scraping-youtube-channel-info

Scraping Youtube Channel Info

Raw data collection. No assumed use case — returns the full dataset for downstream analysis.

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Inputs

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Notes
startUrls	array	Optional	[]	YouTube channel URLs
youtubeHandles	array	Optional	[]	YouTube handles (e.g. @kurzgesagt)
keywords	array	Optional	[]	Search keywords to find channels
gl	string	Optional	us	Country code (e.g. US)
hl	string	Optional	en	Language code (e.g. en)
sort	string	Optional	r	Sort order
maxItems	number	Optional	Unlimited	Maximum channels to return
customMapFunction	string	Optional	—	JavaScript function to transform each output object

How to Run

Using run_actor.js (recommended)

# Quick answer (table)
node scripts/run_actor.js --actor "apidojo~youtube-channel-scraper" --input '{"keywords": ["cooking channel"], "gl": "us", "maxItems": 20}'

# Save as CSV
node scripts/run_actor.js --actor "apidojo~youtube-channel-scraper" --input '{"keywords": ["cooking channel"], "gl": "us", "maxItems": 20}' --output results.csv --format csv

# Save as JSON
node scripts/run_actor.js --actor "apidojo~youtube-channel-scraper" --input '{"keywords": ["cooking channel"], "gl": "us", "maxItems": 20}' --output results.json --format json

REST API fallback

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/apidojo~youtube-channel-scraper/runs" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"keywords": ["cooking channel"], "gl": "us", "maxItems": 20}'

If Apify MCP is available: Use the Apify MCP call_actor tool with actor apidojo~youtube-channel-scraper and the input above.

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Output Fields

Field	Type	Description
id	string	YouTube channel ID
name	string	Channel name
url	string	Channel URL
description	string	Channel description
subscriberCount	number	Subscriber count
videosCount	number	Total videos published
thumbnails	array	Channel thumbnails
isVerified	boolean	Verification badge
isFamilySafe	boolean	Family-safe flag
keywords	array	Channel keywords
availableCountries	array	Countries where available
tags	array	Channel tags

Edge Cases

• Channel not found: Check if handle is correct or try with URL instead.
• subscriberCount as text: Field returns '1.2M subscribers' not a number — parse downstream if needed.
• No keywords in metadata: Some channels don't set keywords — tags array will be empty.
• Private/terminated channel: Returns no results for that channel.