# YouTube Video Metadata Extractor (`hasnainnisar67/youtube-video-info-scraper`) Actor Extract complete metadata for any YouTube video URL: title, description, view count, likes, comment count, tags, categories, thumbnails, channel info, upload date, and duration. Bulk URL input with automatic anti-bot handling via Apify proxy. - **URL**: https://apify.com/hasnainnisar67/youtube-video-info-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [Hasnain Nisar](https://apify.com/hasnainnisar67) (community) - **Categories:** Videos, Social media - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, NaN bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing $1.99 / 1,000 video info fetcheds 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/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. 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. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use 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 Video Info Scraper - Free Metadata Extractor (No API Key) **Extract complete YouTube video metadata at scale — no API key, no quotas, no login.** Get titles, view counts, likes, comments, tags, descriptions, channel info, thumbnails, upload dates and more from any YouTube video URL in seconds. ### What this YouTube Scraper does This Apify actor pulls the full public metadata for any YouTube video you give it. Pass in a list of YouTube URLs and it returns a clean, structured JSON record for each one — ready to drop into Google Sheets, a database, a dashboard, or your own AI pipeline. It works without the YouTube Data API, so you are **not subject to the official 10,000 units / day quota**. No API key. No OAuth. No paid tiers. #### Fields returned per video | Field | Description | |-------|-------------| | `id` | YouTube video ID | | `title` | Video title | | `description` | Full video description | | `tags` | Tags array | | `categories` | YouTube categories | | `view_count` | Lifetime view count | | `like_count` | Like count | | `comment_count` | Comment count | | `upload_date` | ISO date (YYYY-MM-DD) | | `duration` | Duration in seconds | | `duration_string` | Human-readable duration (e.g. "12:34") | | `thumbnail` | Highest-resolution thumbnail URL | | `webpage_url` | Canonical video URL | | `channel` | Channel display name | | `channel_url` | Channel page URL | | `channel_follower_count` | Subscriber count | | `average_rating` | Rating (when available) | | `age_limit` | Age restriction (0 / 18) | | `platform` | Source platform identifier | ### Why use this YouTube Video Scraper? - **No API key required** — start scraping immediately - **No daily quota** — extract from millions of videos - **Lightning fast** — single HTTPS round-trip per video - **Production-ready output** — clean JSON / CSV / Excel exports - **Supports Shorts and live streams** — full URL coverage - **Bulk extraction** — pass an array of URLs, get an array of results ### Use cases - **Content research** — analyze top-performing videos in your niche - **Competitor analysis** — track competitor video stats over time - **SEO research** — extract titles, tags, and descriptions for keyword ideas - **Influencer marketing** — qualify creators by view count and engagement - **AI / ML training data** — build datasets of video metadata - **Trend tracking** — monitor viral videos, new uploads, news content - **Affiliate marketing** — find high-traffic videos to target - **Data journalism** — analyze public information from YouTube ### Input Pass an array of YouTube video URLs: ```json { "videoUrls": [ "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ", "https://youtu.be/9bZkp7q19f0", "https://www.youtube.com/shorts/abc123" ] } ```` ### Output Each record in the dataset matches the field table above: ```json { "id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ", "title": "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up (Official Video)", "channel": "Rick Astley", "channel_url": "https://www.youtube.com/@RickAstleyYT", "view_count": 1543210000, "like_count": 16800000, "comment_count": 2400000, "upload_date": "2009-10-25", "duration": 213, "duration_string": "3:33", "thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dQw4w9WgXcQ/maxresdefault.jpg", "tags": ["Rick Astley", "Music", "Pop"], "categories": ["Music"], "platform": "Youtube" } ``` ### How it works The actor uses [yt-dlp](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp) under the hood — the gold-standard open-source video information extractor. yt-dlp queries YouTube's public web endpoints exactly the way a browser would, and parses the embedded player JSON. No reverse-engineered private APIs, no fragile DOM selectors. ### Cost This actor is small and fast. Memory usage stays under 256 MB and a single video extraction completes in 1–3 seconds. You only pay for the compute time you use — no per-video fees. ### Related actors - **YouTube Channel Scraper** — extract a channel's full video history - **YouTube Competitor Analyzer** — compare up to 5 channels side-by-side - **YouTube Downloader** — get downloadable MP4 / MP3 URLs ### FAQ **Q: Do I need a YouTube Data API key?** No. This actor works entirely without API credentials. **Q: Does it work on YouTube Shorts?** Yes — Shorts URLs (`youtube.com/shorts/...`) are fully supported. **Q: Can it bypass age-restricted videos?** Public metadata for age-restricted videos is returned, but the `age_limit` field will be 18. **Q: How fresh is the data?** Data is extracted live, in real time, on each run. **Q: Is this legal?** The actor extracts only publicly available metadata. You are responsible for using the data in compliance with YouTube's Terms of Service and your local laws. # Actor input Schema ## `videoUrls` (type: `array`): One or more YouTube video URLs (or yt-dlp-supported video URLs) to extract metadata from. Supports youtube.com/watch?v=, youtu.be/ and youtube.com/shorts/. ## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`): yt-dlp is routed through this proxy. Apify datacenter IPs are aggressively rate-limited by YouTube ('Sign in to confirm you're not a bot'), so a proxy is required for reliable extraction. If a video still fails the bot-challenge, the actor automatically retries it via the RESIDENTIAL proxy group. ## `cookies` (type: `string`): Optional. Paste the contents of a Netscape-format cookies.txt file from a logged-in YouTube session. Used for videos that fail even with the residential-proxy retry (age-gated, region-restricted, or heavily bot-challenged content). See https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/FAQ#how-do-i-pass-cookies-to-yt-dlp. ## Actor input object example ```json { "videoUrls": [ "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ" ], "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true }, "cookies": "" } ``` # 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 '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "videoUrls": [ "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ" ], "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true } }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("hasnainnisar67/youtube-video-info-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 '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "videoUrls": ["https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"], "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": True }, } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("hasnainnisar67/youtube-video-info-scraper").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "videoUrls": [ "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ" ], "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true } }' | apify call hasnainnisar67/youtube-video-info-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=hasnainnisar67/youtube-video-info-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "YouTube Video Metadata Extractor", "description": "Extract complete metadata for any YouTube video URL: title, description, view count, likes, comment count, tags, categories, thumbnails, channel info, upload date, and duration. Bulk URL input with automatic anti-bot handling via Apify proxy.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "2l4nAgx2bN7gDMYhc" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/hasnainnisar67~youtube-video-info-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-hasnainnisar67-youtube-video-info-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/hasnainnisar67~youtube-video-info-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-hasnainnisar67-youtube-video-info-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/hasnainnisar67~youtube-video-info-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-hasnainnisar67-youtube-video-info-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "required": [ "videoUrls" ], "properties": { "videoUrls": { "title": "YouTube video URLs", "type": "array", "description": "One or more YouTube video URLs (or yt-dlp-supported video URLs) to extract metadata from. Supports youtube.com/watch?v=, youtu.be/ and youtube.com/shorts/.", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "proxyConfiguration": { "title": "Proxy configuration", "type": "object", "description": "yt-dlp is routed through this proxy. Apify datacenter IPs are aggressively rate-limited by YouTube ('Sign in to confirm you're not a bot'), so a proxy is required for reliable extraction. If a video still fails the bot-challenge, the actor automatically retries it via the RESIDENTIAL proxy group.", "default": { "useApifyProxy": true } }, "cookies": { "title": "YouTube cookies (Netscape format) - optional", "type": "string", "description": "Optional. Paste the contents of a Netscape-format cookies.txt file from a logged-in YouTube session. Used for videos that fail even with the residential-proxy retry (age-gated, region-restricted, or heavily bot-challenged content). See https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/wiki/FAQ#how-do-i-pass-cookies-to-yt-dlp.", "default": "" } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```