YouTube API Search Data

Search YouTube for videos, channels, playlists, movies, live streams, and filtered result sets. The Actor returns one dataset item per YouTube search result, so you can export results to JSON, CSV, Excel, or connect them to downstream Apify integrations.

What You Can Get

• YouTube video, channel, playlist, movie, and mixed search results
• Titles, descriptions, thumbnails, result IDs, durations, view counts, and publish times
• Channel metadata including channel ID, name, URL, thumbnail, and verification status
• Badges such as CC, New, 4K, or other labels returned by YouTube
• Live, Shorts, and Premium flags when available
• Chapter or extra result metadata when YouTube returns expandable result details

Input

Field	Type	Required	Description
q	string	Yes	YouTube search query.
sort	array	No	Sort order. One of relevance, rating, upload_date, or view_count. Defaults to relevance.
duration	array	No	Video duration filter. One of short, medium, or long.
upload_date	array	No	Upload date filter. One of hour, today, week, month, or year. The actor maps this to Scrappa publishedAfter.
limit	integer	No	Maximum results to return, from 1 to 20.
continuation	string	No	Continuation token for the next page of results.
type	array	No	Result type. One of all, video, channel, playlist, or movie.

Apify select fields are arrays in JSON input. Use a single selected value in each array, for example "type": ["video"].

Example Inputs

Recent Tutorial Videos

{
  "q": "javascript tutorial",
  "type": ["video"],
  "sort": ["upload_date"],
  "upload_date": ["week"],
  "duration": ["medium"],
  "limit": 20
}

High-View Product Reviews

{
  "q": "iphone 16 pro review",
  "type": ["video"],
  "sort": ["view_count"],
  "limit": 20
}

AI News Videos

{
  "q": "ai news live",
  "type": ["video"],
  "limit": 20
}

Channels Matching a Query

{
  "q": "web development",
  "type": ["channel"],
  "sort": ["relevance"],
  "limit": 20
}

Continue to the Next Page

{
  "q": "javascript tutorial",
  "type": ["video"],
  "sort": ["relevance"],
  "limit": 20,
  "continuation": "PASTE_CONTINUATION_TOKEN_FROM_PREVIOUS_RUN"
}

When the API returns a next-page token, the Actor logs it as Continuation token available for next page: ....

Output

Each YouTube search result is saved as one dataset item. Fields vary by result type, but video results commonly include:

{
  "type": "Video",
  "id": "W6NZfCO5SIk",
  "title": "JavaScript Course for Beginners - Your First Step to Web Development",
  "description": "Learn JavaScript basics with this quick, beginner-friendly course...",
  "thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/W6NZfCO5SIk/hq720.jpg",
  "duration": "48:17",
  "viewCount": "14,962,240 views",
  "publishedTime": "8 years ago",
  "channel": {
    "id": "UCWv7vMbMWH4-V0ZXdmDpPBA",
    "name": "Programming with Mosh",
    "thumbnail": "https://yt3.ggpht.com/...",
    "verified": true,
    "isVerifiedArtist": false,
    "url": "https://www.youtube.com/@programmingwithmosh"
  },
  "badges": ["CC"],
  "isLive": false,
  "isShort": false,
  "isPremium": false,
  "expandableMetadata": null
}

Dataset Columns

The default dataset view highlights the most useful columns for scanning and exporting search results:

Column	Description
type	Result type, such as Video, Channel, or Playlist.
id	YouTube result ID, such as a video ID or channel ID.
title	Result title.
channel.name	Channel name for video results.
channel.url	Channel URL when provided by YouTube.
duration	Video duration when available.
viewCount	Display view count text returned by YouTube.
publishedTime	Relative publish time returned by YouTube.
thumbnail	Result thumbnail image URL.
badges	Search result badges, labels, or availability markers.
isLive	Whether the result is live.
isShort	Whether the result is a Short.
isPremium	Whether the result is marked as Premium.

Pricing

$0.30 per 1,000 results. No additional API keys required.

Support

For issues or questions, contact us through Apify.