crewAIInc/crewAI · error · ImportError

YouTube channel support requires pytube. Install with: uv ad

Error message

YouTube channel support requires pytube. Install with: uv add pytube

What it means

An ImportError raised by the YouTube channel loader when the optional dependency pytube is not installed in the environment. The import is deferred to load() time, so the failure only appears when a YouTube channel source is actually loaded, not at package import. The message tells you the exact install command for the uv workflow.

Source

Thrown at lib/crewai-tools/src/crewai_tools/rag/loaders/youtube_channel_loader.py:29

    """Loader for YouTube channels."""

    def load(self, source: SourceContent, **kwargs: Any) -> LoaderResult:  # type: ignore[override]
        """Load and extract content from a YouTube channel.

        Args:
            source: The source content containing the YouTube channel URL

        Returns:
            LoaderResult with channel content

        Raises:
            ImportError: If required YouTube libraries aren't installed
            ValueError: If the URL is not a valid YouTube channel URL
        """
        try:
            from pytube import Channel  # type: ignore[import-untyped]
        except ImportError as e:
            raise ImportError(
                "YouTube channel support requires pytube. Install with: uv add pytube"
            ) from e

        channel_url = source.source

        if not any(
            pattern in channel_url
            for pattern in [
                "youtube.com/channel/",
                "youtube.com/c/",
                "youtube.com/@",
                "youtube.com/user/",
            ]
        ):
            raise ValueError(f"Invalid YouTube channel URL: {channel_url}")

        metadata: dict[str, Any] = {
            "source": channel_url,

View on GitHub (pinned to 754d7323be)

Solutions

Run: uv add pytube (or pip install pytube) in the same environment/venv that runs your application.
Verify with: python -c "from pytube import Channel; print('ok')".
If using a locked deployment (Docker, serverless), rebuild the image/layer after adding the dependency.
Check for a local file named pytube.py shadowing the real package.

Example fix

# before
# pytube missing -> ImportError at load()
result = yt_channel_loader.load(SourceContent(path=channel_url))

# after (shell)
# uv add pytube
result = yt_channel_loader.load(SourceContent(path=channel_url))

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

def pytube_available() -> bool:
    try:
        from pytube import Channel  # noqa: F401
        return True
    except ImportError:
        return False

Try / catch

try:
    result = yt_channel_loader.load(src)
except ImportError as e:
    if "pytube" in str(e):
        raise ConfigError("install pytube to use YouTube channel sources") from e
    raise

Prevention

Declare YouTube extras in your own project's dependencies if you use these loaders.
Run a dependency availability check at app startup and disable YouTube sources when missing.
Pin optional deps in the same lockfile as everything else.

When it happens

Trigger: Installing crewai-tools without the youtube extras, then calling youtube_channel_loader.load(...). Also triggered in environments where pytube was removed, or where a conflicting 'pytube' shadow package is installed.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of crewAIInc/crewAI@754d7323be (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/398ec3f0289343ca. Report an issue: GitHub.