● Start
Channelsmith guide.
Running the studio on your own server.
Offline documentation for the person who runs a Channelsmith server: a studio for documentary and explainer videos for YouTube channels. Start with the install page, then go down the list.
01The pages, in order
- Install: Docker, or plain Node.js on Ubuntu with Chrome and ffmpeg
- First steps in the console: the owner account, the public URL, your first studio user
- The console in pictures: the pages you will use most, with screenshots
- Keys: Anthropic, ElevenLabs, Pexels, Pixabay, Google, Stripe, Resend, and what each one switches on
- Your first episode, step by step: from a new channel to the upload, with screenshots
- How an episode is made: channels, the Idea Lab, the nine steps, Shorts, language versions, autopilot
- How the parts fit: the server, the engine, the outside services and where your data lives
- Publishing to YouTube: your Google OAuth client, the API audit, quota and the AI disclosure
- Footage, licences and credits: where clips come from and how they are credited
- Plans and credits: what customers can do and what each step costs
- Stripe webhook: getting paid and having payments recorded
- Backups:
npm run backup,npm run restore, a nightly cron line - Updates: installing a new version safely with
npm run upgrade-check - API and webhooks: the REST API at
/api/v1and signed webhooks - MCP server: let Claude Desktop or Claude Code work with your channels
- Troubleshooting
- Changelog: what changed in each version
02Two addresses
Two addresses matter on a running server:
| Address | Who uses it |
|---|---|
/admin | You, the operator: settings, keys, plans, customers, channels, System health |
/app | Your customers and staff: the studio where channels and episodes are made |
Nothing is ever published to YouTube without a person approving it in the studio.