# YouTube Channel Playlists: all playlists with video counts (`steadydata/youtube-channel-playlists`) Actor

Every public playlist of YouTube channels, up to 100 channels per run: one row per playlist with id, title, video count, thumbnail and URL, in the order of the channel's Playlists tab, from a channel URL, handle or id. Pay per playlist.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/steadydata/youtube-channel-playlists.md
- **Developed by:** [Steadydata Team](https://apify.com/steadydata) (community)
- **Categories:** Videos, Automation, AI
- **Stats:** 1 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.65 / 1,000 playlist listeds

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
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.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## 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.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## YouTube Channel Playlists: all playlists with video counts

Every public playlist of YouTube channels, up to 100 channels per run: one row per playlist with id, title, video count, thumbnail and URL, in the order of the channel's Playlists tab, from a channel URL, handle or id. Pay per playlist.

### Why this scraper

- **Only delivered results are charged.** Inputs that fail come back as clear error
  records at no cost.
- The Playlists tab over the slim mobile route, one request per page, no browser. Measured on MKBHD and MrBeast: 28 playlists in one run for less than a tenth of a cent, every one with title, video count, thumbnail and URL.
- Built to chain: the `playlistId` on every row is exactly the input of the YouTube Playlist Videos and YouTube Playlist Transcripts actors below, so a channel's whole playlist structure can be walked in two runs.

### Who this is for

Paste channels in `channels` (URL, @handle or channel id; up to 100 per run) and set `maxPlaylistsPerChannel` (default 50, ceiling 500). Every row carries the channel id and name, the playlist's position on the tab, its id, title, video count, thumbnail and URL.

### Who this is not for

Only playlists the channel shows on its public Playlists tab are listed; private and unlisted playlists, and the automatic "Uploads" list, are not there. The order is the tab's own order (the channel's arrangement, usually newest first). A channel without public playlists comes back as one free `NO_PLAYLISTS` error row. The video count is YouTube's figure for the list at run time.

### Input example

```json
{
    "channels": [
        "https://www.youtube.com/@mkbhd"
    ],
    "maxPlaylistsPerChannel": 50
}
```

### Output example

- `channelId`
- `channelName`
- `channelUrl`
- `position`
- `playlistId`
- `title`
- `videoCount`
- `thumbnailUrl`
- `url`

Error codes: `INVALID_CHANNEL`, `CHANNEL_NOT_FOUND`, `NO_PLAYLISTS`, `BLOCKED`.

One delivered row looks like this:

```json
{
  "channelId": "UCBJycsmduvYEL83R_U4JriQ",
  "channelUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBJycsmduvYEL83R_U4JriQ",
  "channelName": "Marques Brownlee",
  "position": 1,
  "playlistId": "PLBsP89CPrMeNIuvr9j3_EQaMwaNJ6rhuQ",
  "title": "Retro Tech S2",
  "videoCount": 5,
  "thumbnailUrl": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ifI_fwg55k8/hqdefault.jpg",
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBsP89CPrMeNIuvr9j3_EQaMwaNJ6rhuQ",
  "status": "ok"
}
```

### Related actors from steadydata

- [youtube-playlist-videos](https://apify.com/steadydata/youtube-playlist-videos): the videos inside any of these playlists
- [youtube-playlist-transcripts](https://apify.com/steadydata/youtube-playlist-transcripts): the transcripts of a whole playlist
- [youtube-channel-videos](https://apify.com/steadydata/youtube-channel-videos): the videos of the same channel

### Pricing

Pay per event: one `playlist-listed` event per delivered result. No charge for inputs
that fail, no separate platform-usage surcharge.

**Free Apify plan:** this actor delivers up to 25 rows per run for accounts on the Apify free
plan, and then stops with a message. That limit is set by us, not by Apify. It exists so the
actor keeps paying for itself for the people who do pay. Any paid Apify plan runs it at full
size, billed per delivered row, with failed rows never charged.

**Reviews:** if this actor saves you time, a short review on this page is the one thing that
helps most. Ratings are what other buyers look at first, and we have no other way to ask.

### FAQ

**Do I get the videos inside the playlists?** Not from this actor; pass the `playlistId` column to the YouTube Playlist Videos actor from the related actors below.

**Can I use a handle?** Yes: a channel URL, an @handle or a UC... channel id all work and resolve to the same channel id.

**Why fewer playlists than I see on the website?** The tab shows public playlists only; playlists saved from other channels, private and unlisted lists are not included.

**Is a channel without playlists charged?** No. Only delivered playlist rows are charged.

**How large can the run be?** Up to 100 channels and 500 playlists per channel; the ceiling is a cost guard, the tab pages as far as it goes.

**Is personal data collected?**
`thumbnailUrl` is the largest thumbnail YouTube lists for the playlist's cover video.

**What happens when the source changes?**
Sources change from time to time; that is the nature of this work. The actor is
monitored daily and fixed fast, and while it is broken you are not charged, because
only delivered results cost anything.

# Changelog

This Actor's version history is a separate document: https://apify.com/steadydata/youtube-channel-playlists/changelog.md

# Actor input Schema

## `channels` (type: `array`):

One per row, up to 100: a channel URL, @handle or channel id (UC...).

## `maxPlaylistsPerChannel` (type: `integer`):

Cost ceiling per channel, in the tab's order.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "channels": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/@mkbhd"
  ],
  "maxPlaylistsPerChannel": 50
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# 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 = {
    "channels": [
        "https://www.youtube.com/@mkbhd"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("steadydata/youtube-channel-playlists").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 = { "channels": ["https://www.youtube.com/@mkbhd"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("steadydata/youtube-channel-playlists").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "channels": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/@mkbhd"
  ]
}' |
apify call steadydata/youtube-channel-playlists --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,steadydata/youtube-channel-playlists"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/U6UTEBhnXYzcKg6j0/builds/6oppzimcYTrxcU9Gy/openapi.json