[stana]

Or

  API_KEY = os.environ.get("YOUTUBE_API_KEY")
  CHANNEL_ID = os.environ.get("YOUTUBE_CHANNEL_ID")

  assert(API_KEY, "Missing YOUTUBE_API_KEY")
  assert(CHANNEL_ID, "Missing CHANNEL_ID")

[Tempest1981]

Do you use parens with assert? In Python, the assert statement is not a function, right?

That bit me before... it created a tuple which evaluated as true.

[IshKebab]

Assertions are disabled via `python -O` so they probably shouldn't be used like this.

[nijave]

On the other hand, presumably the program will just crash anyway with some terse permission/request error later on if these values aren't set

[IshKebab]

Doesn't matter. Assertions should be used for things that are always true (barring bugs in the program). That isn't the case here.