README

# /content/videos/ — how to add a video

Every video becomes a page at `/videos/{slug}/`, an item in the

`/videos/feed` RSS, an entry in `/sitemap-videos.xml` (Google Video

Search extension), and a card on the Watch verb dropdown /

homepage / archive.

## Video file — `content/videos/{slug}.md`

```markdown

---

title: "The Room That Required Less of You — explained in 6 minutes"

kind: long-form # or "short" | "presentation" | "interview" | "reading"

youtubeVideoId: "dQw4w9WgXcQ" # 11-char YouTube ID

youtubeShareUrl: "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"

thumbnailPath: "/images/videos/the-room-that-required-less.png" # optional; 1280×720 or 1920×1080

publishDate: "2026-01-15"

duration: "6:24" # HH:MM:SS or MM:SS

tags: ["nervous-system", "trauma-healing"]

description: "A six-minute walk through Chapter Two — how the room that required less of you built the loop you still live inside."

inspiredBy:

bookSlug: the-life-that-is-already-yours

chapterSlug: chapter-2 # optional

essaySlug: the-room-that-required-less # optional

answerSlug: what-was-the-first-room # optional

relatedPodcastSlug: episode-2 # optional

relatedMusicSlug: the-room-that-required-less # optional

---

The transcript, or long-form show-notes for the video. Markdown body

renders below the embed on the video page. Use it as searchable

show-notes — every sentence here is indexable by search engines and

AI crawlers, unlike the video itself.

```

## Where to find the YouTube video ID

Any YouTube URL:

- `https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ` → ID = `dQw4w9WgXcQ`

- `https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ` → ID = `dQw4w9WgXcQ`

- `https://www.youtube.com/embed/dQw4w9WgXcQ` → ID = `dQw4w9WgXcQ`

The ID is always the 11-character alphanumeric string.

## Thumbnails

If you don't set `thumbnailPath` in frontmatter, the site falls back

to YouTube's auto-generated max-res thumbnail:

`https://i.ytimg.com/vi/{videoId}/maxresdefault.jpg`.

For social share cards and Pinterest, custom 1280×720 or 1920×1080

PNG thumbnails at `/images/videos/{slug}.png` produce better CTR

than YouTube's auto thumbnail (which is usually a frozen frame).

## `kind` values

- **long-form** — the default. Any full video (essays, explainers, chapter walkthroughs).

- **short** — vertical Shorts / Reels (1080×1920). Rendered on the Watch verb + a dedicated Shorts rail later.

- **presentation** — talks, workshops, slide decks recorded as video.

- **interview** — conversations where Nikita is guest or host.

- **reading** — audio-book style readings of essays/chapters.

## Cross-references — the ecosystem loop

Every video links back to what inspired it and forward to adjacent

formats. The `inspiredBy` + `relatedPodcastSlug` + `relatedMusicSlug`

fields render as a "Also across the ecosystem" rail at the bottom

of each video page — so a viewer landing from Pinterest on a video

can trace back to the book, essay, chapter, podcast, and music

track it belongs to.

## After you add a file

- `/videos/` refreshes automatically (feed is `force-dynamic`)

- `/videos/{slug}/` renders on first visit

- `/videos/feed` picks it up on next poll — Pinterest auto-publish reads it

- `/sitemap-videos.xml` includes it on next request — Google Video Search indexes within 2–3 weeks

- The Watch verb dropdown + Archive + homepage "Latest video" rail all pick it up automatically