# YouTube Channel Scraper (`datacortex/youtube-channel-scraper`) Actor

YouTube channel profile and video list by channel handle.

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

## Pricing

from $0.50 / 1,000 channel videos

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?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — 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 Channel Scraper

Look up a public YouTube **channel by handle** and export **subscriber count plus recent videos**: title, URL, views, duration, thumbnail, and publish time.

Built for Apify Console, API, MCP agents, and integrations (Make, Zapier, n8n). One dataset row per video — ready for CSV, Excel, or JSON export.

### What you get

| Field | Example |
| --- | --- |
| `channelName` | Marques Brownlee |
| `channelHandle` | @mkbhd |
| `subscribers` | 21200000 |
| `title` | Google Pixel 11/Pro Review: Poker Face |
| `url` | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANmTVYkEtLw |
| `videoId` | ANmTVYkEtLw |
| `views` | 3700000 |
| `duration` | 12:04 |
| `publishedTime` | 2 days ago |
| `thumbnailUrl` | https://i.ytimg.com/vi/…/hq720.jpg |

Default is **20 videos per channel**. Raise `limit` up to 50.

### How to run

1. Open the Actor in Apify Console.
2. Enter handles (`@mkbhd`) or `youtube.com/@handle` URLs, one per line.
3. Optional: set videos-per-channel and a max-results cap.
4. Click **Start**. Open the **Output** tab when the run finishes.

#### Example input

```json
{
  "channelHandles": ["@mkbhd"],
  "limit": 20,
  "maxResults": 20
}
```

#### API

```bash
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/datacortex~youtube-channel-scraper/runs?token=YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"channelHandles":["@mkbhd"],"limit":20}'
```

Replace `YOUR_TOKEN` with an Apify API token.

### Use with MCP / agents

This is a normal Apify Actor. Agents call it through [Apify MCP](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp) — you do not run a separate MCP process.

Pin this Actor as a tool (after it is public):

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=datacortex/youtube-channel-scraper"
    }
  }
}
```

The agent should `fetch-actor-details` on `datacortex/youtube-channel-scraper`, then run it with the same JSON as **Example input** above. Running Actors requires an Apify token (OAuth in the client, or `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_TOKEN>`).

### Pricing

**$0.50 per 1,000 results** + $0.001 per run.

One channel lookup returns many video rows. That is the same shape as a search scraper, not a one-video metadata lookup.

| Event | When it fires | Price |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `apify-actor-start` | Once when the run starts | **$0.001** |
| `apify-default-dataset-item` | Once per dataset row (usually one video) | **$0.0005** ($0.50 / 1,000) |

| Job | Rows | You pay |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 channel, 20 videos | 20 | $0.001 + $0.010 = **$0.011** |
| 10 channels, 20 videos | 200 | $0.001 + $0.100 = **$0.101** |
| 1 channel, 50 videos | 50 | $0.001 + $0.025 = **$0.026** |

Set a **max total charge per run** so a long handle list cannot overrun budget. The Actor stops when that limit is reached.

### Input reference

| Field | Required | Default | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `channelHandles` | yes | — | `@handle` or channel URL, max 1,000, duplicates skipped |
| `limit` | no | 20 | Videos per channel, 1–50 |
| `maxResults` | no | all | Hard cap across every channel |

### Limitations

- Handles only (`@name` or `/ @name` URLs). Channel IDs (`UC…`) are not accepted.
- This Actor does **not** download video files, transcripts, or comments.
- View counts and “published X ago” are what YouTube shows on the channel page.
- Failed handles write one `type: "error"` row so you can see which input failed.

### Changelog

See [CHANGELOG.md](CHANGELOG.md).

# Actor input Schema

## `channelHandles` (type: `array`):

One handle per line. Accepts `@mkbhd`, `mkbhd`, or a `youtube.com/@handle` URL. Channel IDs (`UC…`) are not supported.

## `limit` (type: `integer`):

How many recent videos to return per channel (1–50). Default 20.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many dataset rows across every channel. Leave empty to keep every video.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "channelHandles": [
    "@mkbhd"
  ],
  "limit": 20
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

Dataset of flattened channel videos.

# 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 = {
    "channelHandles": [
        "@mkbhd"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("datacortex/youtube-channel-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 = { "channelHandles": ["@mkbhd"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("datacortex/youtube-channel-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 '{
  "channelHandles": [
    "@mkbhd"
  ]
}' |
apify call datacortex/youtube-channel-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,datacortex/youtube-channel-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/Tqaqhp2mKAgMaXQG4/builds/Dr2KbaJ02tpYakCNF/openapi.json