YouTube API

Channel details

curl "https://api.truescrape.com/v1/youtube/channel?handle=%40MrBeast" \
  -H "x-api-key: $KEY"

What YouTube exposes

• A YouTube video or Short returns the exact like count where YouTube carries it beside the rounded "19M" it displays, and null when the uploader hides likes.
• A YouTube video has `commentCount: null`: the logged-out watch page does not show a comment total, and we return null rather than round the displayed figure.
• A premiere or upcoming video has no view count yet, and a channel can hide its subscriber count, so `viewCount` and `followerCount` can be null on a healthy response.
• The Shorts grid does not render a duration or publish date, so both are null there; `extra_fetch=true` fills the exact view count, publish date and duration from each Short at 1 credit per item.
• YouTube comments come about 20 per page and the Shorts grid about 48, each with a cursor for the next page, while a playlist returns 100 videos per page in playlist order.

Endpoints

• Channel details

  /v1/youtube/channel1 credit

• Channel videos

  /v1/youtube/channel-videos1 credit

• Channel community posts

  /v1/youtube/channel/community-posts1 credit

• Channel live streams

  /v1/youtube/channel/lives1 credit

• Channel playlists

  /v1/youtube/channel/playlists1 credit

• Channel shorts

  /v1/youtube/channel/shorts1 credit

• Community post details

  /v1/youtube/community-post1 credit

• Playlist contents

  /v1/youtube/playlist1 credit

• Search videos

  /v1/youtube/search1 credit

• Search by hashtag

  /v1/youtube/search/hashtag1 credit

• Search typeahead

  /v1/youtube/search/typeahead1 credit

• Trending shorts

  /v1/youtube/shorts/trending1 credit

• Video transcript

  /v1/youtube/transcript1 credit

• Video or Short details

  /v1/youtube/video1 credit

• Comment replies

  /v1/youtube/video/comment-replies1 credit

• Video comments

  /v1/youtube/video/comments1 credit

• Video sponsors (inferred)

  /v1/youtube/video/sponsors1 credit

Questions

How much does the YouTube API cost?

Calls cost 1 credit each. Every endpoint is cacheable, and a cache hit costs nothing. A failed request and an empty result are both free, on every endpoint.

Does the YouTube API need a login or cookies?

No. Every endpoint reads public, logged-out pages only — no account, no cookies, no session. An API key identifies your own TrueScrape account and nothing else.

Can I fetch many YouTube targets in one request?

Yes. 17 of 17 are batchable: one POST to /v1/jobs/batch takes many targets and returns a job id to poll.

Can I watch YouTube endpoints for changes?

Yes, 13 of 17. A subscription polls on your schedule and fires your webhook only when the content changed; the rest carry x-subscribable: false in the spec.

Why does a transcript or comments request fail on an age-restricted YouTube video?

YouTube serves an age-restricted video's captions and comments only to a signed-in viewer, and this API is logged-out by design. The request returns an `upstream_blocked` error rather than claiming the video has none, and it is not charged. The video's own metadata still comes back from the video endpoint.

Is there a YouTube trending endpoint?

YouTube retired its global Trending feed, so the trending endpoint reads the ranked Shorts surface for a region instead. Its results differ from one request to the next, which is why it cannot be watched for changes.

How do I track new comments on a YouTube video?

Request comments with `order=newest`. The default `top` order is re-ranked by YouTube and churns between calls. A comment with replies also appears in `replyCursors`; pass that cursor to the comment replies endpoint.

Does YouTube publish sponsor data?

No structured sponsor data exists. The sponsors endpoint returns YouTube's own paid-promotion disclosure plus brands, promo codes and affiliate links inferred from the description, each with the line it was read from and a confidence.