# YouTube Shorts Scraper (`streamers/youtube-shorts-scraper`) Actor Extract YouTube Shorts data from one or multiple YouTube channels. Get video URL, caption, timestamp, likes, dislikes, views and comments count, basic channel info, and more. This alternative YouTube API has no limits or quotas. Download the data in JSON, CSV, and Excel. - **URL**: https://apify.com/streamers/youtube-shorts-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [Streamers](https://apify.com/streamers) (Apify) - **Categories:** Videos, Social media - **Features:** Limited permissions - **Stats:** 73,001 total users, 929 monthly users, 99.9% runs succeeded, 197 bookmarks - **User rating**: 4.35 out of 5 stars ## Pricing from $2.40 / 1,000 shorts This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have. 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 ### What is YouTube Shorts Scraper? YouTube Shorts Scraper is a powerful and easy-to-use tool that allows you to **extract Shorts data from chosen YouTube channels.** Using this tool, you will be able to scrape: - **YouTube Shorts data**: video URL, caption, duration, view count, availability of subtitles and comments, thumbnail URL, time of posting, number of likes/dislikes. - **Basic channel details:** channel name, channel URL, number of subscribers. ### How to use data extracted from YouTube Shorts videos? The data extracted from YouTube Shorts can be used for a variety of purposes, including: - šŸ¤”Ā FindingĀ **current trends**Ā andĀ **opinions**Ā shared by content creators - šŸ’² **Generating leads** by topics, engagement metrics, hasthags and more - šŸ‘¹Ā **Identifying harmful**Ā orĀ **illegal**Ā content - šŸ’ÆĀ AccumulatingĀ **information on products**Ā andĀ **services**Ā from video reviews - šŸ‘Ā **Monitoring the market for brand** mentions and position of your content in search results - šŸ¤ŗĀ Getting **insights into competitorsā€™ activity** ### How do I use YouTube Shorts Scraper? YouTube Shorts Scraper is designed to be user-friendly, offering a smooth start for those who have never extracted data from the web before. Hereā€™s how you can get started with YouTube Shorts Scraper to extract video data: 1. [Create](https://console.apify.com/actors/WT1BVWatl2aHVeFEH/) a free Apify account using your email 2. Open [YouTube Shorts Scraper](https://apify.com/streamers/youtube-shorts-scraper) 3. Add one or more YouTube channels to scrape Shorts they post 4. Click the ā€œStartā€ button and wait for the data to be extracted 5. Download your data in JSON, XML, CSV, Excel, or HTML ### Input example The input for YouTube Shorts Scraper should be one or multiple **YouTube channels** (with or without the `@` symbol) and the **number of Shorts** you want to scrape. YouTube Shorts Scraper input Click on the [input tab](https://apify.com/streamers/youtube-shorts-scraper/input-schema) for a fuller explanation of input in JSON. ```json { "channels": ["nasa", "vsauce"], "maxResultsShorts": 25, "oldestPostDate": "2025-06-03" } ``` ### Output example The results will be wrapped into a dataset which you can find in the **Storage** tab. Here's an excerpt from the data you'd get if you apply the input parameters above: YouTube Shorts Scraper output And here is the same data but in JSON. You can choose in which format to download your YouTube Shorts video data: JSON, JSONL, Excel spreadsheet, HTML table, CSV, or XML. ```json { "title": "ASRM Satisfying sounds #asmr #funny #animation #shortvideo #music #shorts", "type": "shorts", "id": "gnuiMgTzKMQ", "url": "https://www.youtube.com/shorts/gnuiMgTzKMQ", "thumbnailUrl": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/gnuiMgTzKMQ/maxres2.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEoCIAKENAF8quKqQMcGADwAQH4AbYIgAKAD4oCDAgAEAEYfyAXKCQwDw==&rs=AOn4CLDL_vqFI95vNPfegV_JOPN-87DFnw", "viewCount": 1180, "date": "2025-06-24T10:01:00.000Z", "likes": 198, "location": null, "channelName": "Coco Creator Rainbow", "channelUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3N1VbltR6aREupzvJ8y-sw", "channelId": "UC3N1VbltR6aREupzvJ8y-sw", "channelUsername": "rainbowicecream9780", "channelDescription": "Thank you so much! I appreciate you all watching the videos.", "channelJoinedDate": "Aug 9, 2021", "channelDescriptionLinks": [], "channelLocation": "United States", "channelAvatarUrl": "https://yt3.googleusercontent.com/nVSr8lanf5UPU4Mc6oWOmKWqQ8VoFceHcQsM5sW63ZPp4r1S6M6pHr4stNOMGyknf1ig1Wjh3A=s160-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj", "channelBannerUrl": "https://yt3.googleusercontent.com/Wg27ZtirmK5sH4Bx7atk4CugZubFCTwsXZsKdITtWPT6aTiikJgl26heFNxnM16UJi0-qnlUxQ=w2560-fcrop64=1,00005a57ffffa5a8-k-c0xffffffff-no-nd-rj", "channelTotalVideos": 193, "channelTotalViews": 917769889, "numberOfSubscribers": 1390000, "isChannelVerified": false, "inputChannelUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/@rainbowicecream9780", "isAgeRestricted": false, "aboutChannelInfo": { "channelDescription": "Thank you so much! I appreciate you all watching the videos.", "channelJoinedDate": "Aug 9, 2021", "channelDescriptionLinks": [], "channelLocation": "United States", "channelUsername": "rainbowicecream9780", "channelAvatarUrl": "https://yt3.googleusercontent.com/nVSr8lanf5UPU4Mc6oWOmKWqQ8VoFceHcQsM5sW63ZPp4r1S6M6pHr4stNOMGyknf1ig1Wjh3A=s160-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj", "channelBannerUrl": "https://yt3.googleusercontent.com/Wg27ZtirmK5sH4Bx7atk4CugZubFCTwsXZsKdITtWPT6aTiikJgl26heFNxnM16UJi0-qnlUxQ=w2560-fcrop64=1,00005a57ffffa5a8-k-c0xffffffff-no-nd-rj", "channelTotalVideos": 193, "channelTotalViews": 917769889, "numberOfSubscribers": 1390000, "isChannelVerified": false, "channelName": "Coco Creator Rainbow", "channelUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3N1VbltR6aREupzvJ8y-sw", "channelId": "UC3N1VbltR6aREupzvJ8y-sw", "inputChannelUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/@rainbowicecream9780", "isAgeRestricted": false }, "duration": "00:00:26", "commentsCount": 0, "text": "", "subtitles": null, "order": 0, "commentsTurnedOff": false, "fromYTUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/@rainbowicecream9780/shorts", "isMonetized": null, "hashtags": [], "isMembersOnly": false, "input": "https://www.youtube.com/@rainbowicecream9780", "fromChannelListPage": "shorts" }, ``` ### Want to try other YouTube APIs and scrapers? If you want to extract specific YouTube data, you can use one of the specialized Actors: - ā–¶ļø [YouTube Scraper](https://apify.com/streamers/youtube-scraper): video metadata, channel info, and search results in bulk - šŸŽ [Fast YouTube Channel Scraper](https://apify.com/streamers/youtube-channel-scraper): channel stats, creator info, and video lists - šŸ©³ [YouTube Shorts Scraper](https://apify.com/streamers/youtube-shorts-scraper): Shorts data for trend tracking and short-form research - šŸ“„ [YouTube Video Downloader](https://apify.com/streamers/youtube-video-downloader): download YouTube videos in bulk as MP4, MP3, and other formats You can also combine YouTube data with data from other social platforms using any of the following Actors: - [TikTok scrapers](https://apify.com/clockworks) - [Instagram scrapers](https://apify.com/store/categories?search=instagram\&managedBy=APIFY) - [Facebook scrapers](https://apify.com/store/categories?search=facebook\&managedBy=APIFY) - Or try our other [social media scrapers](https://apify.com/store?category=SOCIAL_MEDIA). ### Integrating YouTube Shorts Scraper with other apps YouTube Scraper can be connected with almost any cloud service or web app thanks to [integrations](https://apify.com/integrations) on the Apify platform. These include [Make](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/make), [Zapier](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/zapier), [Slack](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/slack), [Airbyte](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/airbyte), [GitHub](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/github), [Google Drive](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/drive), and [plenty more](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations). Alternatively, you can use [webhooks](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/webhooks) to carry out an action whenever an event occurs, e.g. get a notification whenever YouTube Scraper successfully finishes a run, or initiate a new process, like ordering your data. ### Error items When the scraper cannot retrieve data for a given input ā€” for example a channel has no Shorts or does not exist ā€” it pushes an **error item** to the dataset instead of silently skipping it. Normal output items are never affected; you can tell them apart by the presence of an `error` field. #### Error item structure ```json { "url": "https://www.youtube.com/@somechannel", "input": "somechannel", "error": "CHANNEL_HAS_NO_SHORTS", "note": "The channel has no shorts." } ``` #### Error codes reference | `error` | Meaning | | ---------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `CHANNEL_DOES_NOT_EXIST` | Channel URL points to a channel that does not exist | | `NOT_FOUND` | Page was not found | | `VIDEO_UNAVAILABLE` | Video is not available (deleted, region-blocked, etc.) | | `AGE_RESTRICTED` | Channel is age-restricted and cannot be accessed without login | | `CHANNEL_HAS_NO_VIDEOS` | Channel exists but has no uploaded videos | | `CHANNEL_HAS_NO_LIVE_VIDEOS` | Channel exists but has no live videos | | `CHANNEL_HAS_NO_SHORTS` | Channel exists but has no Shorts | | `DATE_FILTER_TOO_STRICT` | Videos exist but none match the active date filter | | `NO_VIDEOS` | No videos found on the page | | `NO_RESULTS` | No results collected ā€” check that video-type limits are set above 0 | | `INVALID_INPUT` | Actor failed due to bad configuration (run is also terminated) | | `NO_COMMENTS` | No comments found for the video | *** ### ā“ FAQ #### Can I use YouTube Shorts Scraper with the Apify API? Yes. You can use the Apify API which will give you programmatic access to the Apify platform. The API is organized around RESTful HTTP endpoints that enable you to manage, schedule, and run Apify Actors. The API also lets you access any datasets, monitor actor performance, fetch results, create and update versions, and more. You can use the `apify-client` [NPM package](https://apify.com/streamers/youtube-shorts-scraper/api/javascript) to access the API using Node.js, or the `apify-client PyPI` package to access the [API using Python](https://apify.com/streamers/youtube-shorts-scraper/api/python). Check out the [Apify API reference](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2) docs for full details, or click on the [API tab](https://apify.com/streamers/youtube-shorts-scraper/api) for code examples. #### Can I use YouTube Scraper through an MCP Server? With Apify API, you can use almost any Actor in conjunction with an MCP server. You can connect to the MCP server using clients like ClaudeDesktop and LibreChat, or even build your own. Read all about how you can [set up Apify Actors with MCP](https://blog.apify.com/how-to-use-mcp/). For YouTube Scraper, go to the [MCP tab](https://apify.com/streamers/youtube-shorts-scraper/api/mcp) and then go through the following steps: 1. Start a Server-Sent Events (SSE) session to receive a `sessionId` 2. Send API messages using that `sessionId` to trigger the scraper 3. The message starts the Amazon ASINs Scraper with the provided input 4. The response should be: `Accepted` #### Is it legal to scrape data from YouTube videos? Scraping YouTube is legal as long as you adhere to regulations concerning copyright and personal data. Our [YouTube scrapers](https://apify.com/store?search=youtube) are ethical and **do not extract any private user data, such as email addresses, gender, or location.** Personal data is protected by GDPR ([EU Regulation 2016/679](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/679/oj)), and by other regulations around the world. You shouldĀ **not**Ā scrape personal data unless you have a legitimate reason to do so. If youā€™re unsure whether your reason is legitimate, consult your lawyers. You can also read our blog post on theĀ [legality of web scraping](https://blog.apify.com/is-web-scraping-legal/)Ā andĀ [ethical scraping](https://blog.apify.com/what-is-ethical-web-scraping-and-how-do-you-do-it/). #### Your feedback Weā€™re always working on improving the performance of our Actors. So if youā€™ve got any technical feedback for YouTube Shorts Scraper or simply found a bug, please create an issue on the actorā€™s [Issues tab](https://apify.com/streamers/youtube-shorts-scraper/issues/open). # Changelog This Actor's version history is a separate document: https://apify.com/streamers/youtube-shorts-scraper/changelog.md # Actor input Schema ## `channels` (type: `array`): Enter a username of a channel (without @ sign) or a link to it (e.g. https://www.youtube.com/c/Apify). ## `maxResultsShorts` (type: `integer`): Limit the number of Shorts videos you want to crawl from the channel. ## `oldestPostDate` (type: `string`): Only posts uploaded after or on this date will be scraped. Alternatively, specify how old the scraped videos should be in days. Putting 1 day will get you only today's posts, 2 days - yesterday's and today's, and so on. Note, that if you select this, sorting parameter will be auto-reset to NEWEST ## `sortChannelShortsBy` (type: `string`): Maps to the three sorting buttons on the top of the channel shorts page. ## Actor input object example ```json { "channels": [ "TechReviewer" ], "maxResultsShorts": 20, "oldestPostDate": "2024-01-01", "sortChannelShortsBy": "NEWEST" } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `dataset` (type: `string`): Dataset containing scraped YouTube Shorts information # 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 '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "channels": [ "rainbowicecream9780" ], "maxResultsShorts": 10 }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("streamers/youtube-shorts-scraper").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`šŸ’¾ 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); }); // šŸ“š Want to learn more šŸ“–? Go to ā†’ 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 '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "channels": ["rainbowicecream9780"], "maxResultsShorts": 10, } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("streamers/youtube-shorts-scraper").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print(f"šŸ’¾ 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) # šŸ“š Want to learn more šŸ“–? Go to ā†’ https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "channels": [ "rainbowicecream9780" ], "maxResultsShorts": 10 }' | apify call streamers/youtube-shorts-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "type": "http", "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,streamers/youtube-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 ` 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/WT1BVWatl2aHVeFEH/builds/Zp43MHwiBI3uX5pJG/openapi.json