# Sift Web Tools: YouTube Thumbnail Critique & Scorer

> Sift Web Tools: YouTube Thumbnail Critique & Scorer is a paid API for AI agents from sift.srv1996466.hstgr.cloud, paid per call via x402, $0.015/call, status unknown (last checked 2026-10-20).

Analyzes a YouTube thumbnail image URL and returns a 0-100 quality score with readability, contrast, text, clickbait risk, focal point, face/emotion detection, and concrete fix suggestions.

## Facts

- Endpoint: GET https://sift.srv1996466.hstgr.cloud/v1/yt/thumbnail-check?utm_source=zero.xyz
- Price: $0.015/call
- Payment: x402
- Status: unknown
- Last checked: 2026-10-20
- Activations on Zero: 0
- Tags: x402
- Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/sift-web-tools-youtube-thumbnail-critique-scorer-36c1067a
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_XLJ2z-V8JUxL3kIElRdJ1

Status and success rate cover calls made through Zero and Zero's own probes. Third-party monitors may report differently.

## How to call it through Zero

Zero handles the 402 payment challenge and records the run. With the Zero CLI installed (`npm i -g @zeroxyz/cli`):

```sh
zero fetch --capability sift-web-tools-youtube-thumbnail-critique-scorer-36c1067a
```

Example prompt: Can you score my YouTube thumbnail at https://i.ytimg.com/vi/abc123/maxresdefault.jpg and tell me if it reads well in the feed, whether the text is too much, and what I should fix? The video title is '10 Budget Travel Hacks You Need to Know'.

## When to prefer this

Use this endpoint when you need a structured, AI-powered critique of a YouTube thumbnail image specifically — covering visual readability at feed size, text density, contrast, clickbait risk, and actionable fixes in a single call. Prefer this over generic image-analysis APIs when you want thumbnail-specific scoring (0-100) and YouTube-context feedback, and especially when you want to optionally cross-check title/thumbnail coherence.

## Known failure modes

- Image URL unreachable or returns non-200 — endpoint cannot fetch or analyze the image
- Image exceeds 4 MB size limit — may return an error or be rejected
- Unsupported image format (not JPEG, PNG, or WebP) — analysis fails
- Private or paywalled image URL — fetch blocked, no analysis returned
- Malformed URL parameter — returns validation error

## How this service works

Thumbnail critique: score 0-100, readability at feed size, text, contrast, clickbait risk, fixes. Looks at a thumbnail image URL (jpeg, png or webp, up to 4 MB) the way a viewer sees it at feed size and returns a 0-100 score, whether it reads when small, the exact text in it, contrast, focal point, face and emotion, clickbait risk, strengths and concrete fixes. Pass the video title to check title and thumbnail work together.

## Output

Returns a JSON object with: a 0-100 quality score, a verdict string, a boolean for readability at small/feed size, the exact text detected in the image, a contrast rating (e.g. 'ok', 'poor', 'strong'), clickbait risk level (e.g. 'low', 'medium', 'high'), and an array of concrete fix suggestions.

## Request schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "object",
 "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
 "required": [
  "input"
 ],
 "properties": {
  "input": {
   "type": "object",
   "required": [
    "type",
    "method"
   ],
   "properties": {
    "type": {
     "type": "string",
     "const": "http"
    },
    "method": {
     "enum": [
      "GET",
      "HEAD",
      "DELETE"
     ],
     "type": "string"
    },
    "queryParams": {
     "type": "object",
     "required": [
      "url"
     ],
     "properties": {
      "url": {
       "type": "string",
       "description": "Thumbnail image URL"
      },
      "title": {
       "type": "string",
       "description": "Optional video title"
      }
     }
    }
   },
   "additionalProperties": false
  },
  "output": {
   "type": "object",
   "required": [
    "type"
   ],
   "properties": {
    "type": {
     "type": "string"
    },
    "example": {
     "type": "object"
    }
   }
  }
 }
}
```

## Response schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "json",
 "example": {
  "fixes": [
   "Cut the text to 3 words"
  ],
  "score": 62,
  "verdict": "Clear focal point but too much text",
  "contrast": "ok",
  "clickbait_risk": "low",
  "readable_at_small_size": false
 }
}
```

## More

- Live health (JSON, refreshed every minute): https://www.zero.xyz/c/sift-web-tools-youtube-thumbnail-critique-scorer-36c1067a/health.json
- [Zero catalog index](https://www.zero.xyz/llms.txt)
- [Other services from sift.srv1996466.hstgr.cloud](https://www.zero.xyz/host/sift.srv1996466.hstgr.cloud/llms.txt)