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YouTube Channels API

Returns channel details for up to 1000 channel ids in one request; each row is the same channel object the single channel endpoint returns.

POST /v1/youtube/channels

Last updated November 2026Maintained by the SocialCrawl team

When to use the YouTube Channels API

Use it when you already hold a list of channel ids; the single channel endpoint is the one that accepts a handle or a channel URL.

From the API reference

Fetches full details for up to 1000 YouTube channels by id in a single POST request. Each item is the unified channel (author) object. Body: { ids: string[], include_localizations?: boolean }. Metered per 50-id chunk; a request that resolves no channels at all returns 200 with an empty list at 0 credits.

Searching 69 platforms in parallel

·TikTok logoTikTok·Instagram logoInstagram·YouTube logoYouTube·Facebook logoFacebook·X logoX·LinkedIn logoLinkedIn·Reddit logoReddit·Threads logoThreads·Pinterest logoPinterest·Twitch logoTwitch·Truth Social logoTruth Social·Snapchat logoSnapchat·Kick logoKick·Bluesky logoBluesky·Kwai logoKwai·Rumble logoRumble·Spotify logoSpotify·Apple Music logoApple Music·TikTok Shop logoTikTok Shop·Amazon Shop logoAmazon Shop·Google Shopping logoGoogle Shopping·Trustpilot logoTrustpilot·TripAdvisor logoTripAdvisor·Yelp logoYelp·Linktree logoLinktree·Komi logoKomi·Pillar logoPillar·lnk.bio logolnk.bio·Facebook Ads logoFacebook Ads·Google Ads logoGoogle Ads·LinkedIn Ads logoLinkedIn Ads·Google Search logoGoogle Search·Google News logoGoogle News·Finance logoFinance·Polymarket logoPolymarket·Tavily logoTavily·Hacker News logoHacker News·GitHub logoGitHub·Perplexity logoPerplexity·Naver logoNaver·Utility logoUtility·Universal Search logoUniversal Search
·TikTok logoTikTok·Instagram logoInstagram·YouTube logoYouTube·Facebook logoFacebook·X logoX·LinkedIn logoLinkedIn·Reddit logoReddit·Threads logoThreads·Pinterest logoPinterest·Twitch logoTwitch·Truth Social logoTruth Social·Snapchat logoSnapchat·Kick logoKick·Bluesky logoBluesky·Kwai logoKwai·Rumble logoRumble·Spotify logoSpotify·Apple Music logoApple Music·TikTok Shop logoTikTok Shop·Amazon Shop logoAmazon Shop·Google Shopping logoGoogle Shopping·Trustpilot logoTrustpilot·TripAdvisor logoTripAdvisor·Yelp logoYelp·Linktree logoLinktree·Komi logoKomi·Pillar logoPillar·lnk.bio logolnk.bio·Facebook Ads logoFacebook Ads·Google Ads logoGoogle Ads·LinkedIn Ads logoLinkedIn Ads·Google Search logoGoogle Search·Google News logoGoogle News·Finance logoFinance·Polymarket logoPolymarket·Tavily logoTavily·Hacker News logoHacker News·GitHub logoGitHub·Perplexity logoPerplexity·Naver logoNaver·Utility logoUtility·Universal Search logoUniversal Search
·TikTok logoTikTok·Instagram logoInstagram·YouTube logoYouTube·Facebook logoFacebook·X logoX·LinkedIn logoLinkedIn·Reddit logoReddit·Threads logoThreads·Pinterest logoPinterest·Twitch logoTwitch·Truth Social logoTruth Social·Snapchat logoSnapchat·Kick logoKick·Bluesky logoBluesky·Kwai logoKwai·Rumble logoRumble·Spotify logoSpotify·Apple Music logoApple Music·TikTok Shop logoTikTok Shop·Amazon Shop logoAmazon Shop·Google Shopping logoGoogle Shopping·Trustpilot logoTrustpilot·TripAdvisor logoTripAdvisor·Yelp logoYelp·Linktree logoLinktree·Komi logoKomi·Pillar logoPillar·lnk.bio logolnk.bio·Facebook Ads logoFacebook Ads·Google Ads logoGoogle Ads·LinkedIn Ads logoLinkedIn Ads·Google Search logoGoogle Search·Google News logoGoogle News·Finance logoFinance·Polymarket logoPolymarket·Tavily logoTavily·Hacker News logoHacker News·GitHub logoGitHub·Perplexity logoPerplexity·Naver logoNaver·Utility logoUtility·Universal Search logoUniversal Search
·TikTok logoTikTok·Instagram logoInstagram·YouTube logoYouTube·Facebook logoFacebook·X logoX·LinkedIn logoLinkedIn·Reddit logoReddit·Threads logoThreads·Pinterest logoPinterest·Twitch logoTwitch·Truth Social logoTruth Social·Snapchat logoSnapchat·Kick logoKick·Bluesky logoBluesky·Kwai logoKwai·Rumble logoRumble·Spotify logoSpotify·Apple Music logoApple Music·TikTok Shop logoTikTok Shop·Amazon Shop logoAmazon Shop·Google Shopping logoGoogle Shopping·Trustpilot logoTrustpilot·TripAdvisor logoTripAdvisor·Yelp logoYelp·Linktree logoLinktree·Komi logoKomi·Pillar logoPillar·lnk.bio logolnk.bio·Facebook Ads logoFacebook Ads·Google Ads logoGoogle Ads·LinkedIn Ads logoLinkedIn Ads·Google Search logoGoogle Search·Google News logoGoogle News·Finance logoFinance·Polymarket logoPolymarket·Tavily logoTavily·Hacker News logoHacker News·GitHub logoGitHub·Perplexity logoPerplexity·Naver logoNaver·Utility logoUtility·Universal Search logoUniversal Search
YouTube API

What can you do with the Channels API?

The Channels endpoint gives you structured YouTube data with computed fields in a single request. No scraping infrastructure to build or maintain.

Example Request

# POST /v1/youtube/channels: Metered: holds 5 credits per call up front and refunds what the call does not use. 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 10: 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 10 --retry 3 -o response.json -X POST \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: $IDEMPOTENCY_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"ids":["UC_x5XG1OV2P6uZZ5FSM9Ttw","UCX6OQ3DkcsbYNE6H8uQQuVA"]}' \
  "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/youtube/channels" && cat response.json
# POST /v1/youtube/channels: Metered: holds 5 credits per call up front and refunds what the call does not use. 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 = 10  # this endpoint's measured p99 latency x 1.5.
MAX_RETRIES = 3
URL = "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/youtube/channels"


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(payload):
    # 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.post(
                URL,
                json=payload,
                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))


payload = {
    "ids": ["UC_x5XG1OV2P6uZZ5FSM9Ttw", "UCX6OQ3DkcsbYNE6H8uQQuVA"],
}
body = socialcrawl(payload)
if body is not None:
    print(body["data"])
// POST /v1/youtube/channels: Metered: holds 5 credits per call up front and refunds what the call does not use. 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 = 10_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: string, payload: Record<string, unknown>) {
  // 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, {
        method: "POST",
        headers: {
          "x-api-key": API_KEY,
          "Content-Type": "application/json",
          "Idempotency-Key": idempotencyKey,
        },
        body: JSON.stringify(payload),
        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 body = await socialcrawl("https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/youtube/channels", {
  ids: ["UC_x5XG1OV2P6uZZ5FSM9Ttw", "UCX6OQ3DkcsbYNE6H8uQQuVA"],
});
if (body) console.log(body.data);

Parameters

ParameterRequiredDescription
idsYesJSON array of BARE YouTube channel ids (24 characters, starting with 'UC', e.g. 'UC_x5XG1OV2P6uZZ5FSM9Ttw'), 1 to 1000 per request. Unlike GET /v1/youtube/channel, channel URLs/handles are not accepted here.
hlNoPreferred response language for localized text (ISO 639-1, e.g. 'en', 'ko').
include_localizationsNoWhen true, adds author.ext.localizations to each item: a map from language code to the localized { title, description }. Present only on channels whose owner localized them.
Example Response

What does the YouTube Channels 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": "tiktok",
  "endpoint": "/v1/tiktok/search/users",
  "data": {
    "items": [
      {
        "author": {
          "id": "user_0e9522",
          "username": "user_759369",
          "display_name": "user_f0b019",
          "avatar_url": "https://example.com/avatars/user_0ab01c.png",
          "bio": null,
          "verified": null,
          "followers": 4214875,
          "following": 1,
          "posts_count": 2341,
          "likes_count": 62731828,
          "url": null,
          "location": null
        }
      },
      {
        "author": {
          "id": "user_d26411",
          "username": "user_1f51ed",
          "display_name": "user_1f51ed",
          "avatar_url": "https://example.com/avatars/user_a81e65.png",
          "bio": null,
          "verified": null,
          "followers": 1780390,
          "following": 1,
          "posts_count": 995,
          "likes_count": 10060260,
          "url": null,
          "location": null
        }
      },
      {
        "author": {
          "id": "user_679d13",
          "username": "user_c5d687",
          "display_name": "user_8803ea",
          "avatar_url": "https://example.com/avatars/user_67de4c.png",
          "bio": null,
          "verified": null,
          "followers": 338243,
          "following": 374,
          "posts_count": 464,
          "likes_count": 2140124,
          "url": null,
          "location": null
        }
      }
    ],
    "next_cursor": "30",
    "total": 30,
    "dropped": 0
  },
  "credits_used": 1,
  "credits_remaining": 9999,
  "request_id": "req-8Kq2ZmR4vT9xLb3P",
  "cached": false,
  "pagination": {
    "next_cursor": "sc.eyJ2IjoyLCJjIjoiMzAiLCJwIjoiY3Vyc29yIn0",
    "has_more": true,
    "page_size": 30
  },
  "redacted": true
}

Example captured from the TikTok API. Every SocialCrawl endpoint returns this same unified schema, so your YouTube Channels response has the same fields.

API Details

How does the YouTube Channels 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

POST

Response

JSON

Why SocialCrawl

Why use SocialCrawl for YouTube Channels data?

We handle the complexity of YouTube data extraction so you can focus on building. Unified schema, AI enrichment, and zero platform logic in your code.

Developer First

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()
[ .JSON ]
{
  "success": true,
  "platform": "tiktok",
  "data": {
    "author": {
      "username": "charlidamelio",
      "followers": 152400000
    },
    "engagement": {
      "likes": 12400000000,
      "engagement_rate": 0.087
    },
    "metadata": {
      "language": "en",
      "content_category": "lifestyle"
    }
  }
}
+ 69 platforms
FAQ

Have a question? We got answers

Find answers to frequently asked questions about SocialCrawl's API, pricing, and capabilities.

Contact us
How do I fetch many YouTube channels in one request?
Send a POST to /v1/youtube/channels with a body of { ids: [...] } holding up to 1,000 channel IDs. Each item comes back as the same unified author object as the single-channel endpoint.
What channel ID format does the batch endpoint accept?
Bare 24-character IDs that start with UC, like UC_x5XG1OV2P6uZZ5FSM9Ttw, not channel URLs or @handles. Pass 1 to 1,000 per request.
How is the batch channel endpoint billed?
Metered per 50-ID chunk, so 300 IDs bill as six chunks. Batch endpoints are advanced tier, and new accounts start with 100 free credits.
What comes back for each channel?
The unified author object: subscriber count, video count, view total, handle, description, verification, and avatar. It is identical to GET /v1/youtube/channel.
Can I get localized channel text?
Yes. Set include_localizations to true and pass hl with an ISO 639-1 code to receive per-language localizations in each item's ext.

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