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

> Returns a list of YouTube Shorts published by a channel, read from the channel's own Shorts shelf. Each short includes view count, like count, comment count, title, thumbnail, duration and exact publish date (measured 100% coverage on all six across 96 items, 2026-08-11), and unlike `/v1/youtube/search?type=shorts` every item carries channel identity. This is the Shorts complement to `/v1/youtube/channel/videos`, which is long-form only: the two sets are disjoint, so calling both and concatenating gives the channel's full catalogue for 2 credits. Every item carries `post.ext.content_type` (`short` here, `video` there) so the merged list stays separable. Send `include=channel` to add the channel's subscriber count, name, avatar and channel id to every row in the same call (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/shorts` costs 1 credit for the page. include=channel adds 1 credit for the single channel lookup the page shares, refunded if the channel could not be read and free when it was looked up recently. 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 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `since` | no | Only shorts published on or after this date: YYYY-MM-DD (midnight UTC) or an ISO 8601 timestamp. Older shorts are left off the page, and the page that reaches one ends the walk: `next_cursor` is not returned and `pagination.stopped_at` is `since`. Pinned shorts sit out of date order and never end the walk. The page still costs what a page costs, so a daily poll pays for the pages it walks and no more. |
| `stop_at_id` | no | The id (`post.id`) or URL (`post.url`) of the newest short you already hold. The page stops just before it: that short and everything after it are left off, `next_cursor` is not returned, and `pagination.stopped_at` is `known_id`. A pinned short never counts as the stop point. If it is not on this page the page is returned in full with its cursor, so keep walking. `pagination.stopped_at` is `end` when the list ran out first and `null` while there is more to walk. |
| `handle` | no | YouTube channel handle without the @ symbol |
| `channelId` | no | Can pass channelId or handle |
| `sort` | no | Sort by newest (descending publish date) or popular (descending view count). Both orderings are genuinely applied, unlike `/v1/youtube/search`'s `popular`, which is a popularity-weighted ranking rather than a view sort. (newest \| popular) |
| `continuationToken` | no | Continuation token to get more videos. Get 'continuationToken' from previous response. |
| `include` | no | Set to `channel` (one token only) to add the channel's subscriber count to every row (`post.ext.author_followers`, YouTube's own figure, rounded to three significant figures above 1,000) plus `post.author.display_name`, `.avatar_url` and `post.ext.channel_id` where missing, and the country the channel's owner set as an ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code on `post.ext.author_country` (null when the channel sets none). Every row is the same channel, so this is one channel lookup for the whole page: 1 credit, refunded if the channel could not be read, and free when the channel was looked up recently. Adds well under a second (never more than 8). Read `data.hydration` for what it did. (channel) |
| `exact_dates` | no | On by default and free: every row is joined to the per-video lookup, 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 and keep the listing title, marked by `post.ext.title_maybe_translated`. A row the lookup could not resolve keeps the listing title and the marker, and `_warnings` carries `original_titles_partial` (some rows) or `original_titles_unavailable` (none). The dates on this endpoint are exact either way. (true \| false) |
| `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/shorts" \
  --data-urlencode "handle=MrBeast" \
  -H "x-api-key: sc_YOUR_API_KEY"
```

## FAQ

### How do I list a YouTube channel's Shorts?

Send a GET request to /v1/youtube/channel/shorts with a handle or channelId parameter. The response is a list of Shorts with view count, like count, title, and thumbnail URL.

### Can I sort Shorts by newest or popular?

Yes. Pass sort=newest for the most recent Shorts, or sort=popular for the most-viewed ones. The default is newest if you skip the parameter.

### What fields come back for each Short?

videoId, title, viewCount, likeCount, thumbnails, duration, and publishedAt. Add include=channel for the channel's subscriber count and channel id on every row, 1 more credit for the page. Everything you need to rank trending Shorts, spot viral content, or build a creator analytics dashboard.

### How do I paginate through all Shorts on a channel?

Each response has a continuationToken. Pass it back as continuationToken=... on the next request to get the next page, repeat until the token is empty.

### Why is this a separate endpoint from channel videos?

YouTube serves Shorts and long-form videos under different tabs on a channel page. SocialCrawl mirrors that split so you can fetch each feed independently without mixed-format noise.

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 YouTube Shorts from a creator channel via API
- SocialCrawl YouTube Shorts API vs manual scraping