Video Metadata & Format Inventory — URLs, Thumbnails & Tracks

Inspect allowed video URLs from YouTube, Vimeo, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Dailymotion, and 1,000+ other websites. Get available format information, public metadata, thumbnails, subtitle tracks, and source URLs for owned or permitted media workflows. Powered by yt-dlp for broad platform compatibility.

No coding required. Paste URLs, configure quality preferences, and get structured JSON output ready for your workflow.

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What is Video Metadata & Format Inventory — URLs, Thumbnails & Tracks?

This actor inventories public video metadata and available format information for videos hosted on supported platforms. Instead of scraping HTML manually or wrestling with platform APIs, you get a clean, structured JSON record for every video with available quality options, metadata, thumbnails, and optional subtitle tracks.

It is built for owned or permitted media workflows where you need to inspect one video or a capped batch with rate limiting and retries built in.

Key capabilities:

• Multi-platform: YouTube, Vimeo, TikTok, Twitter/X, Facebook, Instagram, Dailymotion, and 1,000+ sites via yt-dlp
• Available quality options per video: 360p, 480p, 720p, 1080p, 1440p, 4K, and audio-only when exposed by the source platform
• Rich metadata: title, duration, uploader, view count, like count, upload date
• Thumbnail URL extraction
• Optional subtitle/caption URL extraction (VTT format, 60+ languages)
• YouTube search integration — search terms to metadata and format inventory in one step
• Direct MP4/WebM URL support with file size from HEAD requests
• Structured error codes for every failure mode

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What Can It Extract?

Field	Description
url	Original source URL
platform	Platform name (youtube, vimeo, tiktok, etc.)
title	Video title
duration	Duration in seconds
durationFormatted	Human-readable (e.g., 3:33)
uploader	Channel/creator name
uploaderUrl	Link to channel or profile
viewCount	Total view count
likeCount	Like count
uploadDate	Upload date (YYYY-MM-DD)
thumbnail	Thumbnail image URL
formats[].quality	Quality label (1080p, 720p, audio_only, etc.)
formats[].resolution	Pixel dimensions (1920x1080)
formats[].fps	Frames per second
formats[].videoCodec	Video codec
formats[].audioCodec	Audio codec
formats[].container	Container format (mp4, webm)
formats[].fileSizeApprox	Approximate file size in bytes
formats[].fileSizeFormatted	Human-readable size (50.0 MB)
formats[].url	Direct download URL
formats[].isPreferred	Whether this matches your preferred quality
preferredFormat	Summary of your preferred quality
subtitles	Subtitle URLs per language (when enabled)
drm	Whether video has DRM protection
error	Error code if extraction failed

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How to Use

Option 1: Extract from Video URLs

1. Open the actor and click Start
2. In the Video URLs field, add one URL per line:

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
   https://vimeo.com/148751763
   https://www.tiktok.com/@user/video/123456
   

3. Set your Preferred Quality (default: best — highest available)
4. Click Save & Run

Option 2: YouTube Search

1. Leave URLs blank
2. Enter search terms in YouTube Search Terms:

   nature documentary 4K
   javascript tutorial 2024
   

3. Set Max Videos Per Search Term (default: 10, max: 100)
4. Run — the actor searches YouTube and extracts download links for all results

Zero-Config Run

Run with no input at all. The actor uses a default YouTube URL and extracts all available formats — a great way to preview the output format before configuring your real inputs.

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Pricing

This actor uses Pay-Per-Event pricing with the video-extracted event: $9.80 per 1,000 videos extracted ($0.0098 per video) in the live Store pricing entry.

Apify platform usage is passed through according to the live Store pricing entry.

You are charged per video where at least one downloadable format URL is successfully extracted. Failed extractions — private videos, deleted videos, unsupported URLs — are never charged.

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Input and Output Examples

Input — single video:

{
  "urls": ["https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"],
  "preferredQuality": "1080p",
  "includeAllFormats": true,
  "includeMetadata": true
}

Output record:

{
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "platform": "youtube",
  "videoId": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "title": "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up (Official Music Video)",
  "duration": 213,
  "durationFormatted": "3:33",
  "uploadDate": "2009-10-25",
  "uploader": "Rick Astley",
  "viewCount": 1500000000,
  "thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dQw4w9WgXcQ/maxresdefault.jpg",
  "formats": [
    {
      "formatId": "137+140",
      "quality": "1080p",
      "resolution": "1920x1080",
      "fps": 30,
      "videoCodec": "avc1.640028",
      "audioCodec": "mp4a.40.2",
      "container": "mp4",
      "fileSizeApprox": 52428800,
      "fileSizeFormatted": "50.0 MB",
      "url": "https://...",
      "isPreferred": true
    }
  ],
  "preferredFormat": {
    "quality": "1080p",
    "url": "https://...",
    "container": "mp4",
    "fileSizeApprox": 52428800
  },
  "drm": false,
  "audioAvailable": true,
  "error": null,
  "scrapedAt": "2026-03-11T12:00:00.000Z"
}

Input — batch with search:

{
  "searchTerms": ["open source tools 2024"],
  "maxVideosPerSearch": 5,
  "preferredQuality": "720p",
  "includeSubtitles": true
}

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Related Tools by Junipr

• YouTube Transcript Extractor — Extract full transcripts, captions, and timed segments from YouTube videos. Supports 60+ languages and SRT/VTT/JSON output.
• Website to RSS — Convert any website or blog into an RSS feed for monitoring and automation.

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FAQ

How much does it cost to extract video download links?

$9.80 per 1,000 videos where public metadata and at least one usable format are successfully extracted. You are never charged for failed extractions, private videos, deleted videos, or URLs that contain no video.

Which platforms are supported?

YouTube, Vimeo, Dailymotion, Twitter/X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitch, Reddit, and 1,000+ additional sites via yt-dlp. Direct MP4, WebM, MOV, AVI, MKV, and other video file URLs are also supported. Check the yt-dlp supported sites list for the full catalog.

Can I extract videos in 4K quality?

Yes. When a platform offers 4K (2160p) formats, they appear in the formats array with quality: "2160p". Set preferredQuality to best to automatically select the highest available quality. Note: 4K is only available for videos where the creator uploaded a 4K source.

Are the download URLs permanent?

No. Most platforms use rotating CDN URLs with expiration tokens (typically 6–24 hours for YouTube). The urlExpiry field is populated when the expiry time is detectable. You should download files promptly after extraction, not store URLs for later use.

Does this download the actual video file?

No. This actor extracts the download URLs only — it does not download, store, or redistribute video files. What you do with the URLs is up to you. This design keeps the actor fast, lightweight, and within Apify's storage limits.

Is it legal to extract video download links?

This actor extracts publicly available stream URLs — it does not circumvent DRM, authentication walls, or access controls. However, video downloading is legally complex and platform-specific. YouTube's Terms of Service prohibit downloading content without permission. Users are responsible for ensuring they have the rights to download and use the content they extract. This tool is intended for personal archiving, research, and content you have rights to. Always check the target platform's Terms of Service before use.