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

Collect public Shorts listed on a public YouTube channel's Shorts tab, with source-backed video and channel metadata.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/w3crawler/youtube-channel-shorts-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 shorts

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 Shorts Scraper

Extracts Shorts that YouTube publicly exposes in a channel's Shorts tab. The actor reads the public channel HTML and its embedded `ytInitialData` model; it does not require login, cookies, private APIs, or browser automation.

### Input

| Field | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `channelUrl` | Yes | A public `@handle`, `UC…` channel ID, or canonical YouTube channel URL. |
| `maxItems` | No | Maximum Shorts returned, from 1 to 500 (default 50). |
| `includeDiagnostics` | No | Store a safe diagnostic row on a blocked or unparseable public page (default `true`). |
| `enableProxyFallback` | No | Try ordinary Apify Proxy routing after a direct request fails (default `true`). |
| `maxRetries` | No | Bounded retries per request, from 0 to 3 (default 2). |
| `requestDelayMs` | No | Delay budget for future multi-request extensions, from 0 to 5000 (default 250). |
| `requestTimeoutSecs` | No | Public request timeout, from 15 to 180 seconds (default 60). |
| `proxyConfiguration` | No | Credential-free Apify Proxy configuration. A US residential group can help with regional throttling. |

Example:

```json
{
  "channelUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/@NASA",
  "maxItems": 25,
  "includeDiagnostics": true,
  "enableProxyFallback": false,
  "proxyConfiguration": {"useApifyProxy": false}
}
```

### Output

Each dataset item is a public Shorts listing record. Unavailable values are omitted instead of being fabricated.

| Field group | Included data |
| --- | --- |
| Channel | `channelName`, `channelId`, `channelHandle`, `channelUrl`, `requestedChannelUrl` |
| Short identity | `videoId`, `videoUrl`, `title`, `accessibilityText`, `position`, `isShort` |
| Media | `thumbnail`, `thumbnails`, `thumbnailCount` |
| Metrics | `viewCountText`, parsed `viewCount` |
| Status | `durationText`, `durationSeconds`, `publishedText`, `isLive`, `isUpcoming` when public data exposes them |
| Provenance | `sourceTab`, `sourceUrl`, `metadataSource`, `extractionMethod`, `source`, `scrapedAt` |

If the page is unavailable or does not expose a Shorts listing, the actor writes a diagnostic item and marks `OUTPUT.status` as `failed`. Successful runs write a run summary to the `OUTPUT` key-value record.

### Development

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

The `cloud-validation.json` fixture explicitly requests the ordinary US Apify Proxy group for a genuine routing check. Proxy routing is reported in `OUTPUT.proxyRequested` and `OUTPUT.proxyConfigured`; no proxy URL or user-agent details are stored in the dataset.

# Changelog

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

# Actor input Schema

## `channelUrl` (type: `string`):

A public @handle, UC channel ID, or canonical youtube.com channel URL.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of publicly listed Shorts to return.

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

Store a safe diagnostic record when the public page cannot be read or parsed.

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

Retry through the configured Apify Proxy only after a direct public request fails.

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

Bounded retries per public request.

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

Delay budget reserved for multi-request extensions.

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

Timeout for each public HTML request.

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

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

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "channelUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/@NASA",
  "maxItems": 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 = {
    "channelUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/@NASA",
    "maxItems": 50,
    "maxRetries": 2,
    "requestDelayMs": 250,
    "requestTimeoutSecs": 60,
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": false
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("w3crawler/youtube-channel-shorts-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 = {
    "channelUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/@NASA",
    "maxItems": 50,
    "maxRetries": 2,
    "requestDelayMs": 250,
    "requestTimeoutSecs": 60,
    "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": False },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("w3crawler/youtube-channel-shorts-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 '{
  "channelUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/@NASA",
  "maxItems": 50,
  "maxRetries": 2,
  "requestDelayMs": 250,
  "requestTimeoutSecs": 60,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}' |
apify call w3crawler/youtube-channel-shorts-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,w3crawler/youtube-channel-shorts-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/INktNpPMTHVS3BbQC/builds/ZmRb5vLgsY4ffCYfk/openapi.json