YouTube Channel Video Scraper - Extract Video Data & Analytics

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🎯 What is YouTube Channel Video Scraper?

The YouTube Channel Video Scraper is a powerful, automated tool designed to extract comprehensive video data from YouTube channels. Built with Apify's Actor platform, it provides detailed analytics including view counts, engagement metrics, channel information, and more.

This scraper is perfect for:

• Content Creators analyzing channel video performance
• Digital Marketers researching trending content
• Data Analysts studying social media trends
• Researchers analyzing YouTube Shorts engagement patterns
• SEO Specialists understanding viral content factors

🚀 Key Features

📊 Comprehensive Data Extraction

• Video Details: Title, ID, URL, published time, duration, description, thumbnail
• Engagement Metrics: View count, like count, comment count
• Channel Information: Name, URL, subscriber count
• Performance Analytics: Real-time data from YouTube

🔄 Flexible Scraping Options

• Channel Handles/URLs: Provide one or more channel handles/URLs
• Fetch All or Limit: Scrape entire uploads or limit to N videos
• Batch Processing: Handle multiple channels simultaneously
• Configurable Limits: Set maximum videos to scrape and per-request batch size

⚡ High Performance

• Parallel Processing: Configurable concurrency for faster scraping
• Error Handling: Robust retry mechanism with configurable attempts
• Rate Limiting: Respectful scraping with built-in delays
• Scalable: Built on Apify's infrastructure for enterprise use

📈 Why Use YouTube Shorts Scraper?

Content Analysis & Research

• Analyze trending Shorts patterns and viral content
• Study engagement metrics across different niches
• Research competitor content strategies
• Identify high-performing video characteristics

Marketing Intelligence

• Track Shorts performance in your niche
• Monitor competitor channel growth
• Analyze viral content factors
• Generate content strategy insights

Data-Driven Decisions

• Identify trending topics and hashtags
• Understand audience engagement patterns
• Optimize content based on successful Shorts
• Track channel growth and subscriber metrics

🛠️ How to Use YouTube Channel Video Scraper

Method 1: Scrape by Channel Handle(s) or URL(s)

1. Prepare Channels: Collect YouTube channel handles or URLs
2. Configure Settings: Choose fetch all or limit number of videos
3. Run Scraper: Execute the actor with your input
4. Download Results: Get structured JSON data with all metrics

Example Input:

{
  "channelHandle": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/@20VC",
    "https://www.youtube.com/@ycombinator"
  ],
  "fetchAll": false,
  "maxVideos": 10,
  "maxRequest": 50,
  "maxRequestRetries": 3
}

Method 2: Fetch All Channel Uploads

1. Enable All Videos: Set fetchAll to true
2. Provide Channel Handles/URLs: Use format https://www.youtube.com/@channel
3. Tune Batching: Configure maxRequest (1-50) and retries
4. Run: Scrapes all available uploads for each channel

📋 Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
channelHandle	Array	Yes	["https://www.youtube.com/@20VC"]	Channel handles or URLs
fetchAll	Boolean	No	false	If true, fetch all uploads
maxVideos	Integer	No	10	Max videos when fetchAll is false
maxRequest	Integer	No	50	Per-request page size (1-50)
maxRequestRetries	Integer	No	3	Retry attempts for failed requests

📊 Output Data Structure

Each scraped video returns comprehensive data:

{
  "videoId": "kZ5AZ6bt_r8",
  "videoUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ5AZ6bt_r8",
  "videoTitle": "Databricks at $100BN...",
  "thumbnailUrl": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/kZ5AZ6bt_r8/hqdefault.jpg",
  "viewCount": "7813",
  "likeCount": "158",
  "commentCount": "63",
  "publishedTime": "2025-08-21T13:57:35Z",
  "videoDuration": "1:34:59",
  "description": "...",
  "channelInfo": {
    "channelId": "UCf0PBRjhf0rF8fWBIxTuoWA",
    "channelUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf0PBRjhf0rF8fWBIxTuoWA",
    "channelName": "20VC with Harry Stebbings",
    "subscriberCount": "166000",
    "channelDescription": "..."
  }
}

Data Fields Explained

• videoUrl: YouTube watch URL
• videoId: Unique YouTube video identifier
• videoTitle: Video title
• thumbnailUrl: High-res thumbnail URL
• viewCount: Number of views
• likeCount: Number of likes
• commentCount: Number of comments
• publishedTime: ISO publish timestamp
• videoDuration: Human-readable duration (e.g., 1:34:59)
• description: Video description text
• channelInfo: Nested object with channel metadata

🔧 Technical Details

Built With

• Node.js: Modern JavaScript runtime
• Apify SDK: Professional web scraping framework
• Crawlee: Advanced web scraping library
• Axios: HTTP client for reliable requests

Architecture

• Modular Design: Clean, maintainable code structure
• Error Handling: Comprehensive error management
• Rate Limiting: Respectful scraping practices
• Data Validation: Ensures data quality and consistency

Performance Features

• Parallel Processing: Configurable concurrency for speed
• Retry Logic: Automatic retry for failed requests
• Memory Efficient: Optimized for large-scale scraping
• Scalable: Built for enterprise-level operations

📈 Use Cases & Applications

Content Creator Analytics

• Track your Shorts performance over time
• Analyze which content types perform best
• Monitor engagement trends and patterns
• Optimize posting times and content strategy

Competitive Analysis

• Research competitor Shorts strategies
• Identify trending content in your niche
• Analyze viral content characteristics
• Track competitor channel growth

Market Research

• Identify trending topics and hashtags
• Analyze audience engagement patterns
• Study content performance across niches
• Generate insights for content strategy

Data Science Projects

• Build machine learning models for content prediction
• Analyze social media trends and patterns
• Create engagement prediction algorithms
• Generate content optimization recommendations

🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Apify account (free tier available)
• Node.js 18+ (for local development)
• Basic understanding of JSON data

Quick Start

1. Deploy Actor: Upload to Apify platform
2. Configure Input: Set your scraping parameters
3. Run Scraper: Execute the actor
4. Download Results: Get structured data in JSON format

📞 Support

• Documentation: Check this README for usage instructions
• Issues: Report bugs or feature requests issues tab

🔗 Related Projects

• YouTube Transcript Scraper PPR
• YouTube Transcript Scraper RENTAL
• YouTube Comments Scraper

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🔐 Environment setup

Create a .env file in the project root for local development:

$YT_API_KEY=your_youtube_data_api_key

Notes:

• The app loads env vars via dotenv at startup.
• When deploying as an Apify Actor, set YT_API_KEY as an actor secret/environment variable in the platform UI instead of using .env.