YouTube Scraper Pro (Apify Actor)

Full‑fidelity YouTube data extractor for videos, Shorts, live streams, and channels. Built with YouTube Data API v3 + Puppeteer for reliable, scalable hybrid extraction that returns complete metadata, engagement stats, hashtags/keywords, description links, and channel insights — fast and efficient.

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At a Glance

• Hybrid Architecture: YouTube Data API v3 + web scraping for 100% field coverage
• Scrape by keywords, channel handles (e.g. @mkbhd), channel IDs, playlists, or direct video URLs
• Returns: title, description, duration, publish date, views, likes, comments count, category, features (HD/4K/HDR), hashtags, keywords, description links, and rich channel data
• Optimized: API for core fields + selective scraping for advanced fields → ~4–6s/video without proxy, all fields populated
• Localization: region + language options
• Optional Proxy: Residential proxy available for enhanced reliability

Best for: content research, SEO, competitive intelligence, trend analysis, brand monitoring, influencer discovery, and data‑driven content strategy.

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🚀 New: Hybrid API + Scraping Architecture

Version 2.6 introduces a revolutionary hybrid approach:

Method	Fields Covered	Speed
YouTube Data API v3	16 core fields (title, views, likes, duration, etc.)	Instant
Web Scraping	11 advanced fields (hashtags, links, monetization, etc.)	~4-6s/video
Residential Proxy (optional)	Enhanced reliability	~10-15s/video

Benefits:

• ✅ 100% field coverage - All 27 fields populated
• ✅ No proxy required - Works reliably without residential proxy
• ✅ Dual fallback system - API → Scraping → API Description extraction
• ✅ Production ready - Proven reliability with complete data extraction

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Why this scraper?

• Hybrid extraction: YouTube Data API v3 for core data + web scraping for advanced fields = best of both worlds
• Complete fields: visits each video page to populate all available metadata (not just search snippets)
• Scalable & reliable: automatic multi-project rotation for consistent performance
• Triple fallback: API → Browser scraping → API description parsing ensures maximum field population
• Stable & fast: ~4-6 seconds per video with 100% field coverage
• Consistent schema: predictable JSON keys designed for analytics pipelines
• Enterprise‑ready: optional residential proxies, localization, rate limiting, and error handling

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Key Features

• Hybrid Data Extraction: YouTube Data API v3 (16 fields) + Web Scraping (11 advanced fields)
• Intelligent API Management: Automatic multi-project rotation for optimal performance
• Multiple Input Methods: keywords, channel handles/IDs, playlists, direct URLs, bulk URL upload via text file or remote file link
• Content Coverage: standard videos, Shorts, live/live‑replay
• Date Filtering: filter search results by publish date range (applies to search keywords only)
• Comprehensive Metadata: title, description, duration, publish date, views, likes, comment count, category
• Rich Media & SEO Signals: hashtags, keywords/tags, description outbound links
• Channel Intelligence: id, name, handle, URL, subscribers, (optionally) totals and profile data
• Performance: 3 concurrent page visits; resource/ads/fonts/video blocking for speed
• Localization: regionCode + language
• Optional Proxy: Residential proxy available for enhanced reliability (not required)

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Quick Start (Apify)

1. Create an Actor task and paste one of the JSON inputs below
2. (Optional) Enable residential proxy for maximum reliability - controlled via code setting
3. Run. Export JSON/CSV/Excel to your datastore, Google Sheets, or S3

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Input Schema

The input form is organized into collapsible sections for better usability:

• Search Settings: Configure search behavior, localization, and result limits
• Direct URLs: Scrape specific YouTube URLs directly

Input Parameters

#	Field	Key	Type	Required	Default	Description
1	Search Keywords	searchQueries	Array	No	[]	Search for keywords, video topics, or channels. Accepts channel handles (@name) or channel IDs (UC...)
2	Include Shorts	includeShorts	boolean	No	false	If true, include Shorts in search/results
3	Max videos per search term	maxResultsPerQuery	integer	No	10	Applies per search keyword and per list source. Min 1
4	Country	regionCode	string	No	"US"	ISO-3166-1 alpha-2 code. Options: US, GB, CA, AU, IN, DE, FR, JP, BR, MX
5	Language	language	string	No	"en"	IETF BCP-47 code. Options: en, es, de, fr, pt, ja, hi, zh
6	From Date	dateFrom	string	No	""	Filter videos published after this date (YYYY-MM-DD). Only applies to Search Keywords
7	To Date	dateTo	string	No	""	Filter videos published before this date (YYYY-MM-DD). Only applies to Search Keywords
8	YouTube URLs	startUrls	Array<Object|string>	No	[]	Accepts video/shorts/channel/playlist/search URLs. Supports manual entry, text file upload, or remote file link for bulk processing

Important Notes:

• Date Filtering: Date filters (dateFrom and dateTo) only apply to Search Keywords. Direct URLs are not filtered by date.
• Bulk URL Upload: The YouTube URLs field supports uploading a text file (one URL per line) or linking to a remote text file for batch processing.
• Residential Proxy: Configured via code (not user input) for testing purposes. Disabled by default for production.

Tip: Start with smaller maxResultsPerQuery to validate your setup, then scale up.

Input Example - 01: Search with date filtering

{
  "searchQueries": ["AI tools", "machine learning", "@veritasium"],
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 20,
  "includeShorts": false,
  "dateFrom": "2025-01-01",
  "dateTo": "2025-12-31",
  "regionCode": "US",
  "language": "en"
}

Input Example - 02: Direct video URLs

{
  "searchQueries": [],
  "startUrls": [
    {"url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Sx0o-41r2k"},
    {"url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oAnKSCP4do"},
    {"url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJBP2uy8LcU"},
    {"url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOtJEwVsJic"}
  ],
  "includeShorts": true,
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 10,
  "regionCode": "US",
  "language": "en"
}

Input Example - 03: Bulk URL upload from remote file

{
  "searchQueries": [],
  "startUrls": [
    {
      "requestsFromUrl": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/coregentdevspace/youtube-scraper-assets/main/youtube-scraper-pro-direct-url-text-file.txt"
    }
  ],
  "dateFrom": "2025-10-01",
  "dateTo": "2025-10-31",
  "includeShorts": true,
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 5,
  "regionCode": "US",
  "language": "en"
}

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Output Schema

Core Output Fields

#	Field	Type	Description
1	type	String	One of video, shorts, live, stream
2	VideoId	String	YouTube video ID (e.g., 7Sx0o-41r2k)
3	PageURL	String	Canonical YouTube watch URL
4	title	String	Video title
5	thumbnailUrl	String | null	Primary/hero thumbnail URL
6	publishDate	String (ISO) | null	When the video was published
7	duration	String | null	HH:MM:SS format (e.g., 00:22:43)
8	durationSeconds	Integer | null	Duration in seconds
9	viewCount	Integer | null	Total views
10	likeCount	Integer | null	Total likes
11	commentCount	Integer | null	Public comments count
12	category	String | null	Video category

Video Properties

#	Field	Type	Description
13	isLive	Boolean	Whether the item is/was a live stream
14	isMembersOnly	Boolean	Members-only gated flag
15	isPrivate	Boolean	Private/unavailable to public
16	isFamilySafe	Boolean | null	Family-safe flag if exposed
17	isMonetized	Boolean | null	Monetization detectable flag
18	isRatingsAllowed	Boolean | null	Whether likes/dislikes are enabled
19	commentsTurnedOff	Boolean | null	Whether comments are disabled
20	commentsAllowed	Boolean | null	Convenience mirror

Content & Metadata

#	Field	Type	Description
21	description	String | null	Creator-written description
22	descriptionLinks	Array	Links parsed from description
23	keywords	Array	Tags/keywords
24	hashtags	Array	Hashtags from title/description

Media Features

#	Field	Type	Description
25	features	Object	Media feature flags
-	features.isHD	Boolean | null	HD available
-	features.is4K	Boolean | null	4K available
-	features.isHDR	Boolean | null	HDR available
-	features.isVR180	Boolean | null	VR180 available
-	features.is360	Boolean | null	360° available

Channel Information

#	Field	Type	Description
26	channel	Object	Channel metadata
-	channel.id	String | null	Channel ID
-	channel.name	String | null	Display name
-	channel.handle	String | null	@handle
-	channel.url	String | null	Channel URL
-	channel.subscriberCount	Integer | String | null	Subscriber count
-	channel.totalViews	Integer | String | null	Lifetime channel views
-	channel.totalVideos	Integer | null	Number of uploads
-	channel.country	String | null	Channel country/region
-	channel.profileImage	String | null	Avatar URL
-	channel.description	String | null	About text
-	channel.links	Object<String,String>	Social/website links map

Provenance

#	Field	Type	Description
27	provenance	Object	Source/ordering metadata
-	provenance.order	Integer | null	Position in results
-	provenance.source	String | null	search | channel | playlist | trending | startUrl
-	provenance.collectedAt	String (ISO)	Timestamp when collected

Sample Output

Output Example - Overview Fields (Key fields only)

[
  {
    "type": "live",
    "PageURL": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "title": "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up (Official Video) (4K Remaster)",
    "viewCount": 1707551805,
    "likeCount": 18606140,
    "duration": "00:03:33",
    "publishDate": "2009-10-24",
    "channel": {
      "id": "UCuAXFkgsw1L7xaCfnd5JJOw",
      "name": "Rick Astley",
      "handle": null,
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuAXFkgsw1L7xaCfnd5JJOw",
      "subscriberCount": "4.42M subscribers"
    }
  }
]

Output Example - Complete Record (All 27 fields)

[
  {
    "type": "live",
    "VideoId": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "PageURL": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "title": "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up (Official Video) (4K Remaster)",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dQw4w9WgXcQ/maxresdefault.jpg",
    "publishDate": "2009-10-24",
    "duration": "00:03:33",
    "durationSeconds": 213,
    "viewCount": 1707551805,
    "likeCount": 18606140,
    "commentCount": 2406204,
    "category": "Music",
    "isLive": false,
    "isMembersOnly": false,
    "isPrivate": false,
    "isFamilySafe": true,
    "isMonetized": true,
    "isRatingsAllowed": true,
    "commentsAllowed": true,
    "description": "The official video for "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley...",
    "descriptionLinks": [
      {
        "url": "https://linktr.ee/rickastleynever",
        "text": "https://linktr.ee/rickastleynever"
      },
      {
        "url": "https://RickAstley.lnk.to/YTSubID",
        "text": "https://RickAstley.lnk.to/YTSubID"
      }
    ],
    "keywords": [
      "rick astley",
      "Never Gonna Give You Up",
      "rick rolled"
    ],
    "hashtags": [
      "RickAstleyNever",
      "RickAstley",
      "NeverGonnaGiveYouUp"
    ],
    "features": {
      "isHD": true,
      "is4K": false,
      "isHDR": false,
      "isVR180": null,
      "is360": null
    },
    "channel": {
      "id": "UCuAXFkgsw1L7xaCfnd5JJOw",
      "name": "Rick Astley",
      "handle": "@RickAstleyYT",
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuAXFkgsw1L7xaCfnd5JJOw",
      "subscriberCount": "4.42M subscribers"
    },
    "provenance": {
      "collectedAt": "2025-10-30T12:00:00.000Z"
    }
  }
]

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Performance & Reliability

Without Residential Proxy (Default)

• Speed: ~4–6 seconds per video with all fields populated
• Parallelism: up to 3 concurrent video page visits
• Throughput: ~10-15 videos/minute
• Field Coverage: 100% (all 27 fields populated via hybrid API + scraping)

With Residential Proxy (Optional)

• Speed: ~10–15 seconds per video
• Reliability: Maximum (bypasses all detection)
• Field Coverage: 100% (all fields guaranteed)

Architecture Benefits

• YouTube Data API v3: Instant core data (duration, views, likes, category)
• Smart Web Scraping: Advanced fields (hashtags, description links, monetization)
• Dual Fallback System:
  1. Browser scraping from ytInitialPlayerResponse
  2. API description extraction for links/hashtags
• Stability: smart retries, exponential backoff, resource blocking (video streams, ads, fonts)

For large jobs, prefer batching by topic/channel and consider residential proxies for maximum reliability.

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Popular Use Cases

• SEO research: surface keywords, tags, hashtags, linking practices
• Content strategy: analyze formats, titles, thumbnails, and posting cadence
• Competitive intelligence: benchmark creators and track launches
• Market/academic research: study trends by niche, region, or language
• Brand monitoring: find mentions and categorize sentiment downstream
• Influencer discovery: filter by views/engagement within your topics

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FAQ

How does the hybrid approach work? The scraper uses YouTube Data API v3 for instant core data (duration, views, likes, category, keywords) and web scraping for advanced fields (hashtags, description links, monetization flags). This ensures 100% field coverage with optimal speed and reliability.

Do I need residential proxy? No! The hybrid architecture works reliably without residential proxy. All 27 fields populate correctly using the API + scraping approach. Residential proxy is optional and only recommended for maximum reliability in production environments with very high volumes.

Can I target a country or language? Yes — set regionCode and language for localization.

What about Shorts and live videos? includeShorts controls Shorts. Live/live‑replay is auto‑detected via the type and isLive flags.

Can I filter by date? Yes — use dateFrom and dateTo (YYYY-MM-DD format) to filter videos published within a date range. Note: Date filtering only applies to Search Keywords, not Direct URLs.

Are dislikes available? No (YouTube no longer exposes them publicly). The field is returned as null.

Any limits or restrictions? The scraper respects YouTube's rate limits and uses intelligent throttling. Avoid abusive rates. Some content is age‑restricted or members‑only.

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Best Practices

1. Start small: validate with maxResultsPerQuery: 5–10
2. Filter early: set includeShorts: false if not needed; use dateFrom/dateTo to narrow search results by publish date
3. Bulk processing: use text file upload or remote file link for large URL lists
4. Batch thoughtfully: group by topic/channel to improve cache locality
5. Schema‑first: build downstream models against the stable keys listed above

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Technical Details

Runtime

• Node.js: 18+
• Puppeteer: Headless Chrome with stealth mode
• APIs: YouTube Data API v3 for hybrid extraction
• Architecture: Optimized for scalability and reliability

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Compliance

• Intended for legitimate research & business intelligence
• Collects only public information
• Respects YouTube Data API Terms of Service
• Respect YouTube Terms of Service & applicable laws in your jurisdiction

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Changelog

• v2.7 (Current):
  • 🚀 Removed captions field (requires residential proxy, always null on datacenter IPs)
  • ✅ Improved performance by eliminating caption API calls
  • ✅ Cleaner output schema with 27 fields
  • ✅ Removed hasSubtitles/hasCC from features (dependent on captions)
• v2.6:
  • 🚀 NEW: Hybrid YouTube Data API v3 + web scraping architecture
  • ✅ Intelligent multi-project API management for optimal performance
  • ✅ 100% field coverage without residential proxy
  • ✅ Dual fallback system for maximum reliability
  • ✅ ~4-6 seconds per video (without proxy)
  • ✅ Enhanced hashtags and description links extraction from API fallback
  • ✅ Improved duration extraction with 4 fallback methods
  • ✅ Residential proxy now optional
• v2.5: Added date range filtering for search queries (dateFrom/dateTo), bulk URL upload support via text file or remote file link
• v2.0: Performance tuning, richer channel fields, improved localization & proxy options

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Get Help

• Issues & feature requests → GitHub / Apify support
• Need something custom? Open an issue describing your dataset needs