YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper

YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper Overview

YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper is designed to process one or more YouTube URLs and return structured video metadata together with downloadable video and audio stream links. It is useful when you need YouTube video information and accessible media URLs in a structured Apify dataset.

The YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper lets you select a preferred video resolution from 360p through 8K. When the requested resolution is unavailable, it selects the highest suitable video resolution available for the video.

The YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper returns practical information such as the original URL, requested and provided resolution, title, channel, duration, thumbnail, view count, categories, description, availability, live status, subscriber count, file size, and stream expiration information.

This makes the YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper useful for media workflows, video research, content analysis, metadata collection, structured data processing, and applications that need downloadable media links.

YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper Features

The YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper provides a straightforward workflow for extracting video information from supplied YouTube URLs.

Resolution Selection

The YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper supports the following selectable resolutions:

• 8K
• 4K
• 2K
• 1080p
• 720p
• 480p
• 360p

The default resolution is 1080p.

When an exact resolution is not available, the YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper automatically selects the highest suitable available resolution rather than returning an unavailable target.

Downloadable Media Links

The YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper provides separate downloadable video and audio stream URLs when they are available.

It also returns a combined download link field. When a suitable combined stream is not available, the actor falls back to the best available single video stream.

Structured Metadata

The YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper returns structured metadata that can be stored in an Apify Dataset and used for downstream processing.

Returned information includes video identity, channel information, duration, thumbnail, description, categories, views, subscriber count, availability, live status, file size, and media URLs.

How to Use the YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper

Using the YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper requires only two input concepts: the target YouTube URLs and the preferred video resolution.

1. Open the actor input page.
2. Select a desired resolution.
3. Add one or more YouTube URLs under Start URLs.
4. Run the actor.
5. Review the structured records produced in the Apify Dataset.

The YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper processes the supplied URLs individually and creates a result for each successfully processed target.

The input accepts YouTube video URLs through the startUrls array. The supplied URLs can be entered as standard YouTube links or supported YouTube URL variants that resolve through the extraction process.

YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper Data Extraction

The YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper focuses on two related areas: video metadata extraction and downloadable media stream discovery.

The metadata portion provides the information needed to understand and organize each video. This includes the title, channel, duration, thumbnail, description, categories, view count, availability, live status, and channel subscriber count.

The media portion provides the available video-only stream URL, audio-only stream URL, and a merged-downloadable video link when possible.

The YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper also records the requested resolution and the resolution actually provided. This makes it easy to compare the requested quality with the available media quality.

Video Metadata

The YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper can return:

• Original YouTube URL
• Requested resolution
• Provided resolution
• Video title
• Channel name
• Duration
• Thumbnail URL
• View count
• Categories
• Description
• Availability
• Live status
• Channel subscriber count
• Video file size

Media Information

The YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper can return:

• Downloadable video link
• Downloadable audio link
• Merge-downloadable video link
• Video URL expiration timestamp

The stream expiration timestamp is useful because media stream URLs may be temporary rather than permanent public URLs.

YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper Input

The YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper uses a simple input structure.

Input	Type	Required	Default	Description
videoResolution	String	No	1080p	Preferred video resolution. Supported selections are 8K, 4K, 2K, 1080p, 720p, 480p, and 360p.
startUrls	Array	Yes	None	One or more YouTube video or playlist URLs supplied for processing.

videoResolution

The YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper uses videoResolution to determine the desired video quality.

For example, selecting 4K tells the actor to look for an appropriate 2160p video stream. When that exact resolution is unavailable, the actor falls back to the highest available suitable resolution.

startUrls

The YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper uses startUrls as the target URL list.

Each entry contains a YouTube URL. Multiple URLs can be submitted in the same run, allowing several targets to be processed together.

YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper Output Data

The YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper produces structured records containing metadata and media-link information for each processed URL.

Field	Type	Description
original_url	String	The original YouTube URL submitted for processing.
requested_resolution	String	The resolution selected in the actor input.
provided_resolution	String	The resolution actually selected for the video stream.
title	String / Null	Video title returned from the source.
channel	String / Null	Channel or uploader name associated with the video.
duration	String	Human-readable video duration such as 11m 32s.
thumbnail	String / Null	Thumbnail URL associated with the video.
downloadable_video_link	String / Null	URL for the selected video-only stream.
downloadable_audio_link	String / Null	URL for the best available audio-only stream.
merge_downloadable_video_link	String / Null	URL for a combined downloadable stream when available, otherwise the selected video stream.
url_expires_at	String / Null	ISO-8601 UTC timestamp indicating when the extracted media URL expires, when available.
view_count	String	Formatted video view count.
categories	Array	Categories associated with the video.
description	String / Null	Video description returned by the source.
availability	String	Availability status reported for the video.
live_status	String	Indicates whether the video is currently live or not live.
channel_subscribers	String	Formatted channel subscriber count when available.
video_filesize	String	Human-readable size of the selected video stream when available.
error	String	Error information for a URL that could not be processed successfully.

The YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper stores successful results with the fields above and can also store an error field when processing an individual URL fails.

This structure makes the resulting dataset suitable for filtering, exporting, analysis, application workflows, and further automation.

Example Input

The following is a valid example for the YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper:

{
  "videoResolution": "1080p",
  "startUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFU2hU7nE0k"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://youtu.be/G5RpJwCJDqc?si=h7DRF_vVVO8IB866"
    }
  ]
}

You can replace the example URLs with the YouTube targets you want to process.

Example Output

A successful YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper result can look like this:

{
  "original_url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFU2hU7nE0k",
  "requested_resolution": "1080p",
  "provided_resolution": "1080p",
  "title": "Example YouTube Video",
  "channel": "Example Channel",
  "duration": "11m 32s",
  "thumbnail": "https://example.com/thumbnail.jpg",
  "downloadable_video_link": "https://example.com/video-stream",
  "downloadable_audio_link": "https://example.com/audio-stream",
  "merge_downloadable_video_link": "https://example.com/video-stream",
  "url_expires_at": "2026-09-04T18:00:00+00:00",
  "view_count": "125.4K",
  "categories": [
    "Education"
  ],
  "description": "Example video description.",
  "availability": "public",
  "live_status": "not_live",
  "channel_subscribers": "1.2M",
  "video_filesize": "125.50MB"
}

Values vary according to the actual YouTube video and the formats available when the run is executed.

YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper Use Cases

The YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper can support workflows where structured YouTube information and media stream links are useful.

Video Research

Researchers can collect titles, channels, descriptions, categories, durations, view counts, and other metadata for structured analysis.

Content Analysis

The YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper makes it easier to organize video metadata across multiple URLs for content discovery and analysis workflows.

Media Workflows

Applications that need downloadable stream URLs can use the returned video and audio link fields as inputs for their own subsequent processing.

Competitor Research

Marketing and research teams can collect publicly available video metadata to compare publishing activity, video subjects, engagement indicators, and channel-level information.

Content Planning

Creators and analysts can organize video titles, categories, descriptions, durations, and channel information into datasets for content research.

Data Automation

The YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper can be incorporated into Apify-based automation workflows where repeated structured data collection is required.

Data Quality and Reliability

The YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper attempts to select a usable video stream according to the requested resolution.

When the exact resolution is unavailable, the actor uses the highest suitable resolution available from the extracted formats. The returned provided_resolution field lets you verify which quality was actually selected.

The YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper also distinguishes between video-only and audio-only streams. This provides separate media URLs rather than assuming every available format contains both video and audio.

The actor processes multiple supplied URLs individually. A successful target produces its own structured result, while a processing failure is represented with the original URL and an error field.

Because media URLs can be temporary, the YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper can return url_expires_at when an expiration timestamp is available. Users should not assume that an extracted stream URL is a permanent link.

Search Intent and SEO-Friendly YouTube Data

The YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper is designed for users searching for practical ways to collect YouTube video data, video metadata, downloadable media URLs, and structured content information.

Common tasks include YouTube video extraction, YouTube metadata collection, video URL processing, media stream discovery, channel research, content analysis, and automated dataset creation.

The YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper is especially useful when the goal is to transform a collection of YouTube URLs into structured records that can be reviewed or processed programmatically.

Rather than requiring users to manually inspect every video, the actor creates structured output containing the information needed for data analysis and media-oriented workflows.

Why Use the YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper

The YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper simplifies a workflow that can otherwise require multiple manual steps.

You provide the target URLs and resolution preference, and the actor handles the extraction and organization of the resulting information.

The YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper is useful for:

• Structured YouTube metadata extraction
• Multiple URL processing
• Resolution-aware video stream selection
• Video-only and audio-only link discovery
• Automatic fallback to available video quality
• Dataset-ready results
• Error reporting for unsuccessful targets
• Media URL expiration information

The structured output is particularly useful when the collected data needs to be exported, filtered, analyzed, or passed into another automation step.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper?

The YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper is an Apify Actor that processes YouTube URLs and returns structured video metadata together with available downloadable video and audio stream links.

How does the YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper select video quality?

The YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper first considers the resolution selected in videoResolution. If that resolution is unavailable, it selects the highest suitable available video resolution.

What resolutions are supported?

The YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper supports 8K, 4K, 2K, 1080p, 720p, 480p, and 360p selections.

Can I process multiple YouTube URLs?

Yes. The YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper accepts multiple entries in the startUrls array and processes the supplied URLs individually.

Does the actor return video and audio separately?

Yes. The output can contain a downloadable video stream link and a separate downloadable audio stream link.

Does the YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper provide a merged video link?

The actor returns merge_downloadable_video_link. When a suitable combined stream is available, that stream is used; otherwise, the actor falls back to the selected video stream.

What metadata does the actor extract?

The YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper can return the video title, channel, duration, thumbnail, views, categories, description, availability, live status, subscriber count, resolution, and file size.

Are media URLs permanent?

No assumption of permanence should be made. Extracted stream URLs can expire, and the actor returns url_expires_at when an expiration timestamp is available.

What happens when a URL cannot be processed?

The YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper can return a result containing the original URL and an error field describing the processing failure.

Can I choose 4K or 8K?

Yes. The YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper provides 4K and 8K as selectable resolution values. Actual availability depends on the individual video.

What is provided_resolution?

provided_resolution tells you which video resolution was actually selected after the actor evaluated the available formats.

What is video_filesize?

video_filesize is the size of the selected video stream when a file size or approximate file size is available. It is formatted into a human-readable value such as MB or GB.

API and Automation

The YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper runs as an Apify Actor, so it can be used as part of Apify-based automation workflows.

You can supply the actor input, run the actor, and work with the resulting dataset through the capabilities provided by the Apify platform.

This makes the YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper suitable for scheduled or programmatic workflows where YouTube URL processing needs to become part of a larger data pipeline.

The actor's structured output is also useful when another automation step needs fields such as title, channel, duration, downloadable_video_link, downloadable_audio_link, or view_count.

Practical Workflow

A typical YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper workflow is simple:

1. Add your YouTube URLs to startUrls.
2. Select the desired videoResolution.
3. Start the actor.
4. Let the actor process each URL.
5. Review the structured dataset.
6. Use the returned metadata or media URLs in your next workflow step.

This approach reduces manual copying and provides consistent output across multiple targets.

Important Notes

The YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper returns information and stream URLs based on what is available for the target video at processing time.

Resolution availability can differ between videos. Selecting a high resolution does not guarantee that every target has that quality available.

Similarly, metadata such as subscriber count, view count, categories, or file size may vary depending on what information is available for the specific video.

Media stream URLs may expire, so users should process or store the relevant media promptly when required rather than treating temporary stream URLs as permanent assets.

Support

For questions, unexpected results, or processing issues with the YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper, review the actor input and output first and verify that the supplied YouTube URLs are valid.

When reporting an issue, include the relevant input configuration and the returned error information where possible. This makes troubleshooting easier while keeping unnecessary private or sensitive information out of support requests.

The YouTube Video Downloader & Scraper is built to provide a practical, structured way to process YouTube video URLs, extract useful metadata, and discover available downloadable media streams through an Apify workflow.