YouTube Channel About API
Returns the address behind a channel's View email address control on author.ext.public_email, its listed country, and the profile: id, handle, name, avatar, bio, URL, subscribers, join date, views.
GET /v1/youtube/channel/aboutLast updated November 2026Maintained by the SocialCrawl team
When to use the YouTube Channel About API
Use it for outreach when GET /v1/youtube/channel returned no email: that lane reads only the public description, this one reads the About tab control. Premium priced, so shortlist first.
From the API reference
Returns the contact email a YouTube channel publishes, including the address behind its View email address control (author.ext.public_email), and the country listed on the channel (author.ext.country, an ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code, with the English name in author.ext.country_name), together with the channel's id, handle, name, subscriber count and video count. public_email is only an address the channel publishes on YouTube itself, in its About panel or behind the View email address control; addresses found only on the channel's linked websites or other profiles are not returned. A channel without that control usually answers in a few seconds with public_email null, at 0 credits. CHECK THE CHEAP LANE FIRST: GET /v1/youtube/channel costs 1 credit and already returns author.ext.public_email when the channel writes an address into its public description, which covered 17% of a 12-channel sample. Call this endpoint only when that field came back null; it reads the About tab directly and found an address on a further 58% of the same sample. You are charged ONLY when an address is returned: a channel that publishes none costs 0 credits, and so does a channel that does not exist (404). An address behind the View email address button that has not been read before takes a few minutes to retrieve, and the call waits for it: allow up to 5 minutes before your HTTP client times out. If it is still not ready, the call answers 503 SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE with Retry-After: 300 and is not charged, and the same call made after that interval normally returns the address. A 503 is also returned, uncharged, when the channel shows the button but the address could not be retrieved on that call; the error message says which case it is. Do not store public_email as empty on a 503.
Searching 69 platforms in parallel
What can you do with the Channel About API?
The Channel About endpoint gives you structured YouTube data with computed fields in a single request. No scraping infrastructure to build or maintain.
Example Request
# GET /v1/youtube/channel/about: 25 credits per call. Cache hits are free and failed calls are refunded.
# Check the price first for 0 credits: add dry_run=1 to the query. Nothing is fetched or charged.
# --max-time 120: this endpoint's measured p99 latency x 1.5.
# --retry 3: retries timeouts, 429 and 5xx, honoring Retry-After.
# -o response.json keeps only the final attempt's body.
# One Idempotency-Key per request, reused on every retry, so a retried call is never charged twice.
IDEMPOTENCY_KEY=$(od -An -N16 -tx1 /dev/urandom | tr -d ' \n')
curl -sS --max-time 120 --retry 3 -o response.json \
-H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Idempotency-Key: $IDEMPOTENCY_KEY" \
"https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/youtube/channel/about?handle=mkbhd" && cat response.json# GET /v1/youtube/channel/about: 25 credits per call. Cache hits are free and failed calls are refunded.
# Check the price first for 0 credits: add dry_run=1 to the query. Nothing is fetched or charged.
import os
import random
import time
import uuid
import requests
API_KEY = os.environ.get("SOCIALCRAWL_API_KEY", "YOUR_API_KEY")
TIMEOUT_S = 120 # this endpoint's measured p99 latency x 1.5.
MAX_RETRIES = 3
URL = "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/youtube/channel/about"
def backoff(attempt):
# Exponential backoff with jitter: about 1 s, 2 s, then 4 s.
return 2 ** attempt * (0.5 + random.random() / 2)
def socialcrawl(params):
# One Idempotency-Key per request, reused on every retry, so a retried call is never charged twice.
idempotency_key = str(uuid.uuid4())
for attempt in range(MAX_RETRIES + 1):
try:
res = requests.get(
URL,
params=params,
headers={"x-api-key": API_KEY, "Idempotency-Key": idempotency_key},
timeout=TIMEOUT_S,
)
body = res.json()
except (requests.RequestException, ValueError):
# A timeout, a dropped connection or a non-JSON gateway page: retry with the same key.
if attempt == MAX_RETRIES:
raise
time.sleep(backoff(attempt))
continue
if body["success"]:
return body
error = body["error"]
# Branch on error["type"], never on the message text.
if error["type"] == "RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND":
return None # refunded: nothing to read
retry_after = res.headers.get("Retry-After")
# SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE without Retry-After is a withdrawn endpoint: permanent.
permanent = error["type"] == "SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE" and retry_after is None
if not error.get("retryable") or permanent or attempt == MAX_RETRIES:
raise RuntimeError(f"{error['type']}: {error['message']} (request_id {body['request_id']})")
# Retry-After (seconds) wins; otherwise back off.
time.sleep(float(retry_after) if retry_after else backoff(attempt))
params = {
"handle": "mkbhd",
}
body = socialcrawl(params)
if body is not None:
print(body["data"])// GET /v1/youtube/channel/about: 25 credits per call. Cache hits are free and failed calls are refunded.
// Check the price first for 0 credits: add dry_run=1 to the query. Nothing is fetched or charged.
const API_KEY = process.env.SOCIALCRAWL_API_KEY ?? "YOUR_API_KEY";
const TIMEOUT_MS = 120_000; // this endpoint's measured p99 latency x 1.5.
const MAX_RETRIES = 3;
type Page = { next_cursor: string | null; has_more: boolean };
type SocialCrawlResponse =
| { success: true; data: any; pagination?: Page; credits_used: number; request_id: string }
| { success: false; error: { type: string; message: string; retryable: boolean }; request_id: string };
const sleep = (ms: number) => new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
// Exponential backoff with jitter: about 1 s, 2 s, then 4 s.
const backoffMs = (attempt: number) => 2 ** attempt * 1000 * (0.5 + Math.random() / 2);
async function socialcrawl(url: URL) {
// One Idempotency-Key per request, reused on every retry, so a retried call is never charged twice.
const idempotencyKey = crypto.randomUUID();
for (let attempt = 0; ; attempt++) {
let res: Response;
let body: SocialCrawlResponse;
try {
res = await fetch(url, {
headers: {
"x-api-key": API_KEY,
"Idempotency-Key": idempotencyKey,
},
signal: AbortSignal.timeout(TIMEOUT_MS),
});
body = (await res.json()) as SocialCrawlResponse;
} catch (error) {
// A timeout, a dropped connection or a non-JSON gateway page: retry with the same key.
if (attempt >= MAX_RETRIES) throw error;
await sleep(backoffMs(attempt));
continue;
}
if (body.success) return body;
// Branch on error.type, never on the message text.
if (body.error.type === "RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND") return null; // refunded: nothing to read
const retryAfter = res.headers.get("Retry-After");
// SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE without Retry-After is a withdrawn endpoint: permanent.
const permanent = body.error.type === "SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE" && retryAfter === null;
if (!body.error.retryable || permanent || attempt >= MAX_RETRIES) {
throw new Error(`${body.error.type}: ${body.error.message} (request_id ${body.request_id})`);
}
// Retry-After (seconds) wins; otherwise back off.
await sleep(retryAfter ? Number(retryAfter) * 1000 : backoffMs(attempt));
}
}
const url = new URL("https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/youtube/channel/about");
url.searchParams.set("handle", "mkbhd");
const body = await socialcrawl(url);
if (body) console.log(body.data);Parameters
| Parameter | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| channelId | No | YouTube channel ID. Can pass a channelId, handle or url |
| handle | No | YouTube channel handle without the @ symbol |
| url | No | YouTube channel URL. Can pass a channelId, handle or url |
| contact_email | No | Optional. When 1, also returns author.ext.contact_email: when the bio lists two or more email addresses, the one the creator gives for contacting them personally, copied verbatim from the bio. Null when there is one address or none, when every address belongs to a manager, agency or brand, or when the choice was not confident. author.ext.public_email is unchanged. No extra credits. (1) |
What does the YouTube Channel About API return?
Every response follows one unified schema. Here is a real, unmodified response body, so you can see the exact fields you get back before spending a credit.
Example response
{
"success": true,
"platform": "youtube",
"endpoint": "/v1/youtube/channel",
"data": {
"author": {
"id": "UCLA_DiR1FfKNvjuUpBHmylQ",
"username": "@nasa",
"display_name": "NASA",
"avatar_url": "https://yt3.ggpht.com/eIf5fNPcIcj9ig-wZBeq4stFy1lgjWTW1nLT5dYlFkHZprZ03QBiMcbpwNMB6XSBjrSFGtAGQg=s800-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj",
"bio": "NASA's mission is to pioneer the future in space exploration, scientific discovery, and aeronautics research.\r\n\r\nTo do that, we have worked around the world—and off it—for more than 60 years, searching for answers to fundamental questions about our place in the universe. We're exploring space and discovering Earth. Join us on this exciting and important journey.\n",
"verified": null,
"followers": 15000000,
"following": null,
"posts_count": 6139,
"likes_count": null,
"url": "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLA_DiR1FfKNvjuUpBHmylQ",
"private": null,
"joined_at": "2008-06-03",
"ext": {
"keywords": "nasa space iss shuttle 50th astronauts planets earth rockets hubble telescopes NASA TV galaxy apollo gemini mercury sta Moon Artemis \"solar system\"",
"topicCategories": [
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society",
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge"
],
"bannerExternalUrl": "https://yt3.googleusercontent.com/wene-k08O5GIa5h7syMVe6IKiiRiKh6vpajQSUYma01_wG5aMOCqvvAdd2NuljADPuUNPpMkrw",
"madeForKids": false,
"hiddenSubscriberCount": false,
"related_playlists": {
"likes": "",
"uploads": "UULA_DiR1FfKNvjuUpBHmylQ"
},
"topic_ids": [
"/m/098wr",
"/m/01k8wb"
],
"unsubscribed_trailer": "QONgJurkigk"
}
},
"computed": {
"engagement_rate": null,
"language": "en",
"content_category": "other",
"estimated_reach": null
}
},
"credits_used": 1,
"credits_remaining": 9999,
"request_id": "req_example000000",
"cached": false,
"redacted": true
}Live sample illustrating the unified response shape. Field values reflect the record you query.
How does the YouTube Channel About API work?
Send a GET request with your API key and get back clean, structured JSON in our unified schema. Supported computed fields are populated when the source provides the required inputs.
Method
GET
Response
JSON
How do you scrape social media data in seconds?
The fastest social media scraping API for developers. Scrape profiles, posts, comments, and analytics from 69 platforms covering 10B+ monthly active users.
One schema, every platform
Query 69 platforms with identical response structures. Write your integration once.
Computed fields, not just scraped
When an endpoint supports these metrics and the source provides the required inputs, the normalized record includes engagement_rate, estimated_reach, content_category, and language. Ready to use.
See your data before you code
Visual Data Explorer. Paste any URL, get rich result cards, sortable tables, CSV export.
import requests
response = requests.get(
'https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/tiktok/profile',
params={'handle': 'charlidamelio'},
headers={'x-api-key': 'sc_YOUR_API_KEY'}
)
data = response.json(){
"success": true,
"platform": "tiktok",
"data": {
"author": {
"username": "charlidamelio",
"followers": 152400000
},
"engagement": {
"likes": 12400000000,
"engagement_rate": 0.087
},
"metadata": {
"language": "en",
"content_category": "lifestyle"
}
}
}Have a question? We got answers
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