WeChat Channels Scraper — 视频号 Video Search & Export 🚀

🎉 Search WeChat Channels (视频号) videos, find creators, and pull their full video catalogs — with direct video URLs and no WeChat account

Built for China-market researchers, brand monitors, and content teams who need 视频号 data without a phone, login, or API key

---

📋 Overview

Looking inside WeChat Channels shouldn't require a phone in hand. This actor covers WeChat Channels (视频号) — Tencent's fast-growing in-app short-video feed — across four operations: search videos by keyword, find creator accounts by name, pull a creator's full video catalog, and resolve a video to its creator. Clean, structured JSON out — no WeChat account, login, or API key.

Why teams choose this WeChat Channels scraper:

• 🎬 Direct video URLs you can't get in the app: WeChat Channels has no built-in download — these direct CDN video links are the only way to grab the actual video file, on every search result.
• 🧩 Four operations in one actor: Keyword video search, creator account lookup, a creator's full video list, and export-ID → creator resolution — chain them into a full 视频号 workflow.
• ⚡ Smart de-duplication: WeChat Channels recycles results across deep pages. We dedupe automatically and never charge you twice for the same row.
• 💰 Pay-per-unique-result: You're billed only for unique rows saved, plus a tiny run-start fee. No account, no API key, no monthly subscription.
• 💎 Chinese + English keywords: Search 人工智能, 美食, 旅游 or brand and product names in any language.
• ✨ Clean camelCase output: Curated fields (videoTitle, videoUrl, v2Name, nickname…) plus the full raw payload for power users.

---

✨ Features

Four operations:

• 🔍 Video Search (searchVideo): Find WeChat Channels videos for any keyword, fresh on every run.
• 👤 Account Search (searchAccount): Look up creator accounts by display name — verified profession, signature, avatar, and the creator's v2Name.
• 🎬 Account Videos (accountVideos): Pull a creator's full video list by v2Name — object IDs, media type, and engagement.
• 🔗 Resolve Export ID (convertExportId): Turn a video's exportId into its canonical object ID + creator.

Plus:

• 🎬 Direct Video & Cover URLs: Playable CDN video links + cover images for every search result.
• 👤 Creator Capture: Account name and avatar for each video.
• 📅 Publish Metadata: Epoch + ISO publish dates, duration, and "X minutes ago" relative time.
• 🔥 Engagement Signals: Hot-content flag and like counts where the source exposes them.
• ♻️ Automatic De-duplication: Cross-page duplicates removed before they reach your dataset.
• 📊 Two Dataset Views: A full Overview of every field plus a curated Key-fields view.
• 🧾 HTML Run Report: Unique-video count, duplicate-skip count, pages fetched, and duration — saved every run.

---

🎬 Quick Start

Pick the Video Search operation, type a keyword, set how many unique videos you want, and run. Results land in the dataset within seconds.

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/sian.agency~wechat-channels-scraper/runs?token=YOUR_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"operation": "searchVideo", "keyword": "人工智能", "maxResults": 50}'

---

🚀 Getting Started (3 Simple Steps)

Step 1: Enter a keyword

Type any search term — Chinese gives the richest results (try 人工智能, 美食, 健身), but English and brand names work too.

Step 2: Set your target

Choose how many unique videos you want (default 50). The actor paginates and de-duplicates until it hits the target or the feed runs dry.

Step 3: Run and export

Download your dataset as JSON, CSV, or Excel — one clean row per unique video.

That's it! In under a minute, you'll have:

• A de-duplicated list of WeChat Channels videos for your keyword
• Direct video URLs + cover images, ready to use
• Creator names, publish dates, and engagement signals

---

ℹ️ Scope

This actor covers WeChat Channels (视频号) across four operations: video search, account search (creators by name), account videos (a creator's full video list), and export-ID resolution (video → object ID + creator). Per-video comments, full metrics, and downloads are not currently reliable from the data source and are intentionally excluded — we ship only the endpoints that consistently return clean data, and will add more as they stabilize. Video search already includes direct video URLs, covers, creators, publish dates, and engagement signals for every match.

---

📥 Input Configuration

Field	Type	Required	Description
operation	string	Yes	One of: searchVideo, searchAccount, accountVideos, convertExportId.
keyword	string	For search ops	Video Search: the term to search videos for. Account Search: the creator's exact display name (e.g. 央视新闻). Chinese, English, or brand names.
v2Name	string	For accountVideos	The creator's v2Name (v2_...@finder) — from an Account Search result or a Resolve Export ID result.
exportId	string	For convertExportId	A video's exportId from a Video Search result — resolves it to object ID + creator.
maxResults	integer	No	Target unique rows for the paginated ops (Video Search, Account Videos). Default 50, range 1–1000. Billed per unique row.

Video Search — find videos by keyword:

{ "operation": "searchVideo", "keyword": "人工智能", "maxResults": 50 }

Account Search — find a creator by display name:

{ "operation": "searchAccount", "keyword": "央视新闻" }

Account Videos — pull a creator's catalog (use a v2Name from Account Search):

{ "operation": "accountVideos", "v2Name": "v2_060000231003b20faec8c5...@finder", "maxResults": 50 }

Resolve Export ID — turn a video's exportId into its object ID + creator:

{ "operation": "convertExportId", "exportId": "export/UzFfBgAAxN6gICpvEmDJ..." }

---

📤 Output

Results are saved to the Apify dataset — one flat row per unique result, with curated camelCase aliases plus the raw upstream fields spread alongside. Every row carries _operation and status so you can tell rows apart and filter errors.

Video Search (searchVideo) — one row per unique video:

Field	Type	Description
videoTitle	string	Video caption (search-highlight markup stripped)
videoUrl	string	Direct CDN video URL
coverImage	string	Cover / thumbnail image URL
duration	string	Video length (mm:ss)
pubTime	number	Publish time (epoch seconds)
pubDate	string	Publish time (ISO 8601)
relativeTime	string	Human-readable "X ago"
accountName	string	Creator / account name
accountAvatar	string	Creator avatar URL
isHot	boolean	Whether the source flags the video as trending
likeNum	number	Like count (when exposed by the source)
docID	string	Stable video identifier (used for de-duplication)
width / height	number	Video pixel dimensions

Example:

{
  "videoTitle": "15亿部iPhone一夜升级AI！Siri接入谷歌万亿大模型",
  "videoUrl": "https://findermp.video.qq.com/251/20302/stodownload?...",
  "coverImage": "https://findermp.video.qq.com/251/20304/stodownload?...",
  "duration": "02:51",
  "pubTime": 1780973060,
  "pubDate": "2026-06-09T04:04:20.000Z",
  "relativeTime": "4分钟前",
  "accountName": "AI壹号",
  "accountAvatar": "https://wx.qlogo.cn/finderhead/ver_1/...",
  "isHot": false,
  "likeNum": 1,
  "docID": "finderobjv0XJY/B7T1oJa5RWDlp86dMw0H...",
  "width": 1080,
  "height": 1920,
  "status": "success"
}

Account Search (searchAccount) — one row per creator: v2Name (use it for Account Videos), nickname, avatar, signature, authProfession (verified org/profession), boundOfficialAccount, liveStatus, plus the raw account payload.

Account Videos (accountVideos) — one row per video in the creator's catalog: objectId, objectNonceId, mediaType, favCount, _sourceV2Name, plus raw fields.

Resolve Export ID (convertExportId) — a single row: objectId, nickname, v2Name, exportId.

---

💼 Use Cases & Examples

1. WeChat Channels Content Discovery

Content and social teams tracking what's being published on a topic.

Input: A topic or hashtag keyword Output: A de-duplicated feed of matching videos with creators and publish dates Use: Schedule daily runs to monitor a niche and surface fresh 视频号 content.

2. Brand & Competitor Monitoring

Brand managers watching how a brand or campaign shows up on WeChat Channels.

Input: A brand, product, or campaign keyword Output: Matching videos, who posted them, and when Use: Spot organic mentions, knockoffs, and competitor activity over time.

3. Trend & Hashtag Research

Strategists mapping rising topics on China's biggest in-app video feed.

Input: A seed keyword or hashtag Output: Video titles + creator names for the term Use: Identify emerging narratives, formats, and creators in a space.

4. Video Asset Collection

Researchers and media teams building corpora for a keyword.

Input: A keyword + a high maxResults target Output: Direct video URLs and cover images for every unique match Use: Feed downstream media pipelines, mood boards, or analysis tools.

5. Market & Audience Intelligence

Analysts measuring how active a niche is and who produces for it.

Input: A category keyword Output: Creator names and publish dates across results Use: Quantify content velocity and map the creator landscape in a vertical.

6. Creator Tracking & Catalog Pulls

Agencies and analysts monitoring specific 视频号 creators.

Input: A creator's display name → Account Search → their v2Name → Account Videos Output: The creator's full video catalog with object IDs, media type, and engagement Use: Track an influencer's output over time, benchmark competitors, or build a per-creator content archive.

---

🔗 Integration Examples

JavaScript/Node.js

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';
const client = new ApifyClient({ token: 'YOUR_TOKEN' });

const run = await client.actor('sian.agency/wechat-channels-scraper').call({
  operation: 'searchVideo',
  keyword: '人工智能',
  maxResults: 50,
});

const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items[0]);

Python

from apify_client import ApifyClient
client = ApifyClient('YOUR_TOKEN')

run = client.actor('sian.agency/wechat-channels-scraper').call(
    run_input={'operation': 'searchVideo', 'keyword': '人工智能', 'maxResults': 50}
)

for item in client.dataset(run['defaultDatasetId']).iterate_items():
    print(item)

cURL

curl -X POST 'https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/sian.agency~wechat-channels-scraper/runs?token=YOUR_TOKEN' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{"operation": "searchVideo", "keyword": "人工智能", "maxResults": 50}'

Automation Workflows (N8N / Zapier / Make)

1. Trigger: Schedule or webhook
2. HTTP Request: Call the actor API
3. Process: Handle the JSON results
4. Action: Save, notify, or transform

---

📈 Performance & Pricing

FREE Tier (Try It Now)

• Search WeChat Channels and collect unique videos — full feature access, same quality
• No credit card required
• Perfect for testing and small projects

PAID Tier (Production Ready)

• Collect up to 1,000 unique videos per run
• Pay-per-result: charged only for unique videos saved (duplicates are free)
• No account, no API key, no monthly subscription

💰 You never pay twice for the same video — built-in de-duplication keeps your bill tied to real, unique results.

🔗 View current pricing

---

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How many videos can I collect per run? A: Set any target from 1 to 1,000 unique videos. The actor stops when it hits your target or the search is exhausted.

Q: Why did I get fewer videos than I asked for? A: WeChat Channels search recycles the same videos across deeper pages. We de-duplicate and stop once the feed stops returning new results — so you only get (and pay for) genuinely unique videos.

Q: Can I get a specific creator's full video list? A: Yes — use Account Search to find the creator (you'll get their v2Name), then Account Videos with that v2Name to pull their full video catalog. Per-video comments and detailed metrics aren't reliable from the data source yet, so they're intentionally excluded.

Q: Can I download WeChat Channels videos? A: WeChat Channels has no built-in download. Every Video Search result includes the direct CDN videoUrl — that's the actual video file, which you can fetch and save yourself.

Q: Do I need a WeChat account or API key? A: No. Just enter a keyword and run.

Q: What output formats are available? A: JSON, CSV, and Excel — export directly from the Apify dataset.

Q: Do Chinese keywords work better than English? A: Chinese keywords usually return the richest results, but English and brand names work too.

Q: Is this legal? A: Yes — we only extract publicly available data. See the legal section below.

---

🐛 Troubleshooting

Search returns 0 results

• Try a broader or more common keyword.
• Chinese keywords typically return more results than English ones.

Fewer unique videos than expected

• This is normal — WeChat Channels recycles results across pages. The actor de-duplicates and stops when no new videos appear. Try a more popular keyword for higher volume.

"This operation is not currently available"

• The data source is temporarily unavailable. Wait a few minutes and re-run; the actor retries transient errors automatically.

---

⚖️ Is it legal to scrape data?

Our actors are ethical and do not extract any private user data, such as email addresses, gender, or location. They only extract what the user has chosen to share publicly. We therefore believe that our actors, when used for ethical purposes by Apify users, are safe.

However, you should be aware that your results could contain personal data. Personal data is protected by the GDPR in the European Union and by other regulations around the world. You should not scrape personal data unless you have a legitimate reason to do so. If you're unsure whether your reason is legitimate, consult your lawyers.

You can also read Apify's blog post on the legality of web scraping.

---

⚠️ Trademark Disclaimer

WeChat, WeChat Channels, 视频号, and Weixin are trademarks of Tencent Holdings Limited. This actor is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Tencent. It accesses only publicly available data. All product names, logos, and brands are property of their respective owners and are used for identification purposes only.

---

🤝 Support

Join our active support community

• For issues or questions, open an issue in the actor's Issues tab
• Check the SIÁN Agency Store for more automation tools
• 📧 apify@sian-agency.online

---

Built by SIÁN Agency | More Tools