# YouTube Channel About API (https://www.socialcrawl.dev/platforms/youtube/channel-about)

> 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.

TL;DR: `GET /v1/youtube/channel/about` costs 25 credits per call and returns SocialCrawl's unified JSON schema. Single x-api-key auth, 100 free credits on signup.

## 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) |

## Code example

```bash
curl -G "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/youtube/channel/about" \
  --data-urlencode "handle=mkbhd" \
  -H "x-api-key: sc_YOUR_API_KEY"
```

## FAQ

### What does the YouTube Channel About API return?

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. The response uses the same JSON envelope as every SocialCrawl endpoint, with the data, credits_used and request_id fields.

### When should I use the YouTube Channel About endpoint?

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.

### How much does the YouTube Channel About API cost?

Each call costs 25 credits, so the 100 free credits every new account gets cover 4 calls. Credits for failed or empty calls are refunded automatically, and there is no subscription.

### What parameters does the YouTube Channel About API need?

Identify the target with one of channelId, handle, url. It also accepts 4 optional parameters, all listed on this page.

### How do I call the YouTube Channel About API?

Send a GET request to https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/youtube/channel/about?handle=mkbhd with your API key in the x-api-key header. An Authorization: Bearer header works too.

See the full YouTube API: https://www.socialcrawl.dev/platforms/youtube

## Pricing

- Standard endpoints: 1 credit per call
- Advanced endpoints: 5 credits per call
- Premium endpoints: 10 credits per call
- 100 free credits on signup, no credit card required. Cached responses cost 0 credits. Credit packs never expire.
- Full pricing: https://www.socialcrawl.dev/pricing

## Explore with AI

Questions this API answers, phrased for an AI assistant:

- What does the SocialCrawl YouTube Channel About API return?
- How do I get YouTube Channel About data with the SocialCrawl API?