# Youtube Video Scraper By Hashtag (`scraply/youtube-video-scraper-by-hashtag`) Actor

- **URL**: https://apify.com/scraply/youtube-video-scraper-by-hashtag.md
- **Developed by:** [Scraply](https://apify.com/scraply) (community)
- **Categories:** Automation, Lead generation, Social media
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, NaN bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$19.99/month + usage

To use this Actor, you pay a monthly rental fee to the developer. The rent is subtracted from your prepaid usage every month after the free trial period.You also pay for the Apify platform usage, which gets cheaper the higher Apify subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#rental-actors

## 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 Scraper by Hashtag

A powerful Apify Actor that scrapes YouTube videos by hashtags, keywords, or usernames. This actor efficiently extracts video metadata including titles, thumbnails, view counts, and URLs from YouTube search results.

### Why Choose Us?

- **Bulk Processing**: Scrape multiple hashtags/keywords in a single run
- **Smart Proxy Fallback**: Automatically switches between no proxy, datacenter, and residential proxies if blocked
- **Comprehensive Data**: Extracts video IDs, titles, thumbnails, view counts, and more
- **Shorts Support**: Option to filter for YouTube Shorts only
- **Robust Error Handling**: Automatic retries and fallback mechanisms ensure maximum success rate

### Key Features

- Scrape videos by hashtags, keywords, or usernames
- Support for bulk input (multiple hashtags at once)
- Filter for YouTube Shorts only
- Automatic proxy fallback (no proxy → datacenter → residential)
- Detailed logging for monitoring progress
- Continuation token handling for pagination
- Duplicate video detection

### Input

#### Example Input

```json
{
  "hashtags": ["chatgpt", "Bangladesh"],
  "maxResults": 100,
  "scrapeShortsOnly": false,
  "sortOrder": "relevance",
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}
````

#### Input Fields

- **hashtags** (required): Array of YouTube hashtags (e.g., `#chatgpt`), keywords (e.g., `chatgpt`), or usernames to scrape. Supports bulk input.
- **maxResults** (optional, default: 100): Maximum number of videos to scrape per hashtag/keyword. Range: 1-1000.
- **scrapeShortsOnly** (optional, default: false): If enabled, only YouTube Shorts will be scraped.
- **sortOrder** (optional, default: "relevance"): Sort order for results. Options: "relevance", "date", "viewCount", "rating".
- **proxyConfiguration** (optional): Proxy configuration. By default, no proxy is used. If YouTube blocks the request, the actor will automatically fallback to datacenter proxy, then residential proxy.

### Output

#### Example Output

```json
[
  {
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/f2mRAGvKca8/hq720.jpg",
    "title": "How To Use ChatGPT in Bengali",
    "id": "f2mRAGvKca8",
    "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2mRAGvKca8",
    "viewCount": 1224495,
    "type": "video",
    "hashtagCategoryData.categoryInfoText": "1.9M videos • 577K channels"
  }
]
```

#### Output Fields

- **thumbnailUrl**: URL of the video thumbnail image
- **title**: Title of the video
- **id**: YouTube video ID
- **url**: Full YouTube video URL
- **viewCount**: Number of views (as integer)
- **type**: Video type ("video" or "shorts")
- **hashtagCategoryData.categoryInfoText**: Category information text from YouTube

### 🚀 How to Use the Actor (via Apify Console)

1. Log in at https://console.apify.com and go to **Actors**.
2. Find your actor (youtube-video-scraper-by-hashtag) and click it.
3. Configure inputs:
   - Enter hashtags/keywords (supports bulk input)
   - Set maxResults per hashtag
   - Toggle scrapeShortsOnly if needed
   - Configure proxy settings (optional)
4. Run the actor.
5. Monitor logs in real time to see progress and proxy fallback events.
6. Access results in the **OUTPUT** tab.
7. Export results to JSON or CSV.

### Best Use Cases

- **Content Research**: Find trending videos by hashtag
- **Competitor Analysis**: Monitor videos from specific keywords
- **Trend Monitoring**: Track popular content in your niche
- **Data Collection**: Gather video metadata for analysis
- **SEO Research**: Analyze video performance by topic

### Frequently Asked Questions

**Q: Can I scrape comments?**\
A: This actor currently scrapes video metadata only. Comments scraping is not included.

**Q: What happens if YouTube blocks my requests?**\
A: The actor automatically falls back through proxy options: no proxy → datacenter proxy → residential proxy (with 3 retries).

**Q: How many videos can I scrape?**\
A: You can set maxResults from 1 to 1000 per hashtag. The actor will continue paginating until it reaches the limit or runs out of results.

**Q: Does it work with private videos?**\
A: No, the actor only scrapes publicly available videos from YouTube search results.

**Q: Can I filter for specific video types?**\
A: Yes, use the `scrapeShortsOnly` option to filter for YouTube Shorts only.

### Support and Feedback

For issues, questions, or feedback, please contact support through the Apify platform.

### Cautions

- Data is collected only from **publicly available sources**.
- No data is taken from private accounts or password-protected content.
- The end user is responsible for ensuring legal compliance (spam laws, privacy, data protection, etc.).
- Respect YouTube's Terms of Service and rate limits.
- Use proxies responsibly to avoid overwhelming YouTube's servers.

# Actor input Schema

## `hashtags` (type: `array`):

List of YouTube hashtags (e.g., #chatgpt), keywords (e.g., chatgpt), or usernames to scrape. Supports bulk input.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of videos to scrape per hashtag/keyword.

## `scrapeShortsOnly` (type: `boolean`):

If enabled, only YouTube Shorts will be scraped.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Choose which proxies to use. By default, no proxy is used. If YouTube blocks the request, it will automatically fallback to datacenter proxy, then residential proxy.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "hashtags": [
    "chatgpt"
  ],
  "maxResults": 50,
  "scrapeShortsOnly": false,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}
```

# 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 = {
    "hashtags": [
        "chatgpt"
    ],
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": false
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("scraply/youtube-video-scraper-by-hashtag").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 = {
    "hashtags": ["chatgpt"],
    "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": False },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("scraply/youtube-video-scraper-by-hashtag").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 '{
  "hashtags": [
    "chatgpt"
  ],
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}' |
apify call scraply/youtube-video-scraper-by-hashtag --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=scraply/youtube-video-scraper-by-hashtag",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

```json
{
    "openapi": "3.0.1",
    "info": {
        "title": "Youtube Video Scraper By Hashtag",
        "version": "0.1",
        "x-build-id": "RkeVuLJTPJKw1aXLP"
    },
    "servers": [
        {
            "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2"
        }
    ],
    "paths": {
        "/acts/scraply~youtube-video-scraper-by-hashtag/run-sync-get-dataset-items": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-scraply-youtube-video-scraper-by-hashtag",
                "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": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/scraply~youtube-video-scraper-by-hashtag/runs": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "runs-sync-scraply-youtube-video-scraper-by-hashtag",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$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": {
                                    "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema"
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/scraply~youtube-video-scraper-by-hashtag/run-sync": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-scraply-youtube-video-scraper-by-hashtag",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$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": [
                    "hashtags"
                ],
                "properties": {
                    "hashtags": {
                        "title": "Hashtags, Keywords, or Usernames",
                        "type": "array",
                        "description": "List of YouTube hashtags (e.g., #chatgpt), keywords (e.g., chatgpt), or usernames to scrape. Supports bulk input.",
                        "items": {
                            "type": "string"
                        }
                    },
                    "maxResults": {
                        "title": "Maximum Results per Hashtag",
                        "minimum": 1,
                        "maximum": 10000,
                        "type": "integer",
                        "description": "Maximum number of videos to scrape per hashtag/keyword.",
                        "default": 50
                    },
                    "scrapeShortsOnly": {
                        "title": "Scrape Shorts Only",
                        "type": "boolean",
                        "description": "If enabled, only YouTube Shorts will be scraped.",
                        "default": false
                    },
                    "proxyConfiguration": {
                        "title": "Proxy Configuration",
                        "type": "object",
                        "description": "Choose which proxies to use. By default, no proxy is used. If YouTube blocks the request, it will automatically fallback to datacenter proxy, then residential proxy."
                    }
                }
            },
            "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
                                    }
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}
```