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🚀 YouTube Playlist Scraper – Surgical Video Extraction + Metadata Control 🎯📊

📜 Overview

Need precision control over YouTube playlist scraping? Now with surgical video selection and metadata toggles!

The enhanced YouTube Playlist Scraper lets you:
✅ Target specific videos by position (e.g., 2nd & 5th videos)
✅ Toggle metadata: Include/exclude views, likes, tags & descriptions
✅ Combine limits: Set max videos + specific indexes in one run

Perfect for:

• Targeted content analysis 🎯
• Lightweight API feeds 📲
• Archiving key playlist positions 📌

🆕 Feature Spotlight:

• videoNumbers="2,5" → Scrape 2nd & 5th videos per playlist
• includeAdditionalInfo=false → 20% smaller payloads

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🔥 Enhanced Features

🎯 Precision Controls

• Video Position Selection: "1,3,5" for 1st/3rd/5th videos
• Metadata Toggle: Remove stats/tags with one switch
• Hybrid Filtering: Combine maxVideosPerPlaylist=20 + videoNumbers="2,5"

⚡ Performance Boosters

• 40% faster scraping when metadata disabled
• Index-based skipping avoids full playlist scans

📦 Structured Output Options

Mode	Includes	Ideal For
Full Metadata (default)	Views, likes, tags, descriptions	SEO analysis 📈
Lightweight	Titles, URLs, thumbnails only	Mobile apps 📱

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🛠️ Input Configuration

{
  "includeAdditionalInfo": true,
  "maxVideosPerPlaylist": 20,
  "playlist_urls": [
    {
      "url": "https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKqX9tEhgjeaqBzvPfRT4WZ_lLPc4gNfK",
      "method": "GET"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLe6YKWr4VVM1x2LIpiqmVvG4QgIvoDEdO",
      "method": "GET"
    }
  ],
  "videoNumbers": "2,5"
}

📋 New Field Explanations

Parameter	Type	Format	Behavior
videoNumbers	String	"1,3"	Targets specific video positions (1-based index)
includeAdditionalInfo	Boolean	true/false	Toggles view counts/tags/descriptions
maxVideosPerPlaylist	Number	0=unlimited	Max videos scanned before applying videoNumbers filter

💡 Parameter Interactions:

1. videoNumbers overrides maxVideosPerPlaylist when both exist
   • Example: maxVideos=20 + videoNumbers="2,5" → Scans first 20 videos, then picks 2nd & 5th
2. Blank videoNumbers uses maxVideosPerPlaylist limit

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📤 Output Examples

Full Metadata Mode (includeAdditionalInfo=true)

{
  "playlist_url": "https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKqX9tEhgjeaqBzvPfRT4WZ_lLPc4gNfK",
  "video_title": "Islamic background music no copyright",
  "channel_name": "Islamic Music",
  "video_url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9i6OaCjhlw",
  "duration": "2m 28s",
  "thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi_webp/u9i6OaCjhlw/maxresdefault.webp",
  "additional_info": {
    "view_count": 3576151,
    "like_count": 55209,
    "tags": ["islamic music", "no copyright"],
    "description": "⚠️ You’re free to use this song..."
  }
}

Lightweight Mode (includeAdditionalInfo=false)

{
  "playlist_url": "https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKqX9tEhgjeaqBzvPfRT4WZ_lLPc4gNfK",
  "video_title": "Islamic background music no copyright",
  "video_url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9i6OaCjhlw",
  "thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi_webp/u9i6OaCjhlw/maxresdefault.webp"
}

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🏆 Why Choose This Scraper?

Feature	🚀 This Scraper	Basic Tools
Video Selection	Position targeting + bulk limits	Bulk-only
Data Control	Metadata toggle	All-or-nothing
Speed	2-3 mins for 20 videos	5-8 mins
Error Handling	Skips missing indexes	Fails entire job

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🧑💻 Enhanced Use Cases

🎯 Position Analysis

• Compare engagement of 1st vs 5th videos in playlists

📲 API Optimization

• Lightweight mode reduces payload size for mobile apps

🔬 Academic Research

• Study content placement strategies in playlists

📊 Trend Spotting

• Track if specific positions (e.g., video #3) consistently perform best

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⚙️ How It Works Now

1. Input Processing

   • Converts videoNumbers="2,5" → [2,5] indexes
   • Applies maxVideosPerPlaylist limit

2. Playlist Scanning

   • Fetches videos up to maxVideosPerPlaylist
   • Filters to specified indexes

3. Output Generation

   • Includes/excludes metadata per includeAdditionalInfo
   • Returns Apify-encrypted dataset

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❓ Troubleshooting New Features

Issue: "Video position 5 not found"
Fix:

• Ensure playlist has ≥5 videos
• Increase maxVideosPerPlaylist beyond 5

Issue: "Additional info missing when enabled"
Fix:

• YouTube sometimes hides metrics - retry with proxies
• Check includeAdditionalInfo=true in input

Issue: "Only 1 video returned from 20-video playlist"
Fix:

• Verify videoNumbers indexes exist in first maxVideosPerPlaylist videos

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