# YouTube Shorts Scraper (per channel, lightweight) (`steadydata/youtube-shorts`) Actor

Every Short of a YouTube channel: title, video id, view count and thumbnail, with the channel name on each row. Paste channel URLs, @handles or channel ids. Only delivered Shorts are charged.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/steadydata/youtube-shorts.md
- **Developed by:** [Steadydata Team](https://apify.com/steadydata) (community)
- **Categories:** Videos, AI, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$0.40 / 1,000 short listeds

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

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

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — 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 Shorts Scraper (per channel, lightweight)

Get **every Short a YouTube channel has published**: title, video id, view count and
thumbnail, with the channel name on each row. Paste channel URLs, `@handles` or channel
ids, up to 100 channels per run. **You only pay for Shorts that are actually
delivered.**

### Why this scraper

- **Shorts are their own tab, and this actor reads it properly.** A channel's Shorts do
  not show up in the regular videos list, so a normal channel scraper misses them
  entirely.
- **Built on a lightweight route.** This actor asks YouTube's own internal API instead
  of loading the page, and needs roughly 6 KB per Short. That is where the low price
  comes from.
- **Only delivered Shorts are charged.** A channel that does not exist, or has no
  public Shorts, comes back as a clear error record at no cost.
- **A hard cost ceiling you control.** `maxShortsPerChannel` is the cap: one delivered
  Short is one charged event.
- **Every input format works.** `@mkbhd`, a channel URL, `/channel/UC...` or a bare
  channel id.

### Who this is for

Short-form content researchers comparing what channels publish and how it performs,
competitor analysts tracking Shorts output, and teams that need a channel's Shorts
catalogue as input for further processing.

### Who this is not for

If you want to watch Shorts, the app does that better. This actor is for getting the
list out as data, and it earns its place from the first channel with more Shorts than
you want to scroll through.

It returns public video and channel metadata only. No comments, no commenter names, no
personal data.

### Input example

```json
{
    "channels": [
        "@mkbhd",
        "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBJycsmduvYEL83R_U4JriQ"
    ],
    "maxShortsPerChannel": 100,
    "language": "en",
    "country": "US"
}
```

### Output example

```json
{
    "channelId": "UCBJycsmduvYEL83R_U4JriQ",
    "channelName": "Marques Brownlee",
    "channelUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBJycsmduvYEL83R_U4JriQ",
    "position": 1,
    "videoId": "R6yNUnRXZ64",
    "url": "https://www.youtube.com/shorts/R6yNUnRXZ64",
    "title": "iPhone Duo is here",
    "viewCount": 3000000,
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/R6yNUnRXZ64/oardefault.jpg",
    "status": "ok"
}
```

A channel that cannot be delivered produces an error record instead, and is **not**
charged:

```json
{
    "input": "@thischanneldoesnotexist12345",
    "status": "error",
    "errorCode": "CHANNEL_NOT_FOUND",
    "error": "No channel behind https://www.youtube.com/@thischanneldoesnotexist12345"
}
```

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

### Related actors from steadydata

- [youtube-channel-videos](https://apify.com/steadydata/youtube-channel-videos): the long-form videos of the same channel
- [youtube-channel-details](https://apify.com/steadydata/youtube-channel-details): the channel profile

### Pricing

Pay per event: one `short-listed` event per delivered Short. No charge for channels that
fail, no charge for channels without Shorts, no separate platform-usage surcharge.

### FAQ

**Why is the view count rounded?**
Because YouTube rounds it in the Shorts listing: it reports "3 million views", not the
exact figure. The number is converted faithfully from what YouTube says. If you need the
exact count, feed the video ids into the YouTube Video Details Scraper from the same
publisher.

**Is there a publish date?**
Not in the Shorts listing; YouTube does not include one there. The video details actor
has it if you need it.

**Are the Shorts in order?**
Yes, newest first, and every row carries its `position`.

**Is personal data collected?**
No. Public video and channel metadata only.

**What happens when YouTube changes something?**
Internal routes shift from time to time. The actor is monitored daily and fixed fast,
and while it is broken you are not charged, because only delivered Shorts cost anything.

# Actor input Schema

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

Channel URLs, @handles or channel ids. All of these work: https://www.youtube.com/@mkbhd, @mkbhd, UCBJycsmduvYEL83R\_U4JriQ.

## `maxShortsPerChannel` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many Shorts per channel, newest first. This is your cost ceiling: one delivered Short is one charged event.

## `language` (type: `string`):

Interface language for the texts YouTube returns, e.g. en, nl, de.

## `country` (type: `string`):

ISO country code used for the request, e.g. US, NL, DE.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "channels": [
    "@mkbhd"
  ],
  "maxShortsPerChannel": 100,
  "language": "en",
  "country": "US"
}
```

# 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": [
        "@mkbhd"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("steadydata/youtube-shorts").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": ["@mkbhd"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("steadydata/youtube-shorts").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": [
    "@mkbhd"
  ]
}' |
apify call steadydata/youtube-shorts --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

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/zElGouI6y4Hf1hw1B/builds/eq1FTGHtUWtwj9fsF/openapi.json