A private tool for running one YouTube channel.

First Instinct Publishing prepares, uploads and measures videos for the First Instinct quiz channel on YouTube. It is operated by one person, for that one channel, and is not offered to anyone else.

What it is

First Instinct Publishing is a command-line program that runs on the operator's own computer. It builds quiz episodes, checks them against a set of quality gates, uploads an approved episode to the operator's own YouTube channel with the visibility the operator chose, and later reads that channel's own performance figures so the operator can see how an episode did.

It is not a service, a product or a website. There are no user accounts, no sign-up, and nothing to log into. Nobody but the operator can use it, and it never touches any YouTube channel other than the one it is configured for. This page exists because Google requires a public homepage and privacy policy for an application that requests access to a Google account — including one used by a single person.

What it does, in order

Builds an episode locally — questions, narration, video, thumbnails.
Runs quality checks. An episode that fails them cannot proceed.
Waits for the operator to review the finished video and approve it by hand.
Confirms the connected account is the intended channel, and stops if it is not.
Uploads the approved video with the visibility the operator chose — private, unlisted or public. Private is the default when the approval is made, choosing public takes a second explicit acknowledgement, and the program never selects a visibility on its own: an approval that carries no visibility is refused at upload rather than defaulted.
Shows the YouTube upload certification notice and the Made for Kids designation notice immediately before the upload begins, and stops if they are not accepted.
Later, reads that channel's own analytics to record how the video performed.

Google data it uses

Three permissions, requested from the operator's own Google account, and nothing wider:

Permission	Why it is needed
`youtube.readonly`	Read the connected channel's name, ID and handle, so the tool can confirm it is pointed at the right channel before it does anything.
`youtube.upload`	Upload an approved video to that channel. The operator selects private, unlisted or public, and designates whether the video is Made for Kids, when approving it. The program supplies neither value on its own: an approval missing either one is refused rather than filled in.
`yt-analytics.readonly`	Read that channel's own performance figures — views, watch time, retention.

Credentials are stored on the operator's own computer, and are sent only to Google's own OAuth and API endpoints, as any client must in order to authenticate and make authorised requests. Data obtained from YouTube is not sold and is not shared with unrelated third parties. While that data is retained, the tool confirms at least every 30 days that it is still authorised — with no grace period past that — and it provides a command that revokes the grant at Google and deletes what it holds.

The privacy policy sets out exactly what is accessed, used, stored and shared, and how to withdraw access.

Who runs it

First Instinct Publishing is built and operated by the owner of the First Instinct YouTube channel. Questions about how it handles data can go to the contact address in the privacy policy. Use of the tool is subject to the terms.