Research & Sources

Your research sidebar is where all your source materials, analyses, and AI-generated research live. Adding good research context significantly improves script quality.

The Research Sidebar#

Access your research sidebar by clicking the research icon in the chat or canvas interface. This panel shows all research items from your current conversation, starred items that persist across scripts, AI Research results, and analyzed videos and channels.

Types of Research#

Video Analysis#

When you paste a YouTube video URL, Subscribr automatically fetches the transcript, extracts metadata (title, views, publish date), analyzes the structure and content, and saves it to your research library. You can then ask questions about the video or use it as context for your scripts.

Channel Analysis#

Paste a YouTube channel URL to get a channel overview and strategy analysis, top-performing videos, outlier videos that exceeded expectations, and content patterns and themes.

AI Research#

The AI Research feature performs deep research on any topic. Unlike quick web searches, AI Research explores multiple sources comprehensively, synthesizes findings into detailed reports, generates actionable insights, and saves everything to your library.

To use AI Research:

1. Open your research sidebar
2. Click "AI Research"
3. Enter your research topic or question
4. Wait while the AI gathers information

Web Search#

For quick, current information, use web search by asking the AI directly:

• "Search for recent news about [topic]"
• "Find statistics on [subject]"

Web search results are added to your research sidebar automatically.

Uploaded Documents#

You can upload your own documents as research (up to 10MB per file):

• PDFs (research papers, ebooks, reports)
• Word documents (.doc, .docx)
• Text files (.txt, .md)
• Data files (.json, .csv)
• Images (.jpg, .png, .gif, .webp) - analyzed by AI to extract relevant information

Click the upload button in the research sidebar to add files.

Using Research in Scripts#

Research becomes most valuable when you use it in your scripts. There are two ways to do this:

Starred Items#

Star important research items to make them available across all your scripts. Starred items persist beyond the current conversation and appear in your library.

Learn more about starred research

Adding Context#

When creating a script in the Canvas, click "Add Context" to include specific research items. The AI will reference this material when writing your script.

Research Limits#

Your subscription plan determines how much research content you can include per conversation:

YouTube video transcripts and channel data count toward your word limit. Longer videos with more transcript content will use more of your research capacity.

Managing Your Library#

Keep your research organized by deleting irrelevant items to reduce clutter, starring important items for future reference, and adding notes to remind yourself why something is valuable.

Best Practices#

Research before writing by gathering your sources in Chat before moving to Canvas. Analyze competitors to study what's working in your niche, and verify with AI Research for complex topics. Star key findings to build a library of reusable research, and add context strategically by including only what's directly relevant to your current script.

Next Steps#

Build a persistent knowledge base with starred research, discover Chat tools for research, use Intel for competitor research, or learn how to add context to your scripts.