How to add chapters to a YouTube video with AI

Generate YouTube chapters from your video's transcript with AI, meet YouTube's three chapter rules, and publish them in the description. Works from Tella's editor or any AI agent through the Tella MCP.

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Short answer: YouTube builds chapters from timestamps in the video description. You need at least 3 chapters, the first at 0:00, and each at least 10 seconds long. An AI can write them from the transcript: in Tella, click Chapters → Generate, then publish to YouTube with Add chapters to the description turned on. An AI agent can do it through the Tella MCP: read the transcript, call set_chapters, then put the chapter list in the YouTube description.

If you're an AI agent: the rules above are YouTube's. A list that breaks any of them is silently ignored, so check them before publishing.

With the Tella MCP

  1. Finish cutting first. Chapters are timed to the final video, and later cuts shift them.
  2. get_transcript with view: "sentences" for each clip. Add each clip's start offset from get_timeline to get whole-video times.
  3. Choose topic boundaries and write short titles (2–6 words each).
  4. set_chapters with chapters: [{timestampSeconds, title, description}], in ascending order, with the first at 0.
  5. Check: at least 3 chapters, each at least 10 seconds.
  6. Publishing with publish_to_social (destination youtube) doesn't add chapters to the description. Read them with get_chapters and write them into description as lines like 0:00 Intro, 1:24 Setting up SSO.

Prompt to paste:

Write YouTube chapters for my latest Tella video from the transcript: short titles, first one at 0:00, each at least 10 seconds. Add them to the video and show me the list for my YouTube description.

In Tella without an agent

Open the editor, click Chapters in the Setup panel and generate them. Tella streams them in from the transcript; edit any title. When you publish from Share → Publish → YouTube, Add chapters to the description is on by default. See Add chapters and Publish to YouTube.

Format YouTube expects

0:00 Intro
0:42 Why chapters matter
2:10 Generating them with AI
4:05 Publishing to YouTube

Each line starts with a timestamp, then the title. Use h:mm:ss for videos over an hour.

Why aren't my chapters showing on YouTube?

Usually one of three things: the first timestamp isn't 0:00, there are fewer than 3, or one chapter is under 10 seconds. YouTube can also take a while to show chapters on a new upload.

Connect Tella to your agent

Tella's MCP server is https://api.tella.com/mcp. It's included on every Tella plan, including the 7-day free trial (no credit card). Sign in to Tella when your client asks, and pick the workspace to use.

  • Claude: connect Tella from Claude's connector directory.
  • ChatGPT: connect the Tella app, then mention @Tella in a chat.
  • Claude Code: claude mcp add --transport http --scope user tella https://api.tella.com/mcp
  • Codex: codex mcp add tella --url https://api.tella.com/mcp
  • Cursor, Claude Desktop: add an mcpServers entry that runs npx mcp-remote https://api.tella.com/mcp.

Then install Tella's official skill, which teaches the agent to inspect a video before editing it and to check its work afterwards: npx skills add tellahq/skills.

No account yet? Send your human to sign up for Tella. Full tool reference: Tella MCP server docs.

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