YouTube Channel Scraper API

What does YouTube Channel Scraper do?

YouTube Channel Scraper collects public video listings and channel metadata from YouTube channel URLs. Add a handle URL such as https://www.youtube.com/@Apify/videos, a channel ID URL, or a legacy custom channel URL, then receive one structured dataset item per video.

Use the results for creator research, competitor monitoring, content planning, publishing-cadence analysis, media catalogs, and AI or RAG datasets. The actor follows the channel's public video feed, supports YouTube's available sorting options, and removes empty values from each item.

Why use YouTube Channel Scraper?

• One or many channels - Collect videos from a single channel or combine several channels in one run.
• Useful channel context - Keep the channel name, handle, URL, description, subscriber text, and channel video count with each video.
• Video-level records - Get title, direct video URL, publication text, views text, duration, thumbnail, and content status flags.
• Sorting controls - Request latest, popular, or oldest videos when the channel exposes that option.
• Pagination limits - Control both the number of saved results and the number of pages requested per channel.
• Optional video details - Enrich each saved video with public detail data such as numeric views, likes, comment count, full description, tags, and category.
• Compact datasets - Empty and unavailable values are omitted instead of being written as repeated null fields.
• Automation-ready - Download JSON, CSV, Excel, or XML, schedule repeat runs, use webhooks, or retrieve results through the Apify API.

What data can you extract from YouTube channels?

Field	Type	Description
channel_id	String	YouTube channel identifier when available.
channel_title	String	Public channel name.
channel_url	String	Canonical or requested channel URL.
channel_handle	String	Public handle when available.
channel_description	String	Public channel description when available.
channel_subscriber_count	String	Subscriber count text shown by YouTube.
channel_video_count	String	Channel video count text shown by YouTube.
video_id	String	Unique YouTube video identifier.
title	String	Public video title.
url	String	Direct YouTube video URL.
description	String	Video description snippet when available.
published_text	String	Relative or localized publication text.
view_count_text	String	Localized view count text.
view_count	Number	Numeric view count when video details are enabled and available.
duration_text	String	Localized duration text.
duration_seconds	Number	Duration in seconds when available.
thumbnail_url	String	Best available video thumbnail URL.
like_count	Number	Public like count when video details are enabled and available.
comment_count	Number	Public comment count when video details are enabled and available.
tags	Array	Public video tags when video details are enabled and available.
category	String	YouTube video category when video details are enabled and available.
canonical_url	String	Canonical video URL when video details are enabled and available.
is_private	Boolean	Privacy status from video details when available.
is_unlisted	Boolean	Unlisted status from video details when available.
is_family_safe	Boolean	Family-safe status from video details when available.
video_details_fetched	Boolean	Indicates that detail mode was requested for the record.
is_live	Boolean	Whether YouTube marks the video as live.
is_upcoming	Boolean	Whether the video is scheduled for the future.
is_premiere	Boolean	Whether the video is marked as a premiere.
has_captions	Boolean	Whether YouTube marks captions as available.

How to use YouTube Channel Scraper

1. Add one or more public YouTube channel URLs in startUrls.
2. Choose the video sorting order.
3. Set results_wanted and max_pages.
4. Start the run and review the dataset preview.
5. Export the data or connect the dataset to your workflow.

Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
startUrls	Array of URL objects	Yes	Apify channel example	YouTube channel URLs. Supports handle, /channel/UC..., /c/..., and /user/... formats.
sort_by	String	No	latest	Video order: latest, popular, or oldest.
results_wanted	Integer	No	20	Maximum number of unique videos across all input URLs.
max_pages	Integer	No	5	Maximum number of video batches requested per channel.
fetch_video_details	Boolean	No	false	Fetch public detail data for each video. Adds extra InnerTube requests and may increase runtime.

Usage Examples

Collect recent videos from a channel

Use a handle URL for the simplest run:

{
  "startUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/@Apify/videos"
    }
  ],
  "sort_by": "latest",
  "results_wanted": 20,
  "max_pages": 3,
  "fetch_video_details": false
}

Set fetch_video_details to true when you need public likes, comment counts, full descriptions, tags, category, and numeric view counts:

{
  "startUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/@Apify/videos"
    }
  ],
  "fetch_video_details": true,
  "results_wanted": 20,
  "max_pages": 3
}

Collect popular videos from multiple URL formats

Mix channel handles, channel ID URLs, and custom channel URLs in one run:

{
  "startUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/@Apify"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/c/example"
    }
  ],
  "sort_by": "popular",
  "results_wanted": 50,
  "max_pages": 5
}

Collect oldest videos

Use a larger page cap for historical channel research:

{
  "startUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/user/example"
    }
  ],
  "sort_by": "oldest",
  "results_wanted": 100,
  "max_pages": 10
}

Sample Output

{
  "channel_title": "Apify",
  "channel_url": "https://www.youtube.com/@Apify/videos",
  "channel_handle": "@Apify",
  "channel_subscriber_count": "12.3K subscribers",
  "video_id": "OcYfUaFzXdY",
  "title": "A practical guide to web data collection",
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcYfUaFzXdY",
  "published_text": "2 weeks ago",
  "view_count_text": "1.2K views",
  "duration_text": "12:34",
  "duration_seconds": 754,
  "thumbnail_url": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/OcYfUaFzXdY/maxresdefault.jpg",
  "is_live": false,
  "is_upcoming": false,
  "is_premiere": false,
  "has_captions": true
}

Tips for Best Results

• Use the /videos version of a channel URL when available, although the actor also resolves the channel root URL.
• Start with results_wanted: 20 and max_pages: 3 to validate a channel before requesting a larger history.
• Use popular for performance research and oldest for channel-history or publishing-cadence studies.
• Enable fetch_video_details only when needed because it makes additional InnerTube requests for each video.
• A channel may provide fewer videos than requested, and some status or metadata fields may be absent for individual records.
• Use video_id as the stable key when comparing scheduled runs.

Integrations and Export Formats

• Google Sheets - Review publishing cadence, titles, and view-count text in a spreadsheet.
• Airtable - Build a searchable creator or competitor video catalog.
• Webhooks - Notify downstream systems when a scheduled run finishes.
• Make or Zapier - Trigger alerts, enrichment, and reporting workflows.
• Apify API - Start runs and retrieve dataset items programmatically.
• Export formats - Download JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, and other formats supported by Apify.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which YouTube URL formats are supported?

Handle URLs, channel ID URLs, custom /c/ URLs, and legacy /user/ URLs are supported. The URL may point to the channel root or its videos tab.

Can I collect videos from multiple channels?

Yes. Add multiple URL objects to startUrls; results_wanted is the total cap across the run.

Does the actor need a YouTube login or API key?

No. It collects public channel and video information and does not require user credentials.

Why are some fields missing?

YouTube does not publish every field for every video or channel. The actor omits unavailable values to keep each dataset item compact.

Does detail mode include dislikes and full comments?

Detail mode includes public like and comment counts when YouTube exposes them. Exact public dislike totals are not reliably exposed by YouTube, and full comment threads are not fetched by this actor.

Can I collect all videos from a channel?

Set a high results_wanted value and increase max_pages. The final count depends on the channel's public feed and the limits YouTube returns.

Can I run this on a schedule?

Yes. Create an Apify schedule to collect new channel videos hourly, daily, weekly, or at a custom interval.

Is collecting YouTube data legal?

You are responsible for complying with YouTube's terms, applicable laws, copyright rules, and privacy requirements. Use public data responsibly and avoid collecting information you do not need.

Related Actors

• Reddit Community Scraper - Collect public community content for audience and trend research.
• Apify Store Scraper - Monitor public tool listings and marketplace metadata for competitive research.

Support

For issues or feature requests, use the Issues tab on the Actor page or contact the developer through Apify.

Legal Notice

This Actor is intended for legitimate collection of publicly available information. Users are responsible for complying with YouTube's terms of service, applicable laws, copyright obligations, and privacy rules.