YouTube Video Details

Get detailed information about a YouTube video by URL or video ID. Returns title, full description, channel name and ID, publish date, duration, view count, category, keywords, and thumbnail.

Endpoint

GET /v1/youtube/video

Price: $0.005 per request Free tier: 50 requests/month

Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
`url`	Yes	YouTube video URL (`watch?v=`, `youtu.be/`, `/shorts/`, `/embed/` or `/live/` forms) or 11-character video ID

Response Fields

Field	Type	Description
`video`	object	Video data
`video.video_id`	string	YouTube video ID
`video.url`	string	Link to the video
`video.title`	string	Video title
`video.description`	string	Full video description
`video.author`	string	Channel name
`video.channel_id`	string	YouTube channel ID
`video.date`	string	Date and time the video was published (UTC)
`video.duration`	integer/null	Video length in seconds
`video.views`	integer/null	Number of views
`video.category`	string	YouTube category (e.g. `Music`)
`video.type`	string	Video type as reported by YouTube (e.g. `NORMAL`)
`video.is_live`	boolean	Whether the video is a live stream
`video.keywords`	array	The video’s tags
`video.thumbnail`	string	URL to the highest resolution thumbnail

If the video does not exist, the endpoint returns a 404 with code: "video_not_found".

Example Request

cURL

curl "https://apidirect.io/v1/youtube/video?url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ" \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"

Python

import requests

response = requests.get(
    "https://apidirect.io/v1/youtube/video",
    headers={"X-API-Key": "YOUR_API_KEY"},
    params={"url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"}
)
print(response.json())

You can also pass an 11-character video ID instead of a URL:

curl "https://apidirect.io/v1/youtube/video?url=dQw4w9WgXcQ" \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"

Example Response

{
  "video": {
    "video_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "url": "https://youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
    "title": "Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up (Official Video) (4K Remaster)",
    "description": "The official video for “Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley...",
    "author": "Rick Astley",
    "channel_id": "UCuAXFkgsw1L7xaCfnd5JJOw",
    "date": "2009-10-25 06:57:33",
    "duration": 213,
    "views": 1788679598,
    "category": "Music",
    "type": "NORMAL",
    "is_live": false,
    "keywords": ["rick astley", "Never Gonna Give You Up", "rick roll"],
    "thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi_webp/dQw4w9WgXcQ/maxresdefault.webp"
  }
}

Notes

Works for regular videos, Shorts, and live streams alike.
For live streams, is_live is true and duration reflects the elapsed stream time so far.