CHAD SHEPPARD

    Live YouTube Subscriber Count Display

    Put your YouTube goal on the wall in under 5 minutes.

    I told Claude to build me a live subscriber count that fills my entire monitor. Black background, red number, updates in real time. It took under five minutes and zero coding. Here's the exact setup — free.

    Watch the Short

    The 60-second version.

    Saw the YouTube short and want the full setup? You're in the right place. The prompts and download are below — built so a non-developer can ship it before their coffee gets cold.

    Under 5-minute setup Zero code

    Why this works

    Your goal in front of you, every single day.

    The thing you stare at is the thing you move. A live subscriber count on your monitor turns an abstract goal into a number that ticks up while you work. Claude builds the whole display in a single HTML file — no servers, no monthly cost, no maintenance.

    Setup time

    < 5 min

    From zero to live on your monitor.

    Code you write

    0 lines

    Claude writes every line for you.

    Easiest Path — 3 Steps

    Don't want to read? Let Claude do it.

    Download one markdown file, hand it to Claude, and the whole setup runs itself.

    1. 1Download Live_Subscriber_Count_Setup.md
    2. 2Open a new Claude chat, attach the file, type: "follow these instructions"
    3. 3Claude walks you through the API key, writes the HTML, and tells you how to open it full-screen

    One-Time Setup

    Four steps. Claude does the rest.

    You don't need to write a single line of code. Follow the four steps below and your display is live on any monitor in the house.

    Step 01

    Get a free YouTube API key

    Five-minute, one-time setup inside Google Cloud. The markdown guide walks you through every click.

    Step 02

    Grab your Channel ID

    Sign in to YouTube, copy the ID that starts with UC..., and paste it where the guide tells you.

    Step 03

    Paste the build prompt into Claude

    Open a new Claude chat, paste the prompt below, and Claude writes a single self-contained HTML file.

    Step 04

    Save it and open it full-screen

    Save as subscribers.html, double-click it, press F11. Drag it onto any monitor, TV, or tablet.

    Copy-Paste Prompts

    The exact prompts I pasted into Claude.

    Click copy, paste into a new Claude chat, hit enter. That's the whole workflow.

    1. Build prompt — paste this first

    Build me a single self-contained index.html file that displays my live YouTube subscriber count full-screen.

Requirements:
- Uses the YouTube Data API v3 (channels.list, part=statistics)
- Reads my API key and Channel ID from two constants at the top of the file
- Fills the entire browser viewport, perfectly centered
- Huge subscriber number (responsive font-size using clamp())
- Black background, bright red number, white channel name above it
- Auto-refreshes every 30 seconds without flicker
- Animated count-up when the number changes
- Clean, no external libraries, no build step

Output only the complete HTML in one code block.

    2. Style customization

    Update the file so:
- Background is a subtle dark gradient (top: #0a0a0a, bottom: #1a1a1a)
- The number uses a custom Google Font (Inter, weight 900)
- Add my channel name "@ChadSheppardAI" above the number in 0.4em size
- Add a small caption below the number: "Goal: 100,000"
- Show a thin progress bar under the goal text representing current / 100000

    3. Add a goal tracker

    Add a second line below the subscriber number that shows:
- How many subscribers I need to reach 100,000
- The percentage complete toward that goal
- Animate the progress bar smoothly when the number updates

    4. Reuse for any live number

    Take the same file and swap the data source. Instead of YouTube subscribers, fetch [STRIPE REVENUE / STOCK PRICE / STEP COUNT / WEBSITE VISITORS] from [API ENDPOINT]. Keep the same full-screen layout, animation, and styling. Tell me exactly where to paste my API credentials.

    Reuse the Pattern

    Works for any live number.

    Same file, swap the API. Anything you want to stare at on a screen all day.

    • Stripe / sales revenue
    • Stock or crypto price
    • Website visitors (Plausible, GA)
    • Twitch followers
    • Fitness steps
    • Any live API number

    Built this myself. Goal is 100,000.

    Runs on my top monitor every day. Currently sitting at 308. Every subscriber moves that number and I watch it happen live.

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