# YouTube Playlist Scraper (`automation-lab/youtube-playlist-scraper`) Actor Extract public YouTube playlist videos with titles, URLs, channel data, durations, positions, thumbnails, and playlist metadata. - **URL**: https://apify.com/automation-lab/youtube-playlist-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [Stas Persiianenko](https://apify.com/automation-lab) (community) - **Categories:** Social media - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $0.03 / 1,000 result extracteds This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours, and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store. In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server. Actors are written with capital "A". ## How to integrate an Actor? If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects. You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## YouTube Playlist Scraper Extract clean video inventories from public YouTube playlists. Use this actor to turn any public YouTube playlist URL into structured rows with video IDs, URLs, titles, channel details, durations, thumbnails, positions, and playlist metadata. ### What does YouTube Playlist Scraper do? YouTube Playlist Scraper reads public playlist pages through YouTube's web data endpoint and saves one dataset item per playlist video. It is built for repeatable playlist inventory work rather than one-off browsing. You provide playlist URLs or playlist IDs. The actor returns normalized video rows that are ready for spreadsheets, BI tools, enrichment pipelines, transcript workflows, and content audits. ### Who is it for? Content marketers use it to audit competitor playlists. SEO teams use it to map video clusters and topical coverage. Creator agencies use it to monitor client and competitor channels. Researchers use it to collect public video lists for media studies. Developers use it as a playlist discovery step before transcript, comment, or video detail scraping. Sales teams use it to identify active channels and content themes in a niche. ### Why use this actor? 📌 It focuses on playlist rows, not generic search results. 📌 It accepts both playlist URLs and raw playlist IDs. 📌 It returns stable IDs that can be joined with other YouTube datasets. 📌 It captures playlist context on every row. 📌 It runs without a browser for lower cost and faster execution. 📌 It is designed for automation on the Apify platform. ### Data you can extract | Field | Description | | --- | --- | | `playlistId` | YouTube playlist ID | | `playlistUrl` | Canonical playlist URL | | `playlistTitle` | Playlist title when returned by YouTube | | `playlistChannelName` | Playlist owner channel name when available | | `playlistChannelId` | Playlist owner channel ID when available | | `videoId` | YouTube video ID | | `videoUrl` | Video watch URL with playlist context | | `title` | Video title | | `position` | Position in the playlist | | `channelName` | Video channel name | | `channelId` | Video channel ID | | `durationText` | Human-readable duration | | `durationSeconds` | Duration converted to seconds when available | | `thumbnailUrl` | Best available thumbnail URL | | `thumbnails` | Full thumbnail array returned by YouTube | | `isPlayable` | Whether YouTube marks the video as playable | | `scrapedAt` | ISO timestamp for the extraction | ### How much does it cost to scrape YouTube playlists? The actor uses pay-per-event pricing. There is a small $0.005 start event for each run. Each saved playlist video is charged as one result. Formula-based BRONZE pricing is $0.000027626 per video, with lower rates on higher Apify tiers. A short playlist is inexpensive. A large playlist costs more because it produces more rows. The input prefill is intentionally small so your first run is cheap. ### Input options #### Playlist URLs Paste public YouTube playlist URLs such as: ```text https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL590L5WQmH8fJ54F369BLDSqIwcs-TCfs ```` #### Playlist IDs You can also provide raw playlist IDs such as: ```text PL590L5WQmH8fJ54F369BLDSqIwcs-TCfs ``` #### Maximum videos Use `maxVideos` to cap the total rows saved across all playlists. #### Include unavailable videos Enable `includeUnavailable` if you want private, deleted, or unavailable entries when YouTube returns them. ### Example input ```json { "playlistUrls": [ { "url": "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL590L5WQmH8fJ54F369BLDSqIwcs-TCfs" } ], "maxVideos": 25, "includeUnavailable": false } ``` ### Example output ```json { "playlistId": "PL590L5WQmH8fJ54F369BLDSqIwcs-TCfs", "playlistUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL590L5WQmH8fJ54F369BLDSqIwcs-TCfs", "playlistTitle": "Year in Search", "videoId": "KIViy7L_lo8", "videoUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIViy7L_lo8&list=PL590L5WQmH8fJ54F369BLDSqIwcs-TCfs", "title": "2016 — Year in Search", "position": 1, "channelName": "Google", "durationText": "2:01", "durationSeconds": 121, "thumbnailUrl": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/KIViy7L_lo8/hqdefault.jpg", "isPlayable": true, "scrapedAt": "2026-05-27T00:00:00.000Z" } ``` ### How to scrape a YouTube playlist 1. Open the actor on Apify. 2. Paste one or more playlist URLs. 3. Set `maxVideos` to the number of rows you need. 4. Run the actor. 5. Export the dataset as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, or HTML. ### Tips for best results Use public playlists. Start with a low `maxVideos` value to confirm the playlist is the one you want. Use raw playlist IDs if your URLs contain extra tracking parameters. Run the actor on a schedule if you need a recurring playlist inventory. Join results by `videoId` with transcript, comments, or video detail datasets. ### Integrations Send rows to Google Sheets for editorial planning. Use dataset webhooks to trigger transcript scraping for each `videoUrl`. Export CSV files for SEO keyword clustering. Load JSON into a data warehouse for channel analysis. Use Make, Zapier, or n8n to notify your team when a playlist changes. ### API usage with Node.js ```js import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; const client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN }); const run = await client.actor('automation-lab/youtube-playlist-scraper').call({ playlistUrls: [{ url: 'https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL590L5WQmH8fJ54F369BLDSqIwcs-TCfs' }], maxVideos: 25 }); console.log(run.defaultDatasetId); ``` ### API usage with Python ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient client = ApifyClient('YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN') run = client.actor('automation-lab/youtube-playlist-scraper').call(run_input={ 'playlistUrls': [{'url': 'https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL590L5WQmH8fJ54F369BLDSqIwcs-TCfs'}], 'maxVideos': 25, }) print(run['defaultDatasetId']) ``` ### API usage with cURL ```bash curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/automation-lab~youtube-playlist-scraper/runs?token=$APIFY_TOKEN" \ -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \ -d '{"playlistUrls":[{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL590L5WQmH8fJ54F369BLDSqIwcs-TCfs"}],"maxVideos":25}' ``` ### MCP usage You can use this actor from tools that support the Apify MCP server. Claude Code MCP URL: ```text https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=automation-lab/youtube-playlist-scraper ``` Claude Desktop MCP URL: ```text https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=automation-lab/youtube-playlist-scraper ``` Add the actor to Claude Code: ```bash claude mcp add apify-youtube-playlists https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=automation-lab/youtube-playlist-scraper ``` Claude Desktop JSON config: ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify-youtube-playlists": { "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=automation-lab/youtube-playlist-scraper" } } } ``` Example prompts: - "Scrape this YouTube playlist and summarize the video topics." - "Find the longest videos in this playlist." - "Export all video URLs from these playlists." ### Common workflows Build a playlist inventory for a competitor channel. Create a seed list for a transcript scraping pipeline. Track new videos added to a public playlist over time. Compare course playlists by length and content coverage. Prepare bulk video URLs for analytics enrichment. ### Limitations The actor only supports public playlist data returned by YouTube. Private playlists cannot be scraped without access. Some unavailable videos may have limited metadata. YouTube can change its internal response shape, so output availability may vary. ### FAQ and troubleshooting #### The actor returned fewer videos than expected Check that the playlist is public and that `maxVideos` is high enough. Some playlists contain private or deleted entries that YouTube may hide. #### My URL did not work Make sure the URL contains a `list=` parameter. If you copied a watch URL, keep the `list` value or paste the raw playlist ID into `playlistIds`. ### Legality This actor extracts publicly available playlist metadata. You are responsible for using the data in a lawful way and respecting YouTube's terms, privacy rules, and applicable regulations. Do not scrape private, personal, or restricted data. Do not use the results for spam or abusive automation. ### Related scrapers Try other automation-lab actors for YouTube workflows: - https://apify.com/automation-lab/youtube-search-scraper - https://apify.com/automation-lab/youtube-transcript-scraper - https://apify.com/automation-lab/youtube-comments-scraper - https://apify.com/automation-lab/youtube-channel-scraper ### Output quality checklist Rows include stable IDs. Rows include playlist context. Rows include canonical URLs. Rows include timestamps. Rows can be exported from Apify datasets. ### Performance notes The actor is HTTP-only. It does not launch a browser. It does not require residential proxy by default. It paginates through continuation tokens when YouTube returns them. ### Versioning Initial version focuses on playlist video rows. Future versions may add optional video detail enrichment. Future versions may add playlist-change comparison helpers. ### Support If a public playlist does not return expected rows, share the run and playlist URL with support. Include the playlist URL, input JSON, and expected video count when reporting an issue. # Actor input Schema ## `playlistUrls` (type: `array`): Public YouTube playlist URLs to scrape. Paste one or more URLs containing a list= parameter. ## `playlistIds` (type: `array`): Optional raw YouTube playlist IDs, such as PL590L5WQmH8fJ54F369BLDSqIwcs-TCfs. ## `maxVideos` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of video rows to save across all playlists. ## `includeUnavailable` (type: `boolean`): Include private, deleted, or otherwise unavailable playlist entries when YouTube returns them. ## Actor input object example ```json { "playlistUrls": [ { "url": "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL590L5WQmH8fJ54F369BLDSqIwcs-TCfs" } ], "playlistIds": [], "maxVideos": 20, "includeUnavailable": false } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `overview` (type: `string`): No description # API You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup. ## JavaScript example ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token // Replace the '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "playlistUrls": [ { "url": "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL590L5WQmH8fJ54F369BLDSqIwcs-TCfs" } ] }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("automation-lab/youtube-playlist-scraper").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); items.forEach((item) => { console.dir(item); }); // 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs ``` ## Python example ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient # Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token # Replace '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "playlistUrls": [{ "url": "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL590L5WQmH8fJ54F369BLDSqIwcs-TCfs" }] } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("automation-lab/youtube-playlist-scraper").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "playlistUrls": [ { "url": "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL590L5WQmH8fJ54F369BLDSqIwcs-TCfs" } ] }' | apify call automation-lab/youtube-playlist-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=automation-lab/youtube-playlist-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "YouTube Playlist Scraper", "description": "Extract public YouTube playlist videos with titles, URLs, channel data, durations, positions, thumbnails, and playlist metadata.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "82d7RaEcZvbU9gwad" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/automation-lab~youtube-playlist-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-automation-lab-youtube-playlist-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/automation-lab~youtube-playlist-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-automation-lab-youtube-playlist-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/automation-lab~youtube-playlist-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-automation-lab-youtube-playlist-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "playlistUrls": { "title": "Playlist URLs", "type": "array", "description": "Public YouTube playlist URLs to scrape. Paste one or more URLs containing a list= parameter.", "items": { "type": "object", "required": [ "url" ], "properties": { "url": { "type": "string", "title": "URL of a web page", "format": "uri" } } } }, "playlistIds": { "title": "Playlist IDs", "type": "array", "description": "Optional raw YouTube playlist IDs, such as PL590L5WQmH8fJ54F369BLDSqIwcs-TCfs.", "default": [], "items": { "type": "string" } }, "maxVideos": { "title": "Maximum videos", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 5000, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of video rows to save across all playlists.", "default": 20 }, "includeUnavailable": { "title": "Include unavailable videos", "type": "boolean", "description": "Include private, deleted, or otherwise unavailable playlist entries when YouTube returns them.", "default": false } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```