YouTube Video and Shorts Details Scraper

Get YouTube video and Shorts metadata

Turn known YouTube video or Shorts links into clean, analysis-ready metadata. Add watch URLs, Shorts URLs, youtu.be links, embed or live URLs, or bare 11-character IDs and receive one visible Dataset outcome for every unique content ID.

The Actor automatically identifies standard videos and native Shorts. It returns detailed content metadata and a compact basic channel profile from the same lookup, without expanding the channel into unrelated content records. No YouTube Data API key is required.

Why use this Actor?

• Direct lookup: resolve content you already know without running a keyword search first.
• Videos and native Shorts: the result type comes from YouTube metadata rather than a duration guess.
• Useful engagement data: export views, likes, comment counts, duration, dates, tags, categories, and chapters when publicly available.
• Basic creator context: each resolved item includes channel ID, name, handle, URL, subscriber count, and verification status.
• Compact output: one thumbnail URL and a concise channel object instead of large format, subtitle, or thumbnail arrays.
• One visible outcome per content ID: invalid, missing, private, unavailable, request-blocked, failed, and charge-limited lookups receive structured Dataset status rows.

Choose the right YouTube Actor

Goal	Recommended Actor
Get details for known video or Shorts URLs or IDs	This Actor
Discover videos, Shorts, or channels by keyword	YouTube Search Scraper
Export public comments and replies	YouTube Comments Scraper
Enrich known channels with full public profiles	YouTube Channel Details Scraper
Export a known channel's videos, Shorts, and streams	YouTube Channel Content Scraper

Input

The Actor has one input field, videos. Add one value per line, with up to 50 unique inputs in a run.

Supported input	Example
Video ID	FkgVB19I6xw
Watch URL	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkgVB19I6xw
Short URL	https://www.youtube.com/shorts/cjSKS1D9Kow
Short link	https://youtu.be/FkgVB19I6xw
Embed URL	https://www.youtube.com/embed/FkgVB19I6xw
Live URL	https://www.youtube.com/live/VIDEO_ID

Example input:

{
  "videos": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkgVB19I6xw",
    "https://www.youtube.com/shorts/cjSKS1D9Kow"
  ]
}

Different URL forms that resolve to the same 11-character ID are processed once.

How to use it

1. Open the Actor input page.
2. Paste one or more YouTube URLs or IDs into Video or Shorts URLs / IDs.
3. Click Start.
4. Review the live table in the Output tab or export the Dataset as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, or JSONL.
5. Use the Dataset API, schedules, webhooks, or integrations to connect the results to your workflow.

Output examples

The selected values below came from a real Apify cloud run on September 2, 2026. Public metrics change over time.

Standard video

{
  "recordType": "video",
  "status": "complete",
  "inputValue": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkgVB19I6xw",
  "inputType": "watchUrl",
  "videoId": "FkgVB19I6xw",
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkgVB19I6xw",
  "title": "NASA's Roman Space Telescope: A New Perspective on the Cosmos (Official NASA Trailer)",
  "durationSeconds": 46,
  "durationText": "46",
  "uploadDate": "2026-08-24",
  "publishedAt": "2026-08-24T21:00:22Z",
  "viewCount": 136535,
  "likeCount": 2027,
  "commentCount": null,
  "liveStatus": "not_live",
  "availability": "public",
  "videoLanguage": "en-US",
  "categories": ["Science & Technology"],
  "channelProfile": {
    "channelId": "UCLA_DiR1FfKNvjuUpBHmylQ",
    "channelName": "NASA",
    "channelHandle": "@NASA",
    "channelUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLA_DiR1FfKNvjuUpBHmylQ",
    "subscriberCount": 15100000,
    "isVerified": true
  }
}

Native Short

{
  "recordType": "short",
  "status": "complete",
  "inputValue": "https://www.youtube.com/shorts/cjSKS1D9Kow",
  "inputType": "shortUrl",
  "videoId": "cjSKS1D9Kow",
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/shorts/cjSKS1D9Kow",
  "durationSeconds": 29,
  "durationText": "29",
  "uploadDate": "2025-02-21",
  "viewCount": 59142,
  "likeCount": 2343,
  "commentCount": 96,
  "categories": ["Science & Technology"],
  "channelProfile": {
    "channelId": "UCiGWNa6QK6CiKPvv5-YPv8g",
    "channelName": "Sabrina Ramonov 🍄",
    "channelHandle": "@sabrina_ramonov",
    "subscriberCount": 378000,
    "isVerified": true
  }
}

Output fields

Group	Fields
Result status	recordType, status, inputValue, inputType, scrapedAt
Identity	videoId, url, title, description, thumbnailUrl
Time	durationSeconds, durationText, uploadDate, publishedAt
Engagement	viewCount, likeCount, commentCount, concurrentViewCount
Availability	liveStatus, availability, ageLimit, playableInEmbed
Classification	videoLanguage, license, location, tags, categories, chapters
Basic channel profile	channelId, channelName, channelHandle, channelUrl, subscriberCount, isVerified

chapters contains the chapter title plus start and end times in seconds. The Actor does not return media download formats, expiring stream URLs, transcripts, subtitle files, comment text, or the full channel About profile.

Missing fields

YouTube does not expose every field for every item. Likes can be hidden, comments can be disabled, subscriber totals can be hidden or rounded, tags can be absent, and live-only fields are normally empty for uploaded videos. In those cases the Actor returns null or an empty array instead of inventing a value or converting missing data to zero.

Lookup-status rows

The Dataset does not remain silently empty when an input cannot be resolved. It receives a compact status row such as:

{
  "recordType": "contentLookupError",
  "status": "notFound",
  "inputValue": "aaaaaaaaaaa",
  "inputType": "videoId",
  "videoId": "aaaaaaaaaaa",
  "errorCode": "CONTENT_NOT_FOUND",
  "errorMessage": "ERROR: [youtube] aaaaaaaaaaa: This video is unavailable",
  "suggestion": "Check the 11-character ID or provide a complete YouTube URL."
}

Possible statuses are invalidInput, notFound, private, unavailable, requestBlocked, failed, and chargeLimitReached. requestBlocked means YouTube rejected the network session with an automated-traffic challenge; it does not mean the content is unavailable. Retry the input in a new run if this temporary status occurs. These status rows do not trigger the successful-content custom billing event.

The default Key-Value Store record named OUTPUT also contains run totals and a compact result for every processed input.

Run through the Apify API

curl -X POST \
  "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/arjun_code~youtube-video-details-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "videos": [
      "FkgVB19I6xw",
      "https://www.youtube.com/shorts/cjSKS1D9Kow"
    ]
  }'

Pricing

This Actor uses pay-per-event pricing:

• Actor start: $0.00005 per run.
• Successful video or Shorts detail: $0.003 per result.
• Invalid, missing, private, unavailable, request-blocked, failed, and charge-limited status records are not charged as successful details.
• Platform usage is currently charged separately and varies with compute, storage operations, data transfer, and the network route required by YouTube.

Example event charges for one run, excluding variable platform usage:

Successful details	Approximate charge
1	$0.00305
10	$0.03005
50	$0.15005

The Actor honors the user-defined maximum event-charge limit and stops producing additional billable results when the limit is reached. A lookup-status row can still have platform usage because the YouTube request has already consumed network and compute resources, even though no successful-detail event is charged. The Actor's Pricing tab remains the source of truth if prices change later.

Ready-to-run examples

• Get YouTube Video Metadata from a URL or ID
• Get YouTube Shorts Details from a URL or ID

Troubleshooting

The result is requestBlocked

YouTube rejected both bounded network attempts with an automated-traffic challenge. This is a temporary request status, not proof that the content is unavailable. Retry the public input in a new run. If it repeats, include the run ID in a support request.

A valid lookup takes longer than expected

The Actor first makes one datacenter attempt and switches to one residential attempt only if needed. A blocked or slow first route therefore increases runtime. Both attempts have hard time limits and there is no unbounded retry loop.

A completed result contains null

YouTube does not expose every metric for every item. Comment counts can be disabled, likes or subscriber totals can be hidden, tags and chapters can be absent, and live-only fields do not apply to ordinary uploads. Missing values remain null or empty instead of being invented.

The same ID was supplied in more than one URL format

Every unique 11-character content ID is processed once. Duplicate watch, Shorts, short-link, embed, or live URLs for the same ID do not produce duplicate rows.

FAQ

Can an 11-character ID reveal whether the item is a Short?

The ID format itself cannot. The Actor resolves the content and uses YouTube's own metadata to classify it as video or short.

Does this Actor download the video?

No. It extracts public metadata only and does not save video or audio files.

Does it fetch comments or transcripts?

It returns the public comment count when available, but not comment text. Use YouTube Comments Scraper for comments and replies. Transcripts are outside this Actor's scope.

Does channelProfile contain the full channel About page?

No. It contains only basic channel fields available during the content lookup. Use YouTube Channel Details Scraper for a full public channel profile.

Support

Use the Actor's Issues tab and include the run ID, a public example input, the expected behavior, and the relevant status or log message. Do not post API tokens or private URLs.

Legal notice

This Actor extracts publicly available metadata. Users are responsible for following applicable laws, YouTube's terms, and data-protection requirements. This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by YouTube or Google.