preparing content for upload.

Creating the task

1. Click "New publication" in the left menu.
2. Turn on the toggle on the YouTube card - it is labeled "Shorts / videos".
3. In the "Media" section switch to "Local folder" and point it at the folder with your clips, or drag the files into the upload zone.
4. Fill in the "Captions" block. The first line of the list becomes the caption of the current publication, and hashtags go into the same line.
5. In "Publishing options" set "Threads" and "Start time" - "Start now" or "Scheduled" with an interval from 1 to 72 hours.
6. Tick the phones in the "Devices" section, and if you work with clones turn on the YouTube toggle in the "Clones" section.
7. Click "Start publishing". You will see "Tasks started: N" or "Tasks scheduled: N".

Each device gets its own "Video upload" task. Progress is visible on the "Tasks" page and the detailed log on the "Logs" page.

What happens on the phone

1. The gallery is wiped and exactly one clip from the queue is transferred to the device.
2. The YouTube app is launched and the scenario reads the interface tree and follows it: video creation, choosing Shorts, moving to the gallery.
3. The uploaded video is selected and the scenario goes through the confirmation screens.
4. The Siesta agent pastes the caption through the clipboard, after which the post is published.
5. The account name and the clip link are captured from the screen - they go to "Statistics".

A successful result in the log looks like "YouTube: video published". If the account is signed out you get "YouTube: account is not signed in", and if the scenario did not reach the end "YouTube: failed to publish" together with the tail of the log, which shows where it stopped.

Statistics for YouTube clips

Views and likes for published clips are pulled through the YouTube Data API, and you create the key for it yourself. Open "Settings", go to the "Statistics" tab and add the key in the YouTube API keys block - every key shows its status: "Valid", "Error", "Checking", "Quota exceeded" or "New".

The quota of a YouTube Data API key is finite. If a key goes into the "Quota exceeded" status, the metrics simply stop updating until the quota resets - this has no effect on publishing itself, and clips keep uploading.

Typical problems

"YouTube: account is not signed in". The scenario saw a prompt on screen to sign in to a Google account or add one. Sign in manually on the phone, open YouTube, make sure the feed loads and the create button is available, and start the task again.

No access to files. The first time it opens the gallery, YouTube asks for access to photos and videos. Grant the permission once by hand; if the firmware offers access to selected files only, it is better to grant full media access - otherwise the fresh clip may not show up in the list.

The gallery did not refresh. After the transfer the system is asked to rescan the media library, but some firmware updates the list with a delay. Close YouTube with Close All in the device card menu, click "Clear gallery" in the panel on the right if needed, and run the task again.

The app updated and changed its interface. YouTube reworks the Shorts creation screen regularly. Publishing scenarios arrive from the server the moment a task starts, so the fix comes without reinstalling the client - restarting the app is enough. If a task failed, click "Report an error" on it: the screenshot and the interface tree are attached automatically, see one-click error report.

The task fails because of the agent. Messages about an agent that is not installed or accessibility access that has not been granted are solved with the "Initialize agent" button in the panel on the right, and on strict firmware with the "Enable manually" button in the Siesta app on the phone.

The task ended with a message about the plan limit. Publishing does not start on devices beyond the limit of your plan. Details are in plans and the device limit.

A sensible publishing pace

The app has no influence on the decisions of the platform: it only repeats what a person does on a real phone. No promises about reach or about avoiding restrictions can be made. What is in your hands: different content on different channels, different captions, posts spread out over time and a live account that does not start with ten Shorts on day one. Technically you set this up with the interval in "Start time" and the number of threads.