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
• 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
• 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:

• Channel overview and strategy analysis
• Top-performing videos
• Outlier videos that exceeded expectations
• 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
• 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:

Additionally, each conversation has hard limits of 5 YouTube videos and 5 YouTube channels maximum, regardless of word count.

Managing Your Library

Keep your research organized:

• Delete irrelevant items to reduce clutter
• Star important items for future reference
• Add notes to remind yourself why something is valuable

Best Practices

1. Research before writing - Gather your sources in Chat before moving to Canvas
2. Analyze competitors - Study what's working in your niche
3. Verify with AI Research - Use deep research for complex topics
4. Star key findings - Build a library of reusable research
5. Add context strategically - Include only what's directly relevant to your current script

Next Steps

• Starred Research - Build a persistent knowledge base
• Learn about Chat tools for research
• Use Intel for competitor research
• Add context to your scripts