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

> Fetches live streams and past streams from a YouTube channel's Live tab (title, URL, thumbnail, view count, publish time, duration) plus a `continuationToken` when more results are available. Pass `handle` or `channelId` for the first page; forward `continuationToken` for subsequent pages. DATES: this tab publishes no exact timestamp, only a relative label ("Streamed 3 weeks ago"), so by default every row is joined to the per-video lookup for its exact publish second, at no extra credit (one lookup per page). Send `exact_dates=false` to keep the label-derived estimate instead, marked by `post.ext.published_precision`. The tab also publishes no like or comment counts. Send `include=engagement` and every row is joined, in the same call, to the per-video lookup: likes, comments, the exact publish time and the channel id land on each row (1 credit per distinct stream filled, at most 5 per page); `include=channel` adds the channel's subscriber count (1 credit). TITLES: the free per-video lookup swaps YouTube's English machine-translated listing title for the creator's own; a title not swapped carries `post.ext.title_maybe_translated: true` (`exact_dates=false` skips the lookup).

TL;DR: `GET /v1/youtube/channel/lives` costs 1 credit for the page. include=engagement adds 1 credit per distinct stream filled, at most 5 per page; include=channel adds 1 credit for the single channel lookup the page shares. Anything that could not be filled is refunded, so a page with both is at most 7 credits, and a repeat of the same call within the cache window costs 0. With `max_pages`, `max_items` or `max_credits`, each page walked is billed at this price (a cached page is free), and `max_credits` caps the total. 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. |
| `handle` | no | YouTube channel handle (with or without @). |
| `continuationToken` | no | Continuation token from a previous response: fetches the next page. |
| `include` | no | Set to `engagement`, `channel`, or both (`engagement,channel`) to fill more of every row in this one call. `engagement` fills `post.engagement.views`, `.likes` and `.comments`, `post.content.duration_seconds`, `post.ext.channel_id` and `post.author.display_name` where the row lacks them, and replaces a date derived from a label such as "4 months ago" with the exact publish time (removing `post.ext.published_precision`). The engagement join costs 1 credit per distinct stream it filled, never more than 5 per page, and streams that could not be filled are refunded. `channel` adds the channel's subscriber count (`post.ext.author_followers`, YouTube's own figure, rounded to three significant figures above 1,000) plus its avatar: every row is the same channel, so it is one lookup, 1 credit, refunded if it could not be read. Each join adds 0.2 to 0.7 seconds on a fresh page (one lookup per 50 ids, never more than 8 seconds). Read `data.hydration` for the rows, lookups, credits held and kept, and the time. |
| `exact_dates` | no | Exact publish dates are on by default and free. A row whose date the upstream derived from a relative label such as "4 months ago" (measured up to four months off) is joined to the per-video lookup for its exact publish second, at no extra credit: one lookup per page (two on a page past 50 rows, side by side), adding about 0.2 to 0.7 seconds (never more than 3). The same lookup swaps the listing title, often YouTube's English machine translation, for the creator's own, and `computed.language` follows it; a title not swapped carries `post.ext.title_maybe_translated: true`. Set to `false` to skip the lookup: rows then carry the supplier's date estimate (a day-granular or coarser label truncated to midnight UTC), marked by `post.ext.published_precision` and `post.ext.published_label`, and the listing title, marked by `post.ext.title_maybe_translated`. A row the lookup could not resolve keeps those values and markers, and `_warnings` carries `exact_dates_partial` (some rows) or `exact_dates_unavailable` (none); on `channel/videos`, whose dates are already exact, the warnings are `original_titles_partial` and `original_titles_unavailable`. (true \| false) |
| `since` | no | Only rows published on or after this date: YYYY-MM-DD (midnight UTC) or an ISO 8601 timestamp. Rows older than it are left off each page. This list is not in date order, so the walk does not stop at the date: keep following `next_cursor`, and each page costs what a page costs even when every row on it is filtered out. A row with no date is kept. `published_after`, `start_date`, `from_date`, `publish_time` (`yesterday`, `this-week`, `this-month`, `last-3-months`, `last-6-months`) and `max_age_days` are accepted and applied as `since`. |
| `until` | no | Only rows published on or before this date: YYYY-MM-DD (that whole UTC day is included) or an ISO 8601 timestamp. Newer rows are left off each page and the walk does not stop, so older pages follow. A row with no date is kept. `published_before`, `end_date` and `to_date` are accepted and applied as `until`. |
| `max_pages` | no | 1 to 50 (default 1, or 50 when `max_items` or `max_credits` is sent). Walk up to this many pages in one call and return the rows from all of them. Each page walked is billed exactly as one call to this endpoint (a cached page is free) and counts against your rate limit; its charge and any refund are recorded under the page's own request id, listed in `data.walk.request_ids`. The walk stops early at the last page, or when the request's time budget runs low; `data.walk.stopped` says why (`end`, `max_pages`, `max_items`, `max_credits`, `time_budget`, `page_error`) and `pagination.next_cursor` continues from where it stopped. |
| `max_items` | no | 1 to 5000. Get more in one call: keep walking pages until the response holds at least this many rows, then stop with `data.walk.stopped: "max_items"`. The last page is returned whole (it was billed), so `data.items` can hold up to one page more than this, and `pagination.next_cursor` resumes right after it without skipping a row. Walks up to 50 pages unless `max_pages` says fewer; each page is billed as one call (a cached page is free). Add `max_credits` to cap the spend. A long walk can stop on the time budget first (`"time_budget"`): send the returned cursor with the same params to continue. |
| `max_credits` | no | 1 to 100000. The most this call may spend, across every page it walks. A page starts only while the credits already spent plus that page's price (or, when higher, the most any page of this walk has cost) still fit, so the call never goes past it; the walk then stops with `data.walk.stopped: "max_credits"` and the cursor to resume. Sent alone, it walks as far as the budget goes (up to 50 pages). A value below the price of one page is a free 400 whose `error.details.page_credits` names that price. Credits a row join (`include=`) adds are known only once a page has run, so page 1 is checked against its own price. |

## Code example

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

## FAQ

### How do I list a YouTube channel's live streams?

Send a GET to /v1/youtube/channel/lives with a handle or channelId. The response lists live and past streams with title, URL, thumbnail, view count, publish time, and duration. The Live tab publishes no like or comment counts, so add include=engagement and those, the channel and the exact publish time are filled in the same call.

### Does it include finished broadcasts or only live ones?

Both. The endpoint mirrors a channel's Live tab, so you get current live streams and the archive of past broadcasts in one feed.

### Do I pass a handle or a channel ID?

Either. Provide handle (with or without @) or channelId for the first page. Exactly one of the two is required.

### How do I page through all streams?

Each response carries a continuationToken when more results exist. Forward it on the next request and repeat until the token is empty to collect the full archive.

### How much does the lives endpoint cost?

It costs 1 to 7 credits per request: the page price, plus whatever an include join filled, and every new account starts with 100 free credits to try it.

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:

- How to list a YouTube channel's live streams via API
- YouTube live stream data API without Data API quota