YouTube API adds comment image URLs, 1080p to 4K thumbnail sizes and a read-only scope for videos.getRating

AnnouncedSept 2026

EffectiveNot stated

PlatformYouTube

What changed

Three small YouTube Data API additions in September 2026. On September 1, videos.getRating started accepting the youtube.readonly authorization scope. On September 11, the snippet.thumbnails.(key) property of activities, liveBroadcasts, playlistItems, playlists, search and videos gained higher-resolution sizes for some videos: fhd (1080p), qhd (1440p) and uhd (4K). On September 30, the comments resource gained snippet.imageUrl, the URL of an image or animated GIF attached to a comment, a feature YouTube says will be available to all users in November 2026.

What it means

Tools can show images and GIFs attached to comments, fetch sharper thumbnails for some videos, and check a user's like or dislike with a read-only login.

Who is affected

Community management, social inbox and analytics tools that read YouTube comments, thumbnails or ratings.

What to do

Read comments snippet.imageUrl (and re-fetch it, the link expires after six hours), accept fhd, qhd and uhd thumbnail keys, and drop broader scopes if getRating was the only reason for them.

What this means for you

Three small upgrades. People can now add pictures or GIFs to YouTube comments, and apps that show your comments can show those pictures too. Some videos now have extra sharp preview pictures. And apps can check whether you liked a video while only asking to look at your account, not to change it.

The details

Comment images (September 30, 2026): comments resource, new read-only snippet.imageUrl, "the URL for an image or animated GIF attached to a comment". The discovery document says it is only present when a comment has an image or GIF, and is "a signed link with a six-hour time to live (TTL)", so do not store it. YouTube says the feature "will be available to all users in November 2026."
Thumbnail sizes (September 11, 2026): snippet.thumbnails.(key) on activities, liveBroadcasts, playlistItems, playlists, search and videos can now include fhd (1080p), qhd (1440p) and uhd (4K) "for some videos". Which videos get them is Not stated.
Read-only rating check (September 1, 2026): videos.getRating "now accepts the https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtube.readonly authorization scope", alongside youtube, youtube.force-ssl and youtubepartner. It costs 1 quota unit.
Related: custom thumbnail uploads grew to 50MB on September 14, 2026 (our entry).

What to do next

Business owners: Nothing.
Marketers and agencies: Ask your social inbox tool to show images attached to YouTube comments, so you do not miss what people post.
Developers: Render snippet.imageUrl and refresh it when expired, treat fhd, qhd and uhd as optional keys, and request only youtube.readonly if you call getRating read-only.

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