Youtube Shorts Scraper

Scrape YouTube Shorts from any channel. Get views, likes, comments count, and complete channel metadata. HTTP-first approach with automatic Playwright fallback.

Input

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
inputMode	string	No	"channel"	Source to scrape Shorts from. "channel" uses the channel Shorts tab; "hashtag" uses a hashtag page
channelUrls	string[]	Conditional	-	YouTube channel URLs, handles (@username), or channel IDs (UCxxx). Required when inputMode="channel"
hashtags	string[]	Conditional	-	Hashtags to scrape Shorts from (e.g. ["#shorts", "#cooking"]). The # prefix is optional. Required when inputMode="hashtag"
maxShorts	integer	No	25	Max shorts to scrape per channel or hashtag (1-2000)
oldestPostDate	string	No	null	Only shorts after this date (YYYY-MM-DD). Applies to channel mode only

Supported channel formats

• https://www.youtube.com/@MrBeast
• https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX6OQ3DkcsbYNE6H8uQQuVA
• @MrBeast (handle)
• UCX6OQ3DkcsbYNE6H8uQQuVA (channel ID)

Example input

{
  "inputMode": "channel",
  "channelUrls": ["@nasa", "@MrBeast"],
  "maxShorts": 10,
  "oldestPostDate": "2025-01-01"
}

Modes

Channel mode (inputMode: "channel")

Scrapes Shorts directly from a channel's Shorts tab. Provide one or more channelUrls. Each row includes the full channel* metadata. The oldestPostDate filter applies only in this mode.

{
  "inputMode": "channel",
  "channelUrls": ["@MrBeast"],
  "maxShorts": 25
}

Hashtag mode (inputMode: "hashtag")

Scrapes Shorts surfaced under a YouTube hashtag page. Provide one or more hashtags (with or without the # prefix). Each row includes a hashtag field identifying the source tag.

{
  "inputMode": "hashtag",
  "hashtags": ["#shorts", "cooking"],
  "maxShorts": 50
}

Output

Each row in the dataset represents one YouTube Short with full metadata.

Short fields

Field	Type	Example
title	string	"Mind-blowing space facts"
type	string	"shorts"
id	string	"abc123xyz"
url	string	"https://www.youtube.com/shorts/abc123xyz"
thumbnailUrl	string	Thumbnail image URL
viewCount	integer	1500000
likes	integer	85000
commentsCount	integer	320
commentsTurnedOff	boolean	false
order	integer	0
hashtag	string	"#shorts" (set only in hashtag mode)
scrapedAt	string	"2026-02-12T12:00:00.000000+00:00"

Channel fields (included in each row)

Field	Type	Example
channelName	string	"NASA"
channelUrl	string	"https://www.youtube.com/@NASA"
channelId	string	"UCLA_DiR1FfKNvjuUpBHmylQ"
channelUsername	string	"NASA"
numberOfSubscribers	integer	14200000
isChannelVerified	boolean	true
channelAvatarUrl	string	Avatar image URL
channelBannerUrl	string	Banner image URL
channelTotalVideos	integer	5200
aboutChannelInfo	object	Nested object with full channel details

Use Cases

• Viral Shorts discovery — find the most-viewed Shorts from top creators
• Niche content mapping — discover Shorts creators in any hashtag community
• Influencer benchmarking — compare Shorts engagement across multiple channels
• Trend monitoring — track Shorts volume for trending hashtags over time
• Content strategy research — analyze what Short topics drive the most views

FAQ

Do I need cookies or a YouTube account? No. The scraper uses public data only.

What's the difference between channel and hashtag mode? Channel mode scrapes Shorts from a specific creator's Shorts tab. Hashtag mode scrapes all Shorts tagged with a given hashtag.

Can I filter Shorts by date? In channel mode, use oldestPostDate to exclude Shorts older than a given date. Hashtag mode does not support date filtering.

How many Shorts can I scrape? Up to 2,000 per channel or hashtag per run.

Why are some view counts lower than what I see on YouTube? View counts can take time to update on YouTube's servers. The scraper returns the count visible at crawl time.

YouTube Scraper Suite

This actor is part of a complete YouTube data extraction toolkit. Explore the full suite:

Actor	Description
YouTube Channel Scraper	Channel metadata, subscriber counts, and full video catalogs
YouTube Channel Scraper Fast	Streamlined channel scraper for high-volume and speed-sensitive workflows
YouTube Comment Scraper	Comments, replies, likes, author info, and pinned/hearted status
YouTube Email Scraper	Creator contact emails from channel pages, Instagram, TikTok, and Linktree
YouTube Hashtag Scraper	Videos and Shorts tagged with specific hashtags
YouTube Playlist Scraper	All videos and metadata from any YouTube playlist
YouTube Search Scraper	Search results including videos, channels, and playlists
YouTube Shorts Scraper	Shorts from channels or hashtags with full view and like metadata
YouTube Transcript Scraper	Timed transcripts and captions with optional Whisper AI fallback
YouTube Trending Scraper	Ranked trending videos by category — Gaming, Music, News, Movies
YouTube Video Details Scraper	Comprehensive video metadata, chapters, endscreen, captions, and comments
YouTube Video Downloader	Download videos, playlists, and channels in any quality with metadata