# YouTube Channel Scraper (`w3crawler/youtube-channel-scraper`) Actor

Extract public channel, video, playlist, subtitle, and comment metadata from YouTube channels with yt-dlp.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/w3crawler/youtube-channel-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [w3crawler](https://apify.com/w3crawler) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.99 / 1,000 channel, video & playlist records

This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage.

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 Scraper

Extracts public YouTube channel identity and listing metadata. It reads public channel HTML, its embedded `ytInitialData`, and the public channel RSS feed; it does not require login, cookies, private endpoints, or browser automation.

### Input

Provide at least one item in `channelUrls` or `channelHandles`.

| Field | Description |
| --- | --- |
| `channelUrls` / `channelHandles` | Public channel URLs, handles, or UC channel IDs. Up to 25 channels. |
| `extractChannelInfo` | Emit channel description, avatar, banner, keywords, external links, counts, country, and join date when public (default `true`). |
| `scrapeVideos` | Read the public Videos tab and enrich matching rows from the public RSS feed (default `true`). |
| `scrapeShorts` / `scrapeLiveStreams` | Also read the public Shorts or Streams tab (default `false`). |
| `maxVideosPerChannel` | Bounded video/tab limit from 0 to 200; zero uses 200 (default 50). |
| `sortVideosBy` | `date`/`newest`, `oldest`, or `popularity` (default `date`). |
| `extractPlaylists` / `maxPlaylists` | Read the public Playlists tab, bounded to 200 (default disabled). |
| `includeDiagnostics` | Store safe failure/block diagnostics (default `true`). |
| `enableProxyFallback` | Try ordinary Apify Proxy after direct access fails (default `true`). |
| `maxRetries`, `requestDelayMs`, `requestTimeoutSecs` | Bounded request controls. |
| `proxyConfiguration` | Credential-free Apify Proxy settings. `proxy` remains accepted as a legacy alias. |

Example:

```json
{
  "channelHandles": ["MrBeast"],
  "scrapeVideos": true,
  "maxVideosPerChannel": 3,
  "includeDiagnostics": true,
  "enableProxyFallback": false,
  "proxyConfiguration": {"useApifyProxy": false}
}
```

### Dataset records

Records use explicit types: `youtube_channel`, `youtube_channel_video`, `youtube_channel_playlist`, and diagnostic rows. Channel rows include public identity, description, avatar/banner, subscriber/total-view/video counts, join date, country, keywords, external links, and provenance when available. Video rows include IDs/URLs, titles, descriptions from RSS when available, thumbnails and dimensions, views, duration, publication/update timestamps, tab, live/Short flags, and source provenance. Playlist rows include playlist identity, title, count, thumbnail, and source page.

The actor omits unavailable values. It never stores cookies, authorization, proxy URLs, user-agent details, signed media URLs, or other operational request data. `OUTPUT` contains status, counts, duration, and explicit proxy-routing flags.

### Development

```bash
npm ci
npx apify validate-schema .actor/input_schema.json
npm test
apify run --purge --input-file qa-inputs/youtube-channel-scraper/local-validation.json
npm run validate-dataset
```

The `cloud-proxy-validation.json` fixture uses the ordinary US Apify Proxy group for a genuine cloud routing check.

# Changelog

This Actor's version history is a separate document: https://apify.com/w3crawler/youtube-channel-scraper/changelog.md

# Actor input Schema

## `channelUrls` (type: `array`):

Public YouTube @handle, UC channel ID, /user/…, or /c/… URLs.

## `channelHandles` (type: `array`):

Public channel handles with or without the @ prefix.

## `extractChannelInfo` (type: `boolean`):

Emit one channel record with public description, avatar, banner, keywords, external links, counts, country, and join date when exposed.

## `scrapeVideos` (type: `boolean`):

Read the public Videos tab and enrich matching rows with the public RSS feed.

## `scrapeShorts` (type: `boolean`):

Read the public Shorts tab and return short identity and listing metadata.

## `scrapeLiveStreams` (type: `boolean`):

Read the public Streams tab and return publicly listed stream metadata.

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

Maximum video/Short/stream records per channel. Zero uses the actor's bounded public-page maximum of 200.

## `sortVideosBy` (type: `string`):

Order video records after public-page extraction.

## `extractPlaylists` (type: `boolean`):

Read playlists publicly exposed on the channel's Playlists tab.

## `maxPlaylists` (type: `integer`):

Maximum playlist records per channel.

## `includeDiagnostics` (type: `boolean`):

Store safe diagnostic rows for failed public tabs or transport blocks.

## `enableProxyFallback` (type: `boolean`):

Try ordinary Apify Proxy routing after a direct public request fails.

## `maxRetries` (type: `integer`):

Bounded retries per public request.

## `requestDelayMs` (type: `integer`):

Delay after each successful public request.

## `requestTimeoutSecs` (type: `integer`):

Timeout for each public HTML or RSS request.

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

Optional credential-free Apify Proxy settings. Residential routing can help with regional throttling.

## `proxy` (type: `object`):

Backward-compatible alias for proxyConfiguration. Use one proxy field only.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "channelUrls": [],
  "channelHandles": [],
  "extractChannelInfo": true,
  "scrapeVideos": true,
  "scrapeShorts": false,
  "scrapeLiveStreams": false,
  "maxVideosPerChannel": 50,
  "sortVideosBy": "date",
  "extractPlaylists": false,
  "maxPlaylists": 50,
  "includeDiagnostics": true,
  "enableProxyFallback": true,
  "maxRetries": 2,
  "requestDelayMs": 250,
  "requestTimeoutSecs": 60,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `dataset` (type: `string`):

No description

## `keyValueStore` (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 = {
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": false
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("w3crawler/youtube-channel-scraper").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 = { "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": False } }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("w3crawler/youtube-channel-scraper").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 '{
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}' |
apify call w3crawler/youtube-channel-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,w3crawler/youtube-channel-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

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/HaLvuADA2AY5QbxI7/builds/ikIrxmsxSvmeHr8fI/openapi.json