# YouTube Comment Scraper (`w3crawler/youtube-comment-scraper`) Actor

Extract public YouTube comments with author, engagement, moderation, timestamp, and optional video metadata using the Data API or Playwright.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/w3crawler/youtube-comment-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 comments

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 Comment Scraper

Extract comments that YouTube exposes in public watch-page HTML, including author, engagement, reply, channel, and optional video metadata. Some public pages do not embed comment threads; those cases produce an exact diagnostic instead of an invented result.

The actor uses public HTML only. It does not accept API keys, call private continuation clients, use browser automation, or attempt identity/fingerprint evasion.

Inputs include `videoUrls`/`videoIds`, `maxCommentsPerVideo` (1–500), `sortComments`, `includeReplies`, `includeVideoMetadata`, bounded retry/delay/timeout controls, `includeDiagnostics`, and optional standard Apify Proxy configuration.

Successful records contain `recordType`, video/comment URLs and IDs, text and length, author fields, like/reply counts, moderation flags, published/updated text, channel fields, optional video title/description/statistics/thumbnail, provenance, and `scrapedAt`.

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

# Changelog

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

# Actor input Schema

## `videoUrls` (type: `array`):

Public YouTube video URLs or bare IDs.

## `videoIds` (type: `array`):

Additional bare 11-character YouTube video IDs.

## `maxCommentsPerVideo` (type: `integer`):

Maximum embedded comments to keep for each video.

## `sortComments` (type: `string`):

Requested order for embedded comments.

## `includeReplies` (type: `boolean`):

Include reply threads when YouTube embeds them in the page.

## `includeVideoMetadata` (type: `boolean`):

Include public title, description, statistics, channel, and thumbnail fields.

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

Write exact four-field diagnostics when a public page cannot be read.

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

Try standard Apify Proxy after a direct public request fails.

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

Bounded retries per public watch page.

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

Bounded delay between video page requests.

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

Timeout for one public watch-page request.

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

Optional standard Apify Proxy configuration with credential-free proxy URLs.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "videoUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
  ],
  "maxCommentsPerVideo": 100,
  "sortComments": "top",
  "includeReplies": false,
  "includeVideoMetadata": true,
  "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 = {
    "videoUrls": [
        "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
    ],
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": false
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("w3crawler/youtube-comment-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 = {
    "videoUrls": ["https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"],
    "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": False },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("w3crawler/youtube-comment-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 '{
  "videoUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
  ],
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}' |
apify call w3crawler/youtube-comment-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,w3crawler/youtube-comment-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/YugcpFE0YRoL30ZAO/builds/3pJKMSE0MqvnwevYX/openapi.json