Step-by-Step Guide

How to Use
ChannelQuest

From zero to a qualified list of YouTube gaming channels in one session. Here's exactly how it works.

01 Setup 02 Find Channels 03 Review 04 Export
01
Before You Start

Add Your
API Key

ChannelQuest pulls channel data from the YouTube Data API. You need a free key from Google — it takes about 3 minutes to set up.

  • 1
    Go to console.cloud.google.com, create a new project (name it anything), and enable the YouTube Data API v3 from the API Library.
  • 2
    Under Credentials, click Create Credentials → API Key. Copy it.
  • 3
    In ChannelQuest's left panel, paste your key into the API Keys field and click Add. It's saved locally — never leaves your machine.
Pro tip: Each key gives you 10,000 free units per day. Create 3–5 GCP projects and add a key from each. ChannelQuest rotates through them automatically so you'll rarely hit quota.
Adding an API key
02
Discovery

Find
Channels

Three search modes depending on what you're starting with. Each one surfaces different angles on the same market.

Running a search
🔍
Keyword Search

Type genre tags — "indie platformer", "cozy games", "soulslike" — and hit Search. Returns up to 200 channels sorted by relevance, subscribers, or recency with full stats pulled from the API.

🎬
Via Videos

Enter a search term and the app finds YouTube videos about it, then extracts the channel behind each video. Best for finding creators actively covering a genre or game right now.

🌐
Discover Similar

Paste any YouTube channel URL and the app crawls it to find similar creators. Great for seeding discovery from one channel you already know covers your genre.

Filter Results

Narrow down before reviewing so you only spend time on channels that actually fit your target. Every filter updates the table instantly.

  • →
    Subscribers — min/max range to target micro, mid-tier, or large channels
  • →
    Video count — filter out channels that barely post
  • →
    Total views — measure channel health beyond subscriber count
  • →
    Country — target specific markets
  • →
    Hide listed — hides channels already saved to any list, so you never review the same creator twice across sessions
20K–200K Subs
50+ Videos
Country: US
Hide Listed
Sweet spot: Mid-tier creators (20K–200K subscribers) have the best engagement-to-effort ratio. They're reachable and have dedicated audiences who trust their recommendations.

Build Your Queue

Select the channels you want to review, add them to the queue, then launch. You can also import a CSV if you're starting from an existing list.

  • +
    Click + on any row to add a single channel to the review queue
  • +
    Click Add All to Queue to add every visible result at once
  • +
    Select rows with the checkboxes and use Add All to List to skip the queue and save directly to an existing list
  • +
    Drag-and-drop a CSV file onto the queue to import channels from any spreadsheet or previous export
CSV import: Your file needs at least a url column with YouTube channel URLs. A name column is optional but recommended. Any extra columns are preserved through to export.
03
Review

Review
Channels

Each channel opens as a live YouTube page inside the app. Check their recent uploads, genre coverage, and About page — then make a call with a single keypress.

→
YES — shortlist this channel
←
PASS — skip it
S
Save to a named list instantly
C
Capture selected text as note or email
↑ ↓
Jump between channels without deciding

Capture (C key) — Highlight any text on the page first, then press C. If it contains an email address, it's saved to the channel's email field. Anything else becomes a note. No copy-pasting.

Best practice: Open the channel's About tab, highlight their contact email, press C. Done. Repeat for every channel with an email visible — they'll all be in your export.
Reviewing channels

Save to Lists

Save channels to named lists during review with the S key. Open any list in table view for a full sortable overview.

Strategy: Keep separate lists for each outreach tier — "Launch Day Keys", "Post-Launch Follow-up", "Wishlist". Your message and offer can be tailored per tier, and you keep them out of each other's pipelines.
04
Ship It

Export &
Outreach

Export any list or your raw search results as a CSV and load it straight into your mail merge tool, Notion, Airtable, or email client.

Every CSV includes:

Channel Name
URL
Handle
Subscribers
Videos
Total Views
Country
Emails
Notes
Viewing and exporting lists