# Youtube Scraping Tool (`httpsrequests/youtube-scraping-tool`) Actor

YouTube Scraping Tool lets you search and extract YouTube videos quickly and efficiently. Collect metadata for both regular videos and Shorts, with automated pagination handling and full statistics.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/httpsrequests/youtube-scraping-tool.md
- **Developed by:** [Alexander](https://apify.com/httpsrequests) (community)
- **Categories:** Videos
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 0 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per usage

This Actor is paid per platform usage. The Actor is free to use, and you only pay for the Apify platform usage, which gets cheaper the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-usage

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## 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.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## YouTube Scraping Tool

**URL:** <https://requests/youtube-scraping-tool>

### Overview

**YouTube Scraping Tool** allows you to **search and collect YouTube videos** efficiently.\
Supports both **regular videos and Shorts**, automatically handles pagination, and provides detailed metadata and statistics for each video.

### Key Features

- Search by one or multiple keywords (`search_queries`).
- Limit the number of videos per query (`max_videos`).
- Detects video type: **regular** or **shorts**.
- Collects video metadata:
  - Title, URL, and Channel name
  - Views and view text
  - Publication date
  - Duration (formatted and in seconds)
  - Thumbnail
  - Video type (regular / short)
- Automatic handling of pagination with continuation tokens.
- Saves results to **Dataset** and full JSON (`OUTPUT.json`).
- Generates statistics including:
  - Total videos collected
  - Total views
  - Unique channels
  - Shorts vs regular videos
  - Oldest and newest video dates

### Input Parameters

| Parameter       | Type               | Description                                       | Example                         |
|-----------------|------------------|-------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------|
| `search_queries` | `string` or `array[string]` | Search keywords (comma-separated string or array) | `"Python tutorial, Django"`    |
| `max_videos`     | `integer`         | Maximum number of videos per query              | `10`                            |

### Output

- **Dataset**: Each video object is saved individually.
- **OUTPUT.json**: Complete JSON including results, metadata, and statistics.

#### Example Video Object

{
"videoId": "abc123",
"title": "Python Tutorial for Beginners",
"url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abc123",
"channelName": "Tech Channel",
"views": 12345,
"viewsText": "12,345 views",
"publishedAt": "2024-03-15",
"duration": "10:35",
"durationSeconds": 635,
"thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/abc123/hqdefault.jpg",
"query": "Python tutorial",
"video\_type": "regular",
"timestamp": "2026-04-03T12:00:00Z"
}

### Usage Examples

#### Single query

{
"search\_queries": "Python tutorial",
"max\_videos": 5
}

#### Multiple queries

{
"search\_queries": \["Python tutorial", "Django framework"],
"max\_videos": 10
}

### Notes

- Automatically handles pagination to retrieve multiple pages of results.
- Differentiates between Shorts and regular videos based on YouTube data.
- Includes logging of progress and top videos in Actor logs.

This actor is perfect for content research, competitor analysis, or building YouTube datasets.

# Actor input Schema

## `search_queries` (type: `string`):

Enter keywords to search (comma separated)

## `max_videos` (type: `integer`):

Maximum videos to collect per query

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "search_queries": "Python programming, Data science",
  "max_videos": 10
}
```

# 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 = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("httpsrequests/youtube-scraping-tool").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 = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("httpsrequests/youtube-scraping-tool").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 '{}' |
apify call httpsrequests/youtube-scraping-tool --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

```

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/dAE7YjDecgff2uQdu/builds/1y4Yx7suPCQscEFiV/openapi.json