IssueTracker

Title
Feature Request: Enable Thumbnail Updates for YouTube Shorts via API

Description
Currently, YouTube Shorts videos do not support thumbnail updates via the YouTube Data API. This limitation restricts developers and content creators who rely on API automation to optimize thumbnails for Shorts videos. Allowing thumbnail updates for Shorts videos via the API would enable better content management and improve engagement by ensuring videos are visually appealing and optimized for their audience.

API request with parameters used

POST https://www.googleapis.com/youtube/v3/thumbnails/set
Content-Type: application/json
Authorization: Bearer [ACCESS_TOKEN]

{
  "videoId": "SHORTS_VIDEO_ID",
  "thumbnail": {
    "url": "THUMBNAIL_IMAGE_URL"
  }
}

{
  "kind": "youtube#thumbnailSetResponse",
  "etag": "etag_value",
  "items": [
    {
      "videoId": "SHORTS_VIDEO_ID",
      "thumbnails": {
        "default": {
          "url": "THUMBNAIL_IMAGE_URL",
          "width": 120,
          "height": 90
        },
        "medium": {
          "url": "THUMBNAIL_IMAGE_URL",
          "width": 320,
          "height": 180
        },
        "high": {
          "url": "THUMBNAIL_IMAGE_URL",
          "width": 480,
          "height": 360
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Is it 100% reproducible?
Yes, attempts to update thumbnails for Shorts videos via the API consistently result in a 400 error, as the feature is not currently supported.

Reproducible API explorer link
YouTube Thumbnails API Explorer

Steps to reproduce:
Attempt to update the thumbnail of a Shorts video using the above API request in the Explorer.
Observe the 400 error response indicating that this feature is not supported.