Search

GET /v1/youtube/search

Searches YouTube by keyword query and returns matching videos, channels, playlists, shorts, shelves, and live streams. Each video result includes title, URL, thumbnail, view count (views), publish date, duration, channel info, and badges. Supports filtering by upload date, sorting by relevance or popularity, and paginating with continuationToken.

Authentication

All requests require the x-api-key header. Get your key at scrapecreators.com.

Query Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description	Example
query	string	yes	Search query
uploadDate	enum(today, this_week, this_month, this_year)	no	Upload date
sortBy	enum(relevance, popular)	no	Sort by	relevance
type	enum(videos, shorts, channels, playlists)	no	Type of content to search for	videos
duration	enum(under_3_min, between_3_and_20_min, over_20_min)	no	Duration of the video. Only applies to videos (not shorts).	under_3_min
region	string	no	2 letter country code of the country to put the proxy in.	US
continuationToken	string	no	Continuation token to get more videos. Get 'continuationToken' from previous response.	4qmFsgKrCBIYVUNkRkpXVWE0M3NtUm00SXBIQnB
includeExtras	string	no	This will get you the like + comment count and the description. To get the full details of the video, use the /v1/youtube/video endpoint. This will slow down the response slightly.	false

Example Request

curl

curl 'https://api.scrapecreators.com/v1/youtube/search?query=<query>' \
  -H 'x-api-key: $SCRAPECREATORS_API_KEY'

Node / TypeScript

const params = new URLSearchParams({ query: '...' });
const res = await fetch(`https://api.scrapecreators.com/v1/youtube/search?${params}`, {
  headers: { 'x-api-key': process.env.SCRAPECREATORS_API_KEY }
});
const data = await res.json();
console.log(data);

Python

import os, requests
r = requests.get(
    'https://api.scrapecreators.com/v1/youtube/search',
    headers={'x-api-key': os.environ['SCRAPECREATORS_API_KEY']},
    params={'query': '...'},
)
r.raise_for_status()
print(r.json())

CLI

scrapecreators youtube search --help

Example Response

{
  "videos": [
    {
      "type": "video",
      "id": "BzSzwqb-OEE",
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzSzwqb-OEE",
      "title": "NF - RUNNING (Audio)",
      "thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/BzSzwqb-OEE/hq720.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEnCNAFEJQDSFryq4qpAxkIARUAAIhCGAHYAQHiAQoIGBACGAY4AUAB&rs=AOn4CLCasEKav1CLqeSSE2IYDqjGiIMBGw",
      "channel": {
        "id": "UCoRR6OLuIZ2-5VxtnQIaN2w",
        "title": "NFrealmusic",
        "handle": "channel/UCoRR6OLuIZ2-5VxtnQIaN2w",
        "thumbnail": "https://yt3.ggpht.com/J1_Si0TYNZ-991v09y8RpCh4_Z_ALwKmPgMYnJqjNhoglVtipf3oEN8LpzG1kS0qsv8Jptpmmg=s88-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj"
      },
      "viewCountText": "14,860,541 views",
      "viewCountInt": 14860541,
      "publishedTimeText": "2 years ago",
      "publishedTime": "2023-05-28T17:08:46.499Z",
      "lengthText": "4:14",
      "lengthSeconds": 254,
      "badges": []
    }
  ],
  "channels": [],
  "playlists": [],
  "shorts": [
    {
      "type": "short",
      "id": "uMNvF-lSCHg",
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMNvF-lSCHg",
      "title": "LONG RUN ROUTINE #run #runvlog #runner #shorts #morning",
      "thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/uMNvF-lSCHg/hq720.jpg?sqp=-oaymwFBCNAFEJQDSFryq4qpAzMIARUAAIhCGADYAQHiAQoIGBACGAY4AUAB8AEB-AG2CIACgA-KAgwIABABGFsgXyhlMA8=&rs=AOn4CLA_P-5ExEn9EGLJDNeJedsxb3k1eQ",
      "channel": {
        "id": "UCGRdcRxpJWi5Q2oDCrMDUuQ",
        "title": "Abby and Ryan",
        "handle": "abbyandryan",
        "thumbnail": "https://yt3.ggpht.com/8UdUEesepx1Ry_rFUPJOJgndTCKno9VTkSysnuJpFjMj63N6av0pNwnqoiKh_7PN2dw7PGIp=s68-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj"
      },
      "viewCountText": "462,705 views",
      "viewCountInt": 462705,
      "publishedTimeText": "10 months ago",
      "publishedTime": "2024-07-28T17:08:46.498Z",
      "lengthText": "0:44",
      "lengthSeconds": 44,
      "badges": []
    }
  ],
  "shelves": [
    {
      "type": "shelf",
      "title": "Shorts",
      "items": [
        {
          "type": "short",
          "id": "LLBR5nO05tE",
          "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLBR5nO05tE",
          "title": "running through walls gone wrong",
          "thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/LLBR5nO05tE/oardefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEoCJUDENAFSFqQAgHyq4qpAxcIARUAAIhC2AEB4gEKCBgQAhgGOAFAAQ==&rs=AOn4CLCYYIIDmBllgkLP68AjVs25UpyevQ",
          "viewCountText": "750K",
          "viewCountInt": 750000
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "lives": [],
  "continuationToken": "EooDEg..."
}

Credits

Most ScrapeCreators endpoints consume 1 credit per successful response. Some heavier endpoints (transcripts, AI-driven enrichment, ad detail lookups) may cost more. Check GET /v1/credit-balance for your remaining balance.

Errors

Status	Meaning	Action
200	Success.	Use the JSON payload.
400	Invalid or missing parameter.	Verify required parameters and value format.
401	Missing or invalid x-api-key.	Pass a valid API key in the header.
402	Out of credits.	Top up at scrapecreators.com or wait for plan reset.
404	Resource not found or private.	Confirm the handle, URL, or id and that the resource is public.
429	Rate limited.	Backoff and retry with exponential delay.
500	Server error or upstream platform failure.	Retry with backoff; report persistent errors to support.