YouTube Scraper Pro (Apify Actor) Full‑fidelity YouTube data extractor for videos, Shorts, live streams, and channels. Built with YouTube Data API v3 + Puppeteer for reliable, scalable hybrid extraction that returns complete metadata, engagement stats, hashtags/keywords, description links, and channel insights — fast and efficient. --- ## At a Glance - Hybrid Architecture: YouTube Data API v3 + web scraping for 100% field coverage - Scrape by keywords, channel handles (e.g. @mkbhd), channel IDs, playlists, or direct video URLs - Returns: title, description, duration, publish date, views, likes, comments count, category, features (HD/4K/HDR), hashtags, keywords, description links, and rich channel data - Optimized: API for core fields + selective scraping for advanced fields → ~4–6s/video without proxy, all fields populated - Localization: region + language options - Optional Proxy: Residential proxy available for enhanced reliability > Best for: content research, SEO, competitive intelligence, trend analysis, brand monitoring, influencer discovery, and data‑driven content strategy. --- ## 🚀 New: Hybrid API + Scraping Architecture Version 2.6 introduces a revolutionary hybrid approach: | Method | Fields Covered | Speed | |--------|---------------|-------| | YouTube Data API v3 | 16 core fields (title, views, likes, duration, etc.) | Instant | | Web Scraping | 11 advanced fields (hashtags, links, monetization, etc.) | ~4-6s/video | | Residential Proxy (optional) | Enhanced reliability | ~10-15s/video | Benefits: - ✅ 100% field coverage - All 27 fields populated - ✅ No proxy required - Works reliably without residential proxy - ✅ Dual fallback system - API → Scraping → API Description extraction - ✅ Production ready - Proven reliability with complete data extraction --- ## Why this scraper? - Hybrid extraction: YouTube Data API v3 for core data + web scraping for advanced fields = best of both worlds - Complete fields: visits each video page to populate all available metadata (not just search snippets) - Scalable & reliable: automatic multi-project rotation for consistent performance - Triple fallback: API → Browser scraping → API description parsing ensures maximum field population - Stable & fast: ~4-6 seconds per video with 100% field coverage - Consistent schema: predictable JSON keys designed for analytics pipelines - Enterprise‑ready: optional residential proxies, localization, rate limiting, and error handling --- ## Key Features - Hybrid Data Extraction: YouTube Data API v3 (16 fields) + Web Scraping (11 advanced fields) - Intelligent API Management: Automatic multi-project rotation for optimal performance - Multiple Input Methods: keywords, channel handles/IDs, playlists, direct URLs, bulk URL upload via text file or remote file link - Content Coverage: standard videos, Shorts, live/live‑replay - Date Filtering: filter search results by publish date range (applies to search keywords only) - Comprehensive Metadata: title, description, duration, publish date, views, likes, comment count, category - Rich Media & SEO Signals: hashtags, keywords/tags, description outbound links - Channel Intelligence: id, name, handle, URL, subscribers, (optionally) totals and profile data - Performance: 3 concurrent page visits; resource/ads/fonts/video blocking for speed - Localization: regionCode + language - Optional Proxy: Residential proxy available for enhanced reliability (not required) --- ## Quick Start (Apify) 1. Create an Actor task and paste one of the JSON inputs below 2. (Optional) Enable residential proxy for maximum reliability - controlled via code setting 3. Run. Export JSON/CSV/Excel to your datastore, Google Sheets, or S3 --- ## Input Schema The input form is organized into collapsible sections for better usability: - Search Settings: Configure search behavior, localization, and result limits - Direct URLs: Scrape specific YouTube URLs directly ### Input Parameters | # | Field | Key | Type | Required | Default | Description | |---|-------|-----|------|----------|---------|-------------| | 1 | Search Keywords | searchQueries | Array | No | [] | Search for keywords, video topics, or channels. Accepts channel handles (@name) or channel IDs (UC...) | | 2 | Include Shorts | includeShorts | boolean | No | false | If true, include Shorts in search/results | | 3 | Max videos per search term | maxResultsPerQuery | integer | No | 10 | Applies per search keyword and per list source. Min 1 | | 4 | Country | regionCode | string | No | "US" | ISO-3166-1 alpha-2 code. Options: US, GB, CA, AU, IN, DE, FR, JP, BR, MX | | 5 | Language | language | string | No | "en" | IETF BCP-47 code. Options: en, es, de, fr, pt, ja, hi, zh | | 6 | From Date | dateFrom | string | No | "" | Filter videos published after this date (YYYY-MM-DD). Only applies to Search Keywords | | 7 | To Date | dateTo | string | No | "" | Filter videos published before this date (YYYY-MM-DD). Only applies to Search Keywords | | 8 | YouTube URLs | startUrls | Array | No | [] | Accepts video/shorts/channel/playlist/search URLs. Supports manual entry, text file upload, or remote file link for bulk processing | Important Notes: - Date Filtering: Date filters (dateFrom and dateTo) only apply to Search Keywords. Direct URLs are not filtered by date. - Bulk URL Upload: The YouTube URLs field supports uploading a text file (one URL per line) or linking to a remote text file for batch processing. - Residential Proxy: Configured via code (not user input) for testing purposes. Disabled by default for production. > Tip: Start with smaller maxResultsPerQuery to validate your setup, then scale up. ### Input Example - 01: Search with date filtering json { "searchQueries": ["AI tools", "machine learning", "@veritasium"], "maxResultsPerQuery": 20, "includeShorts": false, "dateFrom": "2025-01-01", "dateTo": "2025-12-31", "regionCode": "US", "language": "en" } ### Input Example - 02: Direct video URLs json { "searchQueries": [], "startUrls": [ {"url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Sx0o-41r2k"}, {"url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oAnKSCP4do"}, {"url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJBP2uy8LcU"}, {"url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOtJEwVsJic"} ], "includeShorts": true, "maxResultsPerQuery": 10, "regionCode": "US", "language": "en" } ### Input Example - 03: Bulk URL upload from remote file json { "searchQueries": [], "startUrls": [ { "requestsFromUrl": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/coregentdevspace/youtube-scraper-assets/main/youtube-scraper-pro-direct-url-text-file.txt" } ], "dateFrom": "2025-10-01", "dateTo": "2025-10-31", "includeShorts": true, "maxResultsPerQuery": 5, "regionCode": "US", "language": "en" } --- ## Output Schema ### Core Output Fields | # | Field | Type | Description | |---|-------|------|-------------| | 1 | type | String | One of video, shorts, live, stream | | 2 | VideoId | String | YouTube video ID (e.g., 7Sx0o-41r2k) | | 3 | PageURL | String | Canonical YouTube watch URL | | 4 | title | String | Video title | | 5 | thumbnailUrl | String | null | Primary/hero thumbnail URL | | 6 | publishDate | String (ISO) | null | When the video was published | | 7 | duration | String | null | HH:MM:SS format (e.g., 00:22:43) | | 8 | durationSeconds | Integer | null | Duration in seconds | | 9 | viewCount | Integer | null | Total views | | 10 | likeCount | Integer | null | Total likes | | 11 | commentCount | Integer | null | Public comments count | | 12 | category | String | null | Video category | ### Video Properties | # | Field | Type | Description | |---|-------|------|-------------| | 13 | isLive | Boolean | Whether the item is/was a live stream | | 14 | isMembersOnly | Boolean | Members-only gated flag | | 15 | isPrivate | Boolean | Private/unavailable to public | | 16 | isFamilySafe | Boolean | null | Family-safe flag if exposed | | 17 | isMonetized | Boolean | null | Monetization detectable flag | | 18 | isRatingsAllowed | Boolean | null | Whether likes/dislikes are enabled | | 19 | commentsTurnedOff | Boolean | null | Whether comments are disabled | | 20 | commentsAllowed | Boolean | null | Convenience mirror | ### Content & Metadata | # | Field | Type | Description | |---|-------|------|-------------| | 21 | description | String | null | Creator-written description | | 22 | descriptionLinks | Array