Longform Publish — Folder Method
Publish your long-form videos to YouTube from a local folder.
Drop your edited videos into ~/Long form videos/. This skill picks them up, uploads to YouTube via Late API, and generates optimized titles, descriptions, and tags via Gemini.
For creators who edit their own YouTube content and want automated publishing.
Watch Folder
Default: ~/Desktop/Long form videos/
The skill scans this folder for video files (.mp4, .mov, .webm) that haven't been published yet. Published videos get a .published.json sidecar file so they're not re-posted.
Folder Structure
~/Long form videos/ ├── how-to-build-ai-agents.mp4 ← ready to publish ├── weekly-vlog-march.mov ← ready to publish ├── old-video.mp4 ← already published ├── old-video.published.json ← sidecar (marks as published) └── thumbnails/ ← optional: matching thumbnails └── how-to-build-ai-agents.jpg ← auto-matched by filename
Naming Convention
Name files descriptively — Gemini uses the filename for context:
how-to-build-ai-agents-2024.mp4→ title about building AI agentsday-in-my-life-austin-texas.mov→ vlog-style title about Austin
Thumbnails
Put matching thumbnails in a thumbnails/ subfolder with the same base name:
- Video:
my-video.mp4 - Thumbnail:
thumbnails/my-video.jpg(or.png)
Usage
bash# Publish the next unpublished video node skills/longform-publish-folder/scripts/longform-publish-folder.js # Publish a specific file node skills/longform-publish-folder/scripts/longform-publish-folder.js --file "~/Long form videos/my-video.mp4" # Preview metadata without publishing node skills/longform-publish-folder/scripts/longform-publish-folder.js --dry-run # Custom watch folder node skills/longform-publish-folder/scripts/longform-publish-folder.js --folder "~/Desktop/youtube" # Publish ALL unpublished videos (batch mode) node skills/longform-publish-folder/scripts/longform-publish-folder.js --all --limit 3 # Override video topic for better metadata node skills/longform-publish-folder/scripts/longform-publish-folder.js --topic "Tutorial on building AI automation systems" # Schedule for later node skills/longform-publish-folder/scripts/longform-publish-folder.js --schedule "2026-03-20T14:00:00" # Set visibility (public/private/unlisted) node skills/longform-publish-folder/scripts/longform-publish-folder.js --visibility unlisted
Flags
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
--file PATH | Publish a specific video file |
--folder PATH | Override watch folder (default: ~/Long form videos/) |
--schedule DATETIME | ISO datetime to schedule publish |
--topic TEXT | Override topic for metadata generation |
--visibility | YouTube visibility: public, private, unlisted (default: public) |
--all | Publish all unpublished videos in folder |
--limit N | Max videos to publish in --all mode (default: 3) |
--dry-run | Preview metadata, skip publishing |
Environment Variables
| Variable | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
LATE_API_KEY | Yes | Late API key for publishing |
GEMINI_API_KEY | Yes | Gemini API key for metadata generation |
INSFORGE_CONNECTION_STRING | No | Database for post tracking |
Generated Metadata
Gemini generates:
- Title — Clickable, YouTube-optimized (under 100 chars)
- Description — Full description with timestamps placeholder, links, hashtags
- Tags — 10-15 relevant tags for discoverability
Output
After publishing, each video gets a .published.json sidecar:
json{ "source_file": "how-to-build-ai-agents.mp4", "media_url": "https://cdn.getlate.dev/media/...", "late_post_id": "post_abc123", "youtube_video_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ", "published_at": "2026-03-13T12:00:00Z", "title": "How I Built an AI Agent That Runs My Entire Business", "description": "...", "tags": ["ai", "automation", "business", ...] }
Cron Schedule (Recommended)
Check for new videos daily:
0 10 * * * node skills/longform-publish-folder/scripts/longform-publish-folder.js
