# 🔥 YouTube Shorts Scraper (`powerai/youtube-shorts-scraper`) Actor Scrape YouTube Shorts from any channel. Get video URL, caption, views, likes, comments, duration, and channel info in clean JSON. - **URL**: https://apify.com/powerai/youtube-shorts-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [PowerAI](https://apify.com/powerai) (community) - **Categories:** Social media, Videos - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 1 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $7.99 / 1,000 results 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/docs.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.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/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 Shorts Scraper Extract YouTube Shorts from one or more channels. Get video URL, caption, timestamp, views, likes, comments, duration, thumbnails, and basic channel info in clean JSON. ### ✨ Key Features - 🎬 Scrape Shorts from **usernames or channel URLs** - ❤️ Views, likes, and comment counts - 📝 Title, caption, duration, and hashtags - 👤 Channel name, handle, URL, and subscriber count - 📅 Optional **posted-after** date / relative filter - 🔀 Sort by newest, popular, or oldest - 📋 Structured JSON output, streamed while the run is in progress ### 💪 Why Choose This Actor? - **Focused**: Built specifically for YouTube Shorts extraction - **Flexible**: Multiple channels in one run - **Efficient**: Results are pushed continuously while the job runs - **Structured**: Renamed, integration-friendly field names - **Reliable**: Stable public Shorts data extraction ### 🎯 Perfect For - 📊 Creator and competitor Shorts research - 🔥 Trend and engagement monitoring - 🏢 Brand mention and content tracking - 🤖 LLM / RAG pipelines that need Shorts metadata ### 📝 Input Requirements - `targets` (required): Channel usernames and/or channel URLs - `maxShortsPerChannel` (optional): Max Shorts per channel. Default: `25` - `postedAfter` (optional): Only Shorts newer than a date or relative value - `sortBy` (optional): `newest` (default), `popular`, or `oldest` #### Input Example ```json { "targets": [ "nasa", "vsauce" ], "maxShortsPerChannel": 25, "sortBy": "newest" } ```` #### Output Example ```json { "shortId": "gnuiMgTzKMQ", "shortUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/shorts/gnuiMgTzKMQ", "title": "ASMR Satisfying sounds #shorts", "views": 1180, "likeCount": 198, "commentCount": 0, "publishedAt": "2025-06-24T10:01:00.000Z", "duration": "00:00:26", "channelName": "Coco Creator Rainbow", "channelHandle": "rainbowicecream9780", "subscriberCount": 1390000, "thumbnailUrl": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/gnuiMgTzKMQ/maxres2.jpg", "scrapedAt": "2026-07-21T06:20:00.000Z" } ``` ### 🚀 How to Use 1. Add one or more channel usernames or URLs to `targets` 2. Optionally set `maxShortsPerChannel`, `postedAfter`, and `sortBy` 3. Click **Start** and download results as JSON, CSV, Excel, or HTML ### 📌 Notes - If a channel has no Shorts or is invalid, an error row may appear in the dataset (`isError: true`) instead of failing the whole run - Setting `postedAfter` forces newest sorting upstream - Free users of this actor have run and result-size limits; upgrade for unlimited usage # Actor input Schema ## `targets` (type: `array`): Channel usernames (with or without @) or channel URLs, e.g. nasa or https://www.youtube.com/@nasa. ## `maxShortsPerChannel` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of Shorts to scrape from each channel. ## `postedAfter` (type: `string`): Only include Shorts published on or after this date. Use YYYY-MM-DD / ISO, or a relative value (e.g. 1 day, 2 weeks, 3 months). When set, sort is forced to newest upstream. ## `sortBy` (type: `string`): Maps to the sorting options on the channel Shorts tab. ## Actor input object example ```json { "targets": [ "nasa", "vsauce" ], "maxShortsPerChannel": 25, "sortBy": "newest" } ``` # 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 = { "targets": [ "nasa", "vsauce" ], "maxShortsPerChannel": 25, "sortBy": "newest" }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("powerai/youtube-shorts-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 = { "targets": [ "nasa", "vsauce", ], "maxShortsPerChannel": 25, "sortBy": "newest", } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("powerai/youtube-shorts-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 '{ "targets": [ "nasa", "vsauce" ], "maxShortsPerChannel": 25, "sortBy": "newest" }' | apify call powerai/youtube-shorts-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=powerai/youtube-shorts-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "🔥 YouTube Shorts Scraper", "description": "Scrape YouTube Shorts from any channel. Get video URL, caption, views, likes, comments, duration, and channel info in clean JSON.", "version": "0.0", "x-build-id": "Y8L7nl4fwuwmc0NAl" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/powerai~youtube-shorts-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-powerai-youtube-shorts-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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/powerai~youtube-shorts-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-powerai-youtube-shorts-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/powerai~youtube-shorts-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-powerai-youtube-shorts-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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": [ "targets" ], "properties": { "targets": { "title": "YouTube channels", "type": "array", "description": "Channel usernames (with or without @) or channel URLs, e.g. nasa or https://www.youtube.com/@nasa.", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "maxShortsPerChannel": { "title": "Max Shorts per channel", "minimum": 1, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of Shorts to scrape from each channel.", "default": 25 }, "postedAfter": { "title": "Only Shorts newer than", "pattern": "^(\\d{4})-(0[1-9]|1[0-2])-(0[1-9]|[12]\\d|3[01])(T[0-2]\\d:[0-5]\\d(:[0-5]\\d)?(\\.\\d+)?Z?)?$|^(\\d+)\\s*(minute|hour|day|week|month|year)s?$", "type": "string", "description": "Only include Shorts published on or after this date. Use YYYY-MM-DD / ISO, or a relative value (e.g. 1 day, 2 weeks, 3 months). When set, sort is forced to newest upstream." }, "sortBy": { "title": "Sort Shorts by", "enum": [ "newest", "popular", "oldest" ], "type": "string", "description": "Maps to the sorting options on the channel Shorts tab.", "default": "newest" } } }, "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 } } } } } } } } } } ```