# YouTube Hashtag Extractor (`w3crawler/youtube-hashtag-extractor`) Actor

Extract deduplicated hashtags and supporting metadata from validated YouTube video URLs and IDs.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/w3crawler/youtube-hashtag-extractor.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 hashtags

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 Hashtag Extractor

Extract description hashtags and supporting metadata from public YouTube watch-page HTML. The actor uses the public page response only; it does not call private YouTube APIs, impersonate a web client, or collect browser fingerprints.

### Input

| Field | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `videoUrls` | array of strings | — | Public YouTube watch, Shorts, embed, live, `youtu.be` URLs, or bare 11-character IDs. |
| `videoIds` | array of strings | — | Additional bare video IDs; values are deduplicated with `videoUrls`. |
| `maxItems` | integer | `50` | Maximum unique videos, from 1 to 200. |
| `includeDiagnostics` | boolean | `true` | Emit exact four-field diagnostics for failed or blocked pages. |
| `enableProxyFallback` | boolean | `true` | Try the configured account-authorized Apify Proxy route after direct access fails. |
| `maxRetries` | integer | `2` | Bounded retries per route, from 0 to 3. |
| `requestDelayMs` | integer | `250` | Delay between video requests, from 0 to 5000 ms. |
| `requestTimeoutSecs` | integer | `60` | Per-request timeout, from 15 to 180 seconds. |
| `proxyConfiguration` | object | — | Standard Apify Proxy configuration. Proxy URLs, when supplied, must not contain credentials. |

At least one URL or ID is required. Invalid or unrelated URLs fail input validation instead of being silently skipped.

Example:

```json
{
  "videoUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "https://youtu.be/jNQXAC9IVRw"
  ],
  "maxItems": 2,
  "includeDiagnostics": true,
  "enableProxyFallback": true,
  "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyCountry": "US" }
}
```

### Dataset output

Successful records contain the canonical video URL, original input, title, full public description, description length, description hashtags, hashtag count, public video tags, channel identity and URL, thumbnails, view/like counts when exposed, duration, live/Shorts flags, microformat dates/category/safety flags, extraction provenance, and timestamp. Empty optional values are omitted recursively.

Diagnostics contain exactly `url`, `error`, `errorCode`, and `scrapedAt`. They never include credentials, cookies, request headers, proxy URLs, fingerprints, private playback URLs, or internal client parameters.

The actor writes a run summary to `OUTPUT`, including request coverage, item/diagnostic/failure/block counts, proxy state, and duration. `status` is `success` only when every requested page produced a record; it is `partial` when some pages succeeded and `failed` when none did.

### Local verification

Run:

```text
npm test
npx apify validate-schema .actor/input_schema.json
npx apify run --purge --input-file qa-inputs/youtube-hashtag-extractor/local-validation.json
npm run validate-dataset
```

For a cloud check, use the cloud validation input and inspect both the dataset and the `OUTPUT` key-value record:

```text
npx apify actors call <ACTOR_ID> --build latest --input-file qa-inputs/youtube-hashtag-extractor/cloud-validation.json --timeout 300 --json
```

Direct access and the standard account-authorized Apify Proxy route are tested separately. A block is reported as a diagnostic; the actor does not bypass it with stealth, fingerprint spoofing, CAPTCHA solving, or private endpoints.

# Changelog

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

# Actor input Schema

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

YouTube watch, Shorts, embed, live, youtu.be URLs, or bare 11-character IDs.

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

Additional bare 11-character YouTube video IDs; values are deduplicated with videoUrls.

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

Maximum unique videos processed.

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

Store exact four-field diagnostics for failed or blocked public watch pages.

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

Try the configured account-authorized Apify Proxy route after direct access fails.

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

Bounded retry attempts after a failed public request.

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

Bounded delay between public watch-page requests.

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

Timeout for one public watch-page request.

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

Optional standard Apify Proxy configuration. Proxy URLs must be credential-free.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "videoUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
  ],
  "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 = {
    "videoUrls": [
        "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
    ],
    "maxItems": 50,
    "includeDiagnostics": true,
    "enableProxyFallback": true,
    "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-hashtag-extractor").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"],
    "maxItems": 50,
    "includeDiagnostics": True,
    "enableProxyFallback": True,
    "maxRetries": 2,
    "requestDelayMs": 250,
    "requestTimeoutSecs": 60,
    "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": False },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("w3crawler/youtube-hashtag-extractor").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"
  ],
  "maxItems": 50,
  "includeDiagnostics": true,
  "enableProxyFallback": true,
  "maxRetries": 2,
  "requestDelayMs": 250,
  "requestTimeoutSecs": 60,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}' |
apify call w3crawler/youtube-hashtag-extractor --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

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/HDpfumSXGkLgR1MUh/builds/5sPZfkiCrghwc8ztd/openapi.json