Help centre Your films

Publishing

Prepare a YouTube upload next to the exact final file and thumbnail, then review precisely what would be sent. Nothing uploads without your explicit review.

Prepare the release

Publishing keeps a draft for each film, saved as you go:

Title, Description (the story, credits, chapters and sources) and Tags, comma separated;
Thumbnail, chosen from the film's thumbnail folder, with a preview;
the final export to upload, chosen from the film's final exports, with a preview and its recorded acceptance;
Visibility: Private, Unlisted or Public;
Category, Audience, and the Altered or synthetic content answer YouTube asks for;
an optional Scheduled public release time;
up to three thumbnail variants for a test. Tests are started in YouTube Studio, because YouTube's public API doesn't offer that action.

Review upload

Review upload shows the exact video file, thumbnail and details that would be sent, and the channel they'd go to. The upload uses that exact reviewed version. Nothing starts from a chat reply, a saved draft, a preview or the review itself; only the final, explicit upload action sends anything.

Connecting a YouTube channel

Connecting a channel uses Google sign-in with your own Google Cloud project: you create a Desktop app OAuth client with the YouTube Data API enabled, add it in Swiftbird, then choose Connect YouTube and approve access in your browser. The tokens are encrypted for your Windows account on your computer. Swiftbird asks only for permission to upload and to read your channel's details.

What Publishing doesn't do

It doesn't render or re-encode your film. It uploads the final export your editing tool produced.
A date in Calendar doesn't schedule anything on YouTube.
It doesn't manage analytics or comments.

Last reviewed 28 September 2026 against the Swiftbird prototype of 27 September 2026. Still stuck? Contact support.