YouTube Shorts Scraper

Extract public YouTube Shorts metadata from channel Shorts tabs and direct Shorts URLs.

Use this actor to collect Shorts URLs, video IDs, titles, channel information, view labels, thumbnail links, and source tracking fields for research, reporting, and content monitoring workflows.

At a glance

• Input: Public YouTube channel /shorts URLs, direct Shorts URLs, result cap, and optional proxy settings.
• Output: One dataset row per public Short with video ID, URL, title, channel, thumbnail, publish metadata, and source context when available.
• Best for: Shorts monitoring, creator research, competitor tracking, trend scouting, and short-form video datasets.
• Pricing unit: A start event per run plus one result event for each saved Short.
• Login required: No. The Actor reads public YouTube Shorts pages only.

Ready-to-run examples

• Scrape direct YouTube Short URL - Extract metadata from a specific Shorts link.
• Monitor Google channel Shorts - Track public Shorts from a channel tab.
• Export TED Shorts for research - Build a small Shorts dataset for review.
• Scrape YouTube official channel Shorts - Use a public channel Shorts example.

What can it do?

YouTube Shorts Scraper turns public YouTube Shorts pages into structured data.

It accepts public channel Shorts tabs such as https://www.youtube.com/@YouTube/shorts.

It also accepts direct Shorts URLs such as https://www.youtube.com/shorts/VIDEO_ID.

For each Short found, the actor saves a clean dataset row.

The dataset is ready for export to JSON, CSV, Excel, Google Sheets, BI tools, or your own API pipeline.

Who is it for?

🎯 Social media managers tracking competitor Shorts.

🎯 Creator teams collecting content ideas from public channels.

🎯 Agencies preparing monthly YouTube performance reports.

🎯 Trend researchers monitoring short-form video themes.

🎯 Lead generation teams finding active creators and channels.

🎯 Analysts building dashboards around Shorts publishing activity.

Why use this actor?

YouTube's web interface is designed for watching videos, not exporting research datasets.

This actor gives you repeatable structured data from public pages.

You can run the same input daily, weekly, or monthly.

You can combine results from multiple channels in one run.

You can stop at a small limit for quick checks or increase the limit for broader monitoring.

Output fields

The actor returns one row per YouTube Short.

Field	Description
shortUrl	Canonical YouTube Shorts URL
videoId	YouTube video identifier
title	Short title or caption text when available
channelName	Channel name when available
channelUrl	Channel URL when available
viewCountText	Public view count label such as 14K views
thumbnailUrl	Thumbnail image URL
publishedTimeText	Published date text when available
durationText	Duration text when available
position	Result position in the actor output
sourceUrl	Input URL that produced the row
scrapedAt	ISO timestamp for the scrape

Pricing

This Actor uses Apify pay-per-event pricing. The prices below come from the current Actor pricing configuration. Apify public plans map to Store discount tiers, so the table shows both the user-facing plan context and the pricing tier name. The final price shown in Apify depends on the user account plan and any custom agreement.

Event	What is charged	Price
start	One-time fee charged when a run starts.	$0.005

Event	What is charged	Free / no discount	Starter / Bronze	Scale / Silver	Business / Gold	Custom / Platinum	Custom / Diamond
result	Charged per YouTube Short extracted.	$0.115 / 1,000	$0.1 / 1,000	$0.078 / 1,000	$0.06 / 1,000	$0.04 / 1,000	$0.028 / 1,000

Apify may also charge platform usage for compute, storage, proxies, or data transfer outside this Actor pricing. Check the Actor run and the Apify Pricing tab for the exact cost shown to your account.

How to scrape YouTube Shorts

1. Open the actor on Apify.

2. Paste one or more public YouTube channel Shorts URLs.

3. Set maxItems to the number of Shorts you want.

4. Run the actor.

5. Open the Dataset tab.

6. Export the data as JSON, CSV, Excel, or via API.

Input configuration

Setting	JSON key	What to enter
Start URLs	startUrls	Public Shorts URLs or channel Shorts tab URLs.
Maximum items	maxItems	Cost and size cap for the run.
Resume from checkpoint	resumeFromCheckpoint	Continue pending sources from a previous run that reached its time reserve.
Proxy configuration	proxyConfiguration	Apify proxy settings for the run.

Input example

{
  "startUrls": [
    { "url": "https://www.youtube.com/@YouTube/shorts" }
  ],
  "maxItems": 20,
  "resumeFromCheckpoint": true,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}

Output example

{
  "shortUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ssjBTBCO8cE",
  "videoId": "ssjBTBCO8cE",
  "title": "Kizzy the Parrot makes a BIG prediction",
  "channelName": "YouTube",
  "channelUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/@YouTube",
  "viewCountText": "6.9K views",
  "thumbnailUrl": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ssjBTBCO8cE/frame0.jpg",
  "publishedTimeText": null,
  "durationText": null,
  "position": 1,
  "sourceUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/@YouTube/shorts",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-06-17T00:00:00.000Z"
}

Accepted URL types

✅ Public channel Shorts tabs, for example https://www.youtube.com/@YouTube/shorts.

✅ Direct Shorts URLs, for example https://www.youtube.com/shorts/VIDEO_ID.

✅ Handle shorthand in inputs, for example @YouTube.

The actor is built for public data.

It does not access private channels, private videos, member-only videos, or account-only analytics.

Tips for best results

Use channel /shorts tabs for bulk collection.

Use direct Shorts URLs when you only need a specific video row.

Keep the first run small to confirm the channel has public Shorts.

Use multiple start URLs to combine channels in one dataset.

Remove duplicate channel URLs from your input to avoid repeated rows.

Common use cases

📈 Track Shorts posted by competitor channels.

🧠 Build a content ideation spreadsheet.

🔎 Monitor titles and topics in a niche.

📊 Feed a dashboard with fresh Shorts links.

🧾 Create a historical archive of public Shorts listings.

🤝 Find creators publishing short-form videos in your category.

Integrations

Export the dataset to Google Sheets for manual review.

Send the dataset to a data warehouse for trend analysis.

Connect Apify webhooks to trigger Slack alerts when a run finishes.

Use Make, Zapier, or n8n to move new Shorts into your content planning workflow.

Call the actor from your backend when you need fresh channel data.

API usage

Run YouTube Shorts Scraper from your own code with the Apify API.

Node.js

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN });

const run = await client.actor('fetch_cat/youtube-shorts-scraper').call({
  startUrls: [{ url: 'https://www.youtube.com/@YouTube/shorts' }],
  maxItems: 20,
});

const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items);

Python

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient('YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN')

run = client.actor('fetch_cat/youtube-shorts-scraper').call(run_input={
    'startUrls': [{'url': 'https://www.youtube.com/@YouTube/shorts'}],
    'maxItems': 20,
})

items = client.dataset(run['defaultDatasetId']).list_items().items
print(items)

cURL

curl -X POST 'https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/fetch_cat~youtube-shorts-scraper/runs?token=YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "startUrls": [{"url": "https://www.youtube.com/@YouTube/shorts"}],
    "maxItems": 20
  }'

MCP and AI agents

Use this actor from AI tools through Apify MCP.

MCP URL:

https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch_cat/youtube-shorts-scraper

Claude Code example:

$claude mcp add apify-youtube-shorts https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch_cat/youtube-shorts-scraper

Claude Desktop configuration example:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify-youtube-shorts": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch_cat/youtube-shorts-scraper"
    }
  }
}

Example prompts:

• "Scrape the latest Shorts from this YouTube channel and summarize the most common topics."

• "Collect 50 Shorts from these competitor channels and return a CSV-ready table."

• "Find Shorts titles that mention product launches or announcements."

Scheduling

You can schedule this actor in Apify Console.

Daily runs are useful for monitoring active channels.

Weekly runs are useful for reporting and trend snapshots.

Use a stable input list so every scheduled run is comparable.

Data quality notes

YouTube page layouts can vary by channel, region, and time.

Some fields are optional because YouTube may not show them on every surface.

If a field is not visible publicly, the actor leaves it as null rather than guessing.

The sourceUrl and scrapedAt fields help you audit where each row came from.

Limits

The actor only collects public data visible without a YouTube account.

It does not download videos.

It does not provide private analytics.

It does not bypass access controls.

Very large runs can take longer because YouTube loads channel Shorts in pages.

Troubleshooting

Why did I get fewer Shorts than requested?

The channel may have fewer public Shorts than your maxItems value.

The input may point to a channel page instead of the /shorts tab.

Try opening the URL in a browser and confirm that public Shorts are visible.

Why are some fields null?

YouTube does not show every metadata field in every page context.

For example, listing pages usually show title, URL, thumbnail, and view label, while direct video pages may expose different metadata.

The actor returns optional fields only when they are publicly available.

Should I enable proxies?

Most small runs should work with the default direct connection.

If your region is blocked or YouTube returns unusual pages, enable Apify Proxy in the advanced input section.

How to get help

When contacting support, include:

• Run ID or run URL.
• Input JSON.
• Reproducible public URL, such as a YouTube Shorts or channel URL that demonstrates the issue.
• Expected output.
• Actual output.

Support

Open an issue from the Actor page if a run fails or output looks wrong. Include the run ID or run URL, input JSON, expected output, actual output, and one reproducible public URL.

Legality and ethical use

This actor is intended for public web data.

Make sure your use case complies with YouTube's terms, applicable laws, and privacy requirements.

Do not use scraped data for spam, harassment, or unauthorized profiling.

If you are unsure whether your use case is allowed, consult your legal advisor.

Related scrapers

• YouTube Channel Videos Scraper
• YouTube Comments Scraper
• YouTube Search Results Scraper
• YouTube Transcript Scraper

FAQ

Can I scrape several channels in one run?

Yes. Add multiple channel Shorts URLs to startUrls.

Can I scrape only one Short?

Yes. Add the direct https://www.youtube.com/shorts/VIDEO_ID URL.

Does the actor scrape comments?

No. This actor focuses on Shorts listing metadata. Use a comments-focused actor when you need comment data.

Does the actor download video files?

No. It returns metadata and links, not media files.

Can I use the output in spreadsheets?

Yes. Export the dataset as CSV or Excel from Apify Console.

Can I run it on a schedule?

Yes. Use Apify schedules to run it automatically.

Is login required?

No. The actor is designed for public pages visible without a YouTube account.

What should I put in maxItems?

Use a small value such as 20 for a quick test. Increase it for larger monitoring jobs.

Privacy and data handling

This Actor only requests the permissions needed to run the input you provide. It uses your input (such as URLs, search terms, identifiers, filters, and limits) only to fetch the requested public data from the relevant source site or API for this Actor, then writes results to your Apify dataset/key-value store.

Data may pass through Apify platform services and Apify Proxy during the run, and requests are sent only to the target site or public data provider required for this Actor's results. FetchCat does not send your inputs or outputs to advertising networks, data brokers, or model-training services, and does not retain run data outside Apify storage after the run except when you explicitly share run details for transient support debugging.

You are responsible for using this Actor lawfully, respecting the target site's terms, and avoiding unnecessary personal or sensitive data in inputs. Review the output before storing, sharing, or combining it with other data.