# YouTube Scraper API - Videos, Channels, Playlists & Search (`groupoject/youtube-scraper-api`) Actor

Scrape YouTube videos from search terms, channels, playlists, and video URLs. Export titles, channel data, views, duration, thumbnails, publish dates, and links without a YouTube API key.

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

## Pricing

from $0.50 / 1,000 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 Scraper API - Videos, Channels, Playlists & Search

Scrape YouTube videos from search terms, channels, playlists, Shorts URLs, and video URLs without a YouTube API key.

This Actor is built for content research, creator discovery, competitor monitoring, social listening, video SEO, lead generation, and market intelligence.

### Features

- YouTube search scraping by keyword
- Channel video scraping from public channel feeds
- Playlist video scraping
- Direct video URL enrichment
- Supports normal YouTube URLs, Shorts URLs, playlist URLs, `@handles`, channel IDs, and video IDs
- Exports titles, channel names, view counts, durations, publish dates, thumbnails, descriptions, and video links
- No YouTube API key required
- Clean dataset table for CSV, JSON, Excel, Make, Zapier, API, and MCP workflows

### Input Example

```json
{
  "searchTerms": ["openai tutorials", "shopify marketing"],
  "channelUrls": ["https://www.youtube.com/@OpenAI"],
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 30,
  "maxTotalResults": 100
}
```

### Output Example

```json
{
  "videoId": "PWPsZssgfDo",
  "title": "How to build with Gemini 3.5 Transcribe",
  "channelName": "Google for Developers",
  "views": 12000,
  "durationText": "4 minutes, 50 seconds",
  "publishedText": "2 days ago",
  "thumbnailUrl": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/...",
  "videoUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWPsZssgfDo",
  "sourceType": "search",
  "query": "ai tutorials"
}
```

### Use Cases

- Track competitor YouTube uploads
- Find trending videos in a niche
- Build creator and influencer lists
- Monitor brand mentions in YouTube search
- Collect playlist videos for research
- Enrich video IDs with title, channel, views, and thumbnails
- Feed video metadata into dashboards, spreadsheets, or AI workflows

### Pricing Recommendation

Recommended pricing: **$0.50 per 1,000 videos** (`$0.0005` per result), with a small Actor start event. This follows the low-entry, high-volume pattern used by top social/video scrapers.

### Notes

This Actor uses publicly available YouTube surfaces and an unofficial InnerTube client. YouTube can change its internal APIs, so high availability depends on active maintenance. If a channel blocks web access or a handle cannot be resolved, the failed input is saved in the `ERRORS` key-value record.

# Actor input Schema

## `searchTerms` (type: `array`):

YouTube search keywords for keyword research, trend monitoring, and competitor content discovery.

## `channelUrls` (type: `array`):

YouTube channel URLs, @handles, or UC channel IDs. Public channel RSS is used when available.

## `playlistUrls` (type: `array`):

YouTube playlist URLs or playlist IDs.

## `videoUrls` (type: `array`):

Specific YouTube video URLs, Shorts URLs, or video IDs to enrich.

## `maxResultsPerQuery` (type: `integer`):

Maximum videos collected for each search term, channel, or playlist.

## `maxTotalResults` (type: `integer`):

Maximum videos output across the whole run. Default keeps test runs affordable.

## `language` (type: `string`):

YouTube language code.

## `country` (type: `string`):

YouTube country code.

## `dedupe` (type: `boolean`):

Remove duplicate video IDs across all input sources.

## `includeVideoDetails` (type: `boolean`):

Fetch richer metadata for direct video URLs.

## `debugMode` (type: `boolean`):

Verbose logging.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searchTerms": [
    "openai tutorials",
    "shopify marketing"
  ],
  "channelUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/@OpenAI"
  ],
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 30,
  "maxTotalResults": 100,
  "language": "en",
  "country": "US",
  "dedupe": true,
  "includeVideoDetails": true,
  "debugMode": false
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `videos` (type: `string`):

One row per YouTube video.

## `summary` (type: `string`):

Totals, source counts, and warnings.

## `errors` (type: `string`):

Inputs that failed.

# 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 = {
    "searchTerms": [
        "openai tutorials",
        "shopify marketing"
    ],
    "channelUrls": [
        "https://www.youtube.com/@OpenAI"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("groupoject/youtube-scraper-api").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 = {
    "searchTerms": [
        "openai tutorials",
        "shopify marketing",
    ],
    "channelUrls": ["https://www.youtube.com/@OpenAI"],
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("groupoject/youtube-scraper-api").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 '{
  "searchTerms": [
    "openai tutorials",
    "shopify marketing"
  ],
  "channelUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/@OpenAI"
  ]
}' |
apify call groupoject/youtube-scraper-api --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,groupoject/youtube-scraper-api"
        }
    }
}

```

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/uXWrxCykichRZHVdG/builds/NsUDZjBE8nws7yn03/openapi.json