diff --git a/plugins/upload.py b/plugins/upload.py
index 9db29ff..5081185 100644
--- a/plugins/upload.py
+++ b/plugins/upload.py
@@ -7,7 +7,8 @@ It supports downloading files from various sources (YouTube, Instagram, etc.) an
 optionally convert videos to MP3 format before uploading. Files larger than 100MB are rejected.
 
 Usage:
-    !upload [--mp3] <url>
+    !upload [--mp3] <url_or_search_term>...
+    Example: !upload never gonna give you up
 
 Dependencies:
     - aiohttp
@@ -33,6 +34,7 @@ import ircstyle
 import yt_dlp
 from yt_dlp.utils import DownloadError
 from urllib.parse import urlparse
+import googleapiclient.discovery
 
 # Global headers to mimic a real browser (ban evasion)
 HEADERS = {
@@ -45,6 +47,16 @@ HEADERS = {
     "Upgrade-Insecure-Requests": "1"
 }
 
+# Constants for YouTube API
+API_SERVICE_NAME = "youtube"
+API_VERSION = "v3"
+DEVELOPER_KEY = "AIzaSyBNrqOA0ZIziUVLYm0K5W76n9ndqz6zTxI"
+
+# Initialize YouTube API client
+youtube = googleapiclient.discovery.build(
+    API_SERVICE_NAME, API_VERSION, developerKey=DEVELOPER_KEY
+)
+
 @irc3.plugin
 class UploadPlugin:
     """IRC bot plugin for downloading files via yt-dlp and uploading them to hardfiles.org."""
@@ -74,6 +86,31 @@ class UploadPlugin:
             return ''
         return str(value)
 
+    async def search_youtube(self, query):
+        """
+        Search YouTube for the given query and return the URL of the first result.
+
+        Args:
+            query (str): The search query.
+
+        Returns:
+            str: The URL of the first search result.
+        """
+        try:
+            request = youtube.search().list(
+                part="id",
+                q=query,
+                type="video",
+                maxResults=1
+            )
+            result = await self.bot.loop.run_in_executor(None, request.execute)
+            if result.get("items"):
+                video_id = result["items"][0]["id"]["videoId"]
+                return f"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v={video_id}"
+        except Exception as e:
+            self.bot.log.error(f"YouTube search error: {e}")
+        return None
+
     @command
     async def upload(self, mask, target, args):
         """
@@ -85,18 +122,38 @@ class UploadPlugin:
             args (dict): Parsed command arguments.
 
         Usage:
-            %%upload [--mp3] <url>
+            %%upload [--mp3] <url_or_search_term>...
+            Example: !upload never gonna give you up
         """
-        url = args.get('<url>')
+        url_or_search_term = args.get('<url_or_search_term>')
+        # If multiple words are provided, join them into a single string.
+        if isinstance(url_or_search_term, list):
+            url_or_search_term = " ".join(url_or_search_term)
         mp3 = args.get('--mp3')
 
-        if not url:
+        if not url_or_search_term:
             self.bot.privmsg(
                 target,
-                ircstyle.style("Usage: !upload [--mp3] <url>", fg="red", bold=True, reset=True),
+                ircstyle.style("Usage: !upload [--mp3] <url_or_search_term>...", fg="red", bold=True, reset=True),
             )
             return
 
+        # If the input is not a URL, treat it as a search term
+        if not re.match(r'^https?://', url_or_search_term):
+            self.bot.privmsg(
+                target,
+                ircstyle.style(f"Searching YouTube for: {url_or_search_term}", fg="blue", bold=True, reset=True),
+            )
+            url = await self.search_youtube(url_or_search_term)
+            if not url:
+                self.bot.privmsg(
+                    target,
+                    ircstyle.style("No results found on YouTube.", fg="red", bold=True, reset=True),
+                )
+                return
+        else:
+            url = url_or_search_term
+
         try:
             await self.do_upload(url, target, mp3)
         except Exception as exc: