I watch a lot of YouTube. And I hate the algorithm’s feedback loop — it keeps showing me more of what I already watch, not what I should watch.
So I built a simple skill for nanobot: YouTube Recommender. It gives me curated video suggestions based on any topic, right in WhatsApp.
Why Not Just Use YouTube?
YouTube’s recommendation algorithm is great at engagement, not great at discovery. It’s optimized for watch time, not learning.
I wanted something different:
- Topic-based search, not profile-based suggestions
- Duration filtering (sometimes I want 3 minutes, sometimes 30)
- Engagement-based ranking without the filter bubble
- Clean, no-nonsense output
How It Works
The skill searches YouTube’s Data API and ranks videos by:
- View count (logarithmic scaling — avoids viral-only results)
- Duration bonus (prefers medium-length content)
- Recency bonus (slight boost for newer videos)
Usage Examples
Find a quick tutorial
/ytrec react hooks tutorial short
Deep dive into a topic
/ytrec silicon valley tv series analysis long
Quick bite-sized content
/ytrec taalas deep dive tiny
Get specific to a year
/ytrec silicon valley analysis 2025
Sample Output
Here’s what I get back:
## 🎬 Top Picks
### Long-Form Analysis (20+ min)
**🎬 Silicon Valley | Ten Years Later: The Extended Pied Piper Documentary**
- **HBO** • 28:15 • 4.4M views
- Official documentary looking back at the show's legacy
- https://youtube.com/watch?v=ab1H602yc_Y
Clean, direct, with direct links. No scrolling, no thumbnails, no autoplay.
Duration Filters
tiny— Less than 5 minutes (quick tips, overviews)short— 5 to 20 minutes (tutorials, explainers)long— 20+ minutes (deep dives, documentaries)
Under the Hood
Built with Python, using:
- YouTube Data API v3 for reliable search results
- Custom scoring algorithm that balances views, duration, and recency
- WhatsApp-friendly emoji formatting for chat output
Get It
git clone https://github.com/CCAgentOrg/nanobot-skills.git
cd nanobot-skills/youtube-recommender
pip install -e .
Source: CCAgentOrg/nanobot-skills
It’s simple, opinionated, and saves me time. That’s the point.
I ask, nanobot delivers. No clicking through recommendations, no getting sucked into the algorithm. Just what I asked for.