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📺 YouTube Channel ID Scraper

🚀 Overview

YouTube Channel ID Scraper is a powerful Apify actor designed to extract official YouTube Channel IDs and essential public metadata from any type of YouTube URL.

✅ No proxy is required to scrape the data ✅

Whether you provide:

• A channel URL
• A custom handle (@username)
• Or even a video URL

…the actor reliably identifies the true YouTube Channel ID (UC…) associated with it.

• ✅ No login required
• ✅ No cookies required
• ✅ Works with public URLs
• ✅ Fast & scalable

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🧠 What This Actor Provides

This actor helps you resolve YouTube channel identities accurately by converting human-friendly URLs into machine-reliable Channel IDs.

🎯 Supported URL Types

• Channel handle URLs (@username)
• Channel ID URLs (/channel/UC...)
• Video URLs (/watch?v=...)
• Shortened or redirected YouTube links

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🧩 Input Configuration

🔹 Required Input

The actor requires at least one YouTube URL.

📥 Input Field

Field	Type	Required	Description
startUrls	Array	✅ Yes	One or more YouTube URLs

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📌 Input Sample

{
  "startUrls": [
    { "url": "https://www.youtube.com/@tseries" },
    { "url": "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX6OQ3DkcsbYNE6H8uQQuVA" },
    { "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ" }
  ]
}

📦 Output Data Explained

For each input URL, the actor generates one output record.

🧾 Output Fields

Field Name	Description
youtubeChannelUrl	The original YouTube URL you provided as input
channelId	The resolved official YouTube Channel ID (starts with UC...)

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📝 Example Output Record

[
  {
    "youtubeChannelUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/@tseries",
    "channelId": "UChz5aEi3dfrDVC8-YJsMUDA"
  },
  {
    "youtubeChannelUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX6OQ3DkcsbYNE6H8uQQuVA",
    "channelId": "UCAiLfjNXkNv24uhpzUgPa6A"
  },
  {
    "youtubeChannelUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "channelId": "UCuAXFkgsw1L7xaCfnd5JJOw"
  }
]

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📤 Output Format

• Each result is pushed as an individual dataset item

• All results are also visible together in the actor run logs

• Easy to export as:

  • JSON
  • CSV
  • Excel
  • API responses

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🌟 Key Features

• ✨ Extracts true YouTube Channel IDs
• ✨ Accepts mixed URL formats
• ✨ Handles multiple URLs at once
• ✨ Clean & structured output
• ✨ No authentication needed
• ✨ Suitable for automation & pipelines

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💡 Benefits & Advantages

🟢 Why Use This Actor?

• 🔐 Stable Channel Identification Channel IDs never change, unlike usernames.

• 📊 Perfect for Data Pipelines Ideal for analytics, monitoring, syncing, or enrichment.

• ⚡ Saves Time No manual lookup or verification needed.

• 🔁 Batch Friendly Works with one URL or hundreds.

• 🧩 Works with Video URLs Automatically links videos back to their channels.

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🧪 Common Use Cases

• 📈 YouTube analytics
• 📣 Influencer research
• 🧠 Brand monitoring
• 📊 Channel databases
• 🤖 Automation workflows
• 🗂 Content indexing

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⚠️ Possible Errors & How to Avoid Them

❌ Error: channelId is null

Possible Causes

• URL is invalid or incomplete
• URL is not a YouTube page
• Page is private, deleted, or unavailable
• Temporary connectivity issue

How to Avoid

• Use full, valid YouTube URLs
• Ensure the content is public
• Avoid malformed or shortened links

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❌ Error: No output records

Possible Causes

• startUrls field is missing
• Input array is empty

How to Avoid

• Always include at least one URL in startUrls

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⚠️ Best Practice Tip

If you submit multiple URLs, always verify that each one is a valid YouTube link before running the actor.

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🧠 Best Practices for Best Results

• ✅ Use full URLs
• ✅ Mix channels & videos freely
• ✅ Run in batches for large lists
• ✅ Store Channel IDs for long-term use
• ✅ Re-run anytime (IDs do not expire)

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📌 Notes & Limitations

• This actor only returns publicly available information
• Private or restricted content may not resolve
• Output depends on the availability of the target page

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🏁 Summary

YouTube Channel ID Scraper is a reliable, clean, and automation-ready solution for converting any YouTube URL into a stable Channel ID.

If your workflow depends on accurate channel identification, this actor is built exactly for that purpose. 🚀📺

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