# YouTube Search Scraper: Search Results, Views & Channels (`buy-it/youtube-search-scraper`) Actor

Search YouTube by keyword and get the matching videos: title, link, views, upload time, duration, description snippet, thumbnail and channel. Sort by relevance, date or views and filter by upload date and length. Export JSON, CSV or Excel, use the API, or schedule runs.

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

## Pricing

from $0.40 / 1,000 search 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

Search YouTube by keyword and get the matching videos as JSON, CSV or Excel: title, link, views, upload time, duration, description snippet, thumbnail and channel.

### What you get for each result

- Search keyword and rank of the video in the results
- Video title, ID, link and description snippet
- View count (as a number and as shown on YouTube)
- Upload time as shown on YouTube, for example "3 days ago"
- Duration in seconds and as text
- Thumbnail link
- Channel name, ID, link and verified badge

### How to use it

1. Enter one or more keywords, one per line.
2. Choose the sort order (relevance, upload date, view count, rating), how recent the videos must be, and the length.
3. Set how many results you want per keyword, then press **Start**.

Use the video links with the YouTube Transcript Scraper or YouTube Comments Scraper to get transcripts or comments for everything you found.

### Input

| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Search keywords | One search per line |
| Sort by | Relevance, upload date, view count or rating |
| Uploaded | Any time, last hour, today, this week, this month, this year |
| Length | Any, under 4 minutes, 4 to 20 minutes, over 20 minutes |
| Results per keyword | Maximum videos per keyword |
| Maximum results in total | Stops the whole run |

### Output example

```json
{
  "searchQuery": "python tutorial",
  "position": 1,
  "videoId": "fWjsdhR3z3c",
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWjsdhR3z3c",
  "title": "Learn Python in Less than 10 Minutes for Beginners (Fast & Easy)",
  "viewCount": 1707861,
  "publishedTimeText": "5 years ago",
  "durationSeconds": 630,
  "channelName": "Indently"
}
```

### Pricing

You pay per video returned, plus a tiny start fee. Keywords with no results cost nothing. Set a maximum spend per run and the Actor stops when it is reached.

### Notes

- Only videos are returned, not channels, playlists or Shorts.
- Keywords that returned nothing are listed in the `FAILED_QUERIES` record of the run's key-value store.
- The Actor reads publicly visible search results. Use it in line with YouTube's terms.

### Related actors

More scrapers from the same publisher:

- [YouTube Transcript Scraper](https://apify.com/buy-it/youtube-transcript-scraper) — Captions and subtitles by video URL
- [YouTube Comments Scraper](https://apify.com/buy-it/youtube-comments-scraper) — Comments, likes and replies
- [YouTube Channel Videos Scraper](https://apify.com/buy-it/youtube-channel-videos-scraper) — Full video list for a channel
- [YouTube Channel Info Scraper](https://apify.com/buy-it/youtube-channel-info-scraper) — Subscribers, views, links and about
- [YouTube Playlist Scraper](https://apify.com/buy-it/youtube-playlist-scraper) — Every video in a playlist
- [YouTube Shorts Scraper](https://apify.com/buy-it/youtube-shorts-scraper) — Shorts list for a channel
- [YouTube Video Details Scraper](https://apify.com/buy-it/youtube-video-details-scraper) — Likes, views, tags and description
- [TikTok Profile Scraper](https://apify.com/buy-it/tiktok-profile-scraper) — Followers, likes, bio and avatar

# Actor input Schema

## `searchQueries` (type: `array`):

What to search for on YouTube, one per line, for example "python tutorial".

## `sortBy` (type: `string`):

Order of the results: most relevant, newest upload, most views or best rated.

## `uploadDate` (type: `string`):

Only videos uploaded within this period.

## `duration` (type: `string`):

Only videos of this length: short is under 4 minutes, medium is 4 to 20 minutes, long is over 20 minutes.

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

Maximum number of videos to collect for each search keyword.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Stop the whole run after this many videos across all keywords.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searchQueries": [
    "python tutorial"
  ],
  "sortBy": "relevance",
  "uploadDate": "any",
  "duration": "any",
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 50,
  "maxItems": 1000
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `videos` (type: `string`):

One row per search result. Download as JSON, CSV or Excel.

# 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 = {
    "searchQueries": [
        "python tutorial"
    ]
};

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

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "searchQueries": ["python tutorial"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("buy-it/youtube-search-scraper").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 '{
  "searchQueries": [
    "python tutorial"
  ]
}' |
apify call buy-it/youtube-search-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

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/lgy8AOapSqxcTgyi0/builds/rVHA7OnvZdEVKUfeM/openapi.json