# YouTube Search Scraper (`brightgro/youtube-search`) Actor

Give searches and get the videos YouTube ranks for each: title, channel, views, publish date, length, Shorts and live flags, link and thumbnail. Optionally channels and playlists too. 16 countries. Data from the DataForSEO SERP API.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/brightgro/youtube-search.md
- **Developed by:** [Brightgro LLC](https://apify.com/brightgro) (community)
- **Categories:** Videos, Marketing
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$1.00 / 1,000 results

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/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
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.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## 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.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## YouTube Search Scraper

Give searches and get what YouTube ranks for each one, in YouTube's order. The data comes from the DataForSEO SERP API.

### Input

- Searches: up to 50, for example `web scraping tutorial`.
- Country: one of 16 YouTube markets (US by default).
- Results per search: 20 to 200. The default is 20.
- Include channels and playlists: off returns videos only.

### Output

One row per result:

| Field | What it holds |
|---|---|
| query, country | What you asked for |
| rank, type | The result's place in YouTube's results; video, video_paid, channel or playlist |
| title, url, description | The result |
| video_id, views, published, published_at | The video, its views and when it was published |
| duration, duration_seconds, is_short, is_live, badges | Length and flags |
| channel_name, channel_id, channel_url | The channel behind the result |
| thumbnail_url | The video thumbnail |
| video_count, verified, playlist_id | For channel and playlist rows |

A search with no matching results gets one `no_results` row. A provider error gets one `provider_error` row and is not charged. An empty search is skipped.

### Price

One `result` event for each result row, at the price shown on this page. The run asks for no more results than its spending limit can pay for, and stops when the limit is reached.

### Limits

- YouTube may show fewer results than you ask for, and with videos only, channel and playlist results are left out of the count.
- View counts and dates are as YouTube shows them at the time of the search.

# Actor input Schema

## `queries` (type: `array`):

What you would type into YouTube search, up to 50, for example web scraping tutorial.

## `country` (type: `string`):

The YouTube market to search in.

## `maxResultsPerQuery` (type: `integer`):

The most results to return for each search, in YouTube's order (20 to 200).

## `includeChannelsAndPlaylists` (type: `boolean`):

Also return the channels and playlists YouTube shows in the results. Off returns videos only.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "queries": [
    "web scraping tutorial"
  ],
  "country": "US",
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 20,
  "includeChannelsAndPlaylists": false
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

Give searches and get the videos YouTube ranks for each: title, channel, views, publish date, length, Shorts and live flags, link and thumbnail. Optionally channels and playlists too. 16 countries. Data from the DataForSEO SERP API.

# 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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "queries": [
        "web scraping tutorial"
    ],
    "maxResultsPerQuery": 20
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("brightgro/youtube-search").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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "queries": ["web scraping tutorial"],
    "maxResultsPerQuery": 20,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("brightgro/youtube-search").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "queries": [
    "web scraping tutorial"
  ],
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 20
}' |
apify call brightgro/youtube-search --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,brightgro/youtube-search"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/jLkVb48RlwDxnz6Ab/builds/y8Uc2V8DoaZwEHO15/openapi.json