# YouTube Channel Outlier Finder (`straightforward_hydra/youtube-channel-outlier-finder`) Actor

Find a channel's breakout videos. Lists every video with views, duration and publish date, then scores each one against the channel's own median: outlier multiplier, views per day and a performance band. Optional exact view counts. No API key, no quota.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/straightforward\_hydra/youtube-channel-outlier-finder.md
- **Developed by:** [Dev D](https://apify.com/straightforward_hydra) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, Automation, Developer tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per event

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/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#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 Channel Outlier Finder

Find a channel's **breakout videos** — not just a dump of its uploads.

**No API key, no quota, no proxy.**

### Why not just a view count?

A raw view count means nothing on its own. 200,000 views is a flop for one
channel and a breakout for another. So every video is scored against **its own
channel's median**:

| Field | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| `outlier_multiplier` | Views ÷ the channel's median views. `4.2` = four times its usual. |
| `performance` | `breakout` (≥3x), `overperforming` (≥1.5x), `normal`, `underperforming` (<0.5x) |
| `views_per_day` | Views ÷ days since publish — compares new videos fairly against old ones |
| `channel_median_views` | The baseline every score is measured against |

Sort by `outlier_multiplier` and the videos that actually worked rise to the
top. That is the question content researchers are really asking: *what worked
unusually well for this channel, and what should I make more of?*

### What else you get

`video_id`, `title`, `url`, `views`, `published_at`, `days_since_published`,
`duration_seconds`, plus channel context on every row: `channel_name`,
`channel_id`, `subscribers`, `channel_total_videos`.

### Exact view counts

Channel listings only show rounded views (`63M`) and relative dates
(`4 days ago`). Turn on **Exact view counts and dates** and each video also gets:

- exact views — `64,075,714` instead of `64,000,000`
- exact publish date — `2026-08-08`
- `description`, `keywords`, `category`, `duration_seconds`

Every row carries `views_are_exact` so you always know which kind you have.
This costs one extra small request per video (about 12 KB, not the 1.4 MB a full
watch page would cost), and switches a proxy on automatically — YouTube answers
`LOGIN_REQUIRED` to this endpoint otherwise. If a video's exact figures cannot be
fetched, the run says so instead of quietly returning the rounded ones.

### Tabs

Read **Videos**, **Shorts**, or past **Live streams**. Shorts are listed by
YouTube in a different format and are handled properly — id, title and views all
come through.

### Example input

```json
{
  "channels": ["@MrBeast", "@mkbhd"],
  "maxVideosPerChannel": 200,
  "tab": "videos",
  "exactStats": false
}
```

Channels are accepted in any form: `@MrBeast`, `MrBeast`, a full channel URL, or
a `/channel/UC…` link.

### Notes

- More videos make the median — and therefore the scores — more reliable. 100+
  per channel is a good baseline.
- Shorts listings do not expose a publish date, so `views_per_day` is not
  computed for them.
- Relative dates are approximate by nature (YouTube says "2 years ago", so a
  month is treated as 30.44 days). Use exact stats when precision matters.
- Transcripts are **not** included: YouTube now returns an empty body for every
  caption download format, so no honest Actor can offer them from this route.
- Runs stop cleanly before the platform timeout and keep everything collected so
  far, rather than failing.

### Pricing

| Event | What it is |
| --- | --- |
| `video` | One scored video from the channel listing. |
| `video-stats` | One scored video including exact views, date, description and keywords. |

### Support

Found a channel that won't load, or a field that stopped populating? Open an
issue on the Actor's page and include the input you used.

# Actor input Schema

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

YouTube channels in any format: @MrBeast, MrBeast, https://www.youtube.com/@MrBeast, or a /channel/UC... URL.

## `maxVideosPerChannel` (type: `integer`):

How many videos to read per channel, 30 per request. More videos make the median, and therefore the outlier scores, more reliable.

## `tab` (type: `string`):

Which part of the channel to read: long-form videos, Shorts, or past live streams.

## `exactStats` (type: `boolean`):

Channel listings only show rounded views (63M) and relative dates (4 days ago). Turn this on for exact counts, exact publish dates, description, keywords and category. It costs one extra small request per video, and automatically enables a proxy because YouTube returns LOGIN\_REQUIRED for this data otherwise.

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

Optional for the video listing, which works without one. A proxy is switched on automatically when exact view counts are enabled.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "channels": [
    "@MrBeast",
    "@mkbhd"
  ],
  "maxVideosPerChannel": 100,
  "tab": "videos",
  "exactStats": false,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `videos` (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": [
        "@MrBeast",
        "@mkbhd"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("straightforward_hydra/youtube-channel-outlier-finder").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": [
        "@MrBeast",
        "@mkbhd",
    ] }

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

```

## MCP server setup

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

```

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/FSKZNe1h1Gc5sLF3W/builds/MxJzJ7QSgZgFZunS6/openapi.json