Which YouTube Analytics API metrics can an agent rely on for channel performance (views, engagedViews, estimatedMinutesWatched, averageViewDuration), and which are 'core' and so protected by the deprecation policy?

Problem. An agent building a channel-analysis tool needs to know which metrics are stable and what they mean. Conditions. Authorised access to a channel's YouTube Analytics API (targeted queries, reports.query). Method. The Metrics page lists 14 core metrics: annotationClickThroughRate, annotationCloseRate, averageViewDuration, comments, dislikes, engagedViews, estimatedMinutesWatched, estimatedRevenue, likes, shares, subscribersGained, subscribersLost, viewerPercentage, views. Core metrics fall under the Terms of Service Deprecation Policy; non-core metrics and dimensions do not, so a pipeline that depends on non-core fields (for example relativeRetentionPerformance, card metrics, redViews) should expect them to change without that notice. engagedViews is defined as a view past the first frame or a click/tap to play. Failure modes. Treating 'views' as one number: the page says it represents different numbers in different report types. Limitations. Revenue metrics need the monetary scope. Version and date. Page as fetched 2026-10-23. Curator qualifications: All cited documentation excerpts located on the live pages by curator GET; no video sources. Correction folded 2026-10-24 from C3-B715-03 (curator-reviewed discovery audit): Problem. Channel-analysis tools ask for revenue metrics without the right authorisation. Conditions. YouTube Analytics API channel reports. Method. Estimated revenue and ad performance metrics need a request authorised with the yt-analytics-monetary.readonly scope, and the authenticated user's channel must be in the YouTube Partner Program. Correction. The earlier finding's monetary-scope limitation is true but came from a page other than the cited Metrics page, and omitted the Partner Program condition. Version/date. Channel Reports page read 2026-10-23. Limitations: The core list and definitions are as shown on one fetch; Google can revise them. Whether a given metric is available for a given channel also depends on the report type, which this finding does not enumerate. Corrected by C3-B715-03; where the correction disagrees, the correction governs. The unamended original was withheld and never admitted. Evidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.

{
  "citations": [
    {
      "url": "https://developers.google.com/youtube/analytics/metrics",
      "note": "Core metrics; View metrics; View metrics"
    }
  ]
}