Advanced YouTube RSS Feed Automation with n8n

Opening Problem Statement

Meet Joe, a digital marketer who follows more than a dozen YouTube channels to keep abreast of industry trends and video content. Every day, Joe wastes over 2 hours manually checking each channel for new videos, copying links, and crafting emails to his team. Sometimes he misses important releases due to the sheer volume and timing. Not only is this process time-consuming but prone to errors and inconsistent formatting that makes sharing cumbersome.

Joe needs an automated way to monitor his favorite YouTube channels, create personalized and professional notifications, and deliver these updates via email and Telegram without constant manual effort. This is exactly what the “Advanced YouTube RSS Feed Buddy for Your Favorite Channels” workflow in n8n achieves.

What This Automation Does

When this n8n workflow runs, it streamlines YouTube content tracking and notifications with the following outcomes:

• Dynamic RSS Feed Creation: Automatically generate RSS feed URLs for any list of YouTube channel IDs, including a default list or custom input via a form.
• Latest Video Fetching: Reads up to 15 latest videos per channel using RSS feeds and filters videos published within the last 3 days.
• Video Details Enrichment: Enhances video data by calling the YouTube Data API to fetch detailed info like title, description, thumbnails, and embedded player links.
• Multi-Channel Notifications: Sends professional, responsive HTML emails in two formats (one email per video or a digest email with all new videos) and posts messages with thumbnails on Telegram.
• Customizable and Scalable: Supports custom input for YouTube channels via form submissions and flexible scheduling to automate daily checks, adapting to various user needs.
• Content Presentation with AI Assistance: Utilizes OpenAI’s GPT-4o-mini model to generate HTML email templates optimized for professional email clients with rich media cards.

This saves Joe multiple hours daily, eliminates manual errors, and ensures timely, elegant notifications to his team.

Prerequisites ⚙️

• n8n Account: You need an active n8n account (self-hosting possible via Hostinger or equivalent).
• Google API Key 🔑: For accessing the YouTube Data API to get detailed video data.
• Gmail Account 📧: Configured in n8n for sending outgoing emails.
• Telegram Bot Token and Chat ID 💬: For sending video updates as Telegram messages.
• OpenAI API Key 🔑: Used for generating responsive, nicely formatted HTML email cards from video data.

Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Prepare Your YouTube Channel List

Go to the YouTube Channel Ids node and enter your favorite channel IDs as an array string. This can be overridden by form input once the workflow runs.

You should see a default list already configured under Default YouTube Channel Ids node as a fallback.

Common mistake: Forgetting to enter valid YouTube channel IDs or leaving the array empty will cause no RSS feeds to be generated.

Step 2: Configure the Form Trigger

Navigate to the On form submission node to review the form titled “RSS Feed for YouTube Channels.” This form allows submitting custom channel IDs as a JSON array.

Test submitting your channel IDs in JSON array format. The workflow kicks off using this input, overriding defaults.

Expected outcome: The form data triggers the workflow and passes channel IDs downstream.

Step 3: Split Channel IDs into Individual RSS Feed URLs

Check the Create List of Channel Ids and Create RSS Feed URLs1 nodes which split the array of channel IDs to generate individual RSS feed URLs using the template https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id={{channel_id}}.

These URLs feed into the RSS Read – Max 15 Latest Videos per Channel node for fetching video entries.

Common mistake: Not setting the correct destination field name in the split node can lead to no feeds generated.

Step 4: Fetch and Filter Latest Videos

The RSS feed URLs are read using the RSS Feed Read node, limited to max 15 latest videos each.

The Label New Videos Code node then filters videos published within the last 3 days using JavaScript date comparisons.

Only videos marked as recent pass through the Get New Videos filter node for further processing.

Step 5: Enrich Video Data via YouTube API

For each filtered new video, the workflow runs the Workflow Variables node which extracts the video ID and sets your Google API key. This information feeds into the Create YouTube API URL Code node which assembles the full YouTube Data API request URL.

This URL is then used by the Get YouTube Video Details HTTP Request node to retrieve detailed video metadata like embed players, thumbnails, descriptions, and stats.

Outcome: Rich video data is now available, ready for notifications.

Step 6: Prepare Notification Messages

Once detailed data is available, the Prepare For Telegram Message node extracts key video details including thumbnail URL and title to prepare a message for Telegram.

In parallel, the workflow aggregates video items in the One List Object node to compile them into a single array for generating email content.

Step 7: Generate Responsive HTML Email Content using OpenAI

There are two paths here:

• Create Email per Video: Sends individual email cards for each new video. The Create Email per Video LangChain node generates HTML for each video card.
• Create One Email for All Videos: Generates a digest email containing all new videos using Create One Email for All Videos LangChain node.

The HTML cards include clickable titles, thumbnail images, descriptions, and “Play Video” buttons designed for maximum compatibility with email clients.

Step 8: Send Notifications via Email and Telegram

The Multiple Emails Gmail node sends each video notification individually.

The Single Email Gmail node sends a digest email if preferred.

The Telegram node posts a photo message to your designated Telegram chat with video thumbnail and clickable link caption.

Result: Cross-channel notification delivery keeps you and your team fully updated.

Customizations ✏️

• Change Notification Channels: Modify or add nodes to send notifications not just to Gmail or Telegram, but also Slack or other messaging platforms by adding respective nodes and updating message payloads.
• Adjust Recent Video Window: In the Label New Videos code node, change the days variable from 3 to another number to widen or narrow the timeframe for “new” videos.
• Add Video Metrics: Extend the Prepare YouTube Data node to include extra statistics like views, likes, or comments from the YouTube API response for deeper insights in emails.
• Customize Form Fields: Enhance the On form submission node’s form by adding input validation or more fields such as email targets to dynamically change recipients.
• Switch Email Layouts: Modify the HTML template prompts in the LangChain nodes to change styling, color schemes, or add branding elements.

Troubleshooting 🔧

Problem: “The video ID parameter is empty.”

Cause: The video ID is not being extracted properly from the RSS feed data.

Solution: Check the Label New Videos code node logic to ensure video IDs are parsed correctly as item.json.id.split(':')[2]. Also confirm the RSS feed source is not malformed.

Problem: Emails not sending from Gmail node

Cause: Gmail OAuth2 credentials might be expired or not authorized.

Solution: Re-authenticate your Gmail OAuth2 credentials in the Multiple Emails and Single Email nodes by clicking on credentials and connecting again.

Problem: Telegram messages not arriving

Cause: Telegram bot token or chat ID environment variable is misconfigured.

Solution: Verify environment variables TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID and the Telegram credentials in the Telegram node. Test bot permissions and chat membership.

Pre-Production Checklist ✅

• Verify all YouTube Channel IDs are valid and accessible.
• Ensure the Google API Key has YouTube Data API enabled.
• Test email sending through both Gmail nodes with your credentials.
• Check Telegram messages by sending a test photo from the Telegram node.
• Submit mock channel IDs via the form trigger and verify workflow execution end-to-end.
• Backup your workflow version before deploying live changes.

Deployment Guide

Activate the workflow in your n8n environment, ensuring the schedule trigger (Every Day node) is enabled if you want automatic daily checks. Alternatively, trigger manually or via form submissions.

Monitor recent executions in n8n’s UI to ensure successful fetches and notifications. Use the workflow logs to debug any errors.

FAQs

Can I add more channels beyond the default list?

Yes, just add new YouTube channel IDs in the YouTube Channel Ids node or submit through the provided n8n form.

Does this consume YouTube API quota?

Yes, each API call to fetch detailed video data uses quota. Keep an eye on your Google API dashboard.

Is my data secure with this workflow?

All API keys and credentials are stored securely within n8n’s encrypted credential store. Sensitive info is never exposed in logs.

Can I customize email template designs?

Absolutely! The workflow uses OpenAI prompts to generate HTML emails. Modify the prompt text in the LangChain nodes to fit your brand style.

Conclusion

By setting up this advanced YouTube RSS automation with n8n, Joe was able to eliminate hours spent manually checking channels and compiling notifications. His team now receives timely, well-formatted email updates and instant Telegram alerts featuring video thumbnails and clickable links.

This workflow not only saves Joe 2+ hours daily but also improves communication quality and responsiveness. Next, you might explore automating social media sharing for new videos or integrating this feed data into content management systems.

Start building your personalized YouTube notification system with n8n today—it’s reliable, scalable, and highly customizable.