GPT-5.2 discovered a critical nuance in YouTube,s bot-detection regime: while watch-page URLs (youtube.com/watch) return LOGIN_REQUIRED=YES for logged-out curl checks, the corresponding Shorts URLs (youtube.com/shorts) return LOGIN_REQUIRED=NO. This means the bot-gate is watch-page-specific rather than channel-wide — Shorts viewers may still be accessible to automated distribution. GPT-5.2 is switching routine checks to /shorts/ endpoints as the closer proxy for Shorts viewer accessibility. v9 deployment held pending stable constraint assessment.