YouTube Video Metadata Scraper

Look up a YouTube video and collect its details in structured JSON. Review the title, channel, duration and viewing statistics, with options to include available chapters and media format information.

What you get

• Video details: available title, channel, duration, view count and live-status metadata.
• Chapter information: include available chapter titles and timestamps.
• Format information: include available audio/video format metadata without downloading the media.

Use it to inspect a video before further processing, organize a video catalog or locate sections using available chapter timestamps.

Example output

The YouTube Metadata results dataset contains the returned video record. The table highlights basic fields; nested details are available in JSON. This example is illustrative, not a live result:

{
  "videoId": "abcdefghijk",
  "title": "Example battery recycling walkthrough",
  "channel": "Example Science",
  "duration": 300,
  "viewCount": 1234,
  "isLive": false,
  "chapters": [
    {
      "title": "Introduction",
      "start_time": 0,
      "end_time": 60
    }
  ],
  "request_id": "req_example"
}

Complete response and status contains the full response, including returned chapter and format arrays and usage information. Field availability varies by video.

Quick start

1. Get a FlashData API key with youtube_metadata access and available Credits.
2. Enter the video's 11-character video_id and your key. Select whether to include chapters and format metadata.
3. Click Start, then open YouTube Metadata results for the record or Complete response and status for nested details.

{
  "flashdataApiKey": "YOUR_FLASHDATA_API_KEY",
  "video_id": "abcdefghijk",
  "include_chapters": true,
  "include_formats": false
}

Input parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
video_id	Yes	11-character YouTube video ID (the v= value in a watch URL).
flashdataApiKey	Yes	Your FlashData API key, stored as encrypted input.
include_formats	No	Include available video/audio format metadata, without downloading files. Default: true.
include_chapters	No	Include chapters when available. Default: true.

Replace the illustrative video_id with a real video ID, such as the value after v= in a YouTube watch URL. This Actor accepts one ID per run, not a full URL or a list. Both include_chapters and include_formats default to true; set either to false to omit that optional request.

Pricing

Requests use your FlashData Credits at your applicable account rate. This Actor adds no service fee. Apify compute, storage and other platform usage are billed separately under your Apify plan.

FAQ

Does include_formats download video or audio?

No. It requests format information only. Downloading media is a separate operation.

Why are there no chapters?

Not every video has chapters, and availability depends on the returned metadata. Enabling include_chapters does not generate chapters.

Does this include the transcript?

No. Use the dedicated transcript or captions Actor to retrieve an existing caption track.

Can it read private or unavailable videos?

Metadata depends on what the service can access. Private, removed, restricted or otherwise unavailable videos may fail or return limited information.

What if a run fails?

Check key permissions and Credits for authentication errors. After a timeout or interruption, inspect Complete response and status and FlashData Jobs/usage before starting again: the request may already have been charged. A new run can create another charge.

Support

Open an issue on this Actor or email support@flashdata.dev with the run URL or request ID. Do not include API keys.

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This is an independent FlashData integration, not an official YouTube product.