YouTube Videos API

Endpoint

GET /v1/youtube/posts

Parameters

query *

Search keyword (max 500 characters)

pages

Number of pages to fetch, 1-10 (default: 1)

upload_date

Filter: last_hour, today, this_week, this_month, this_year

get_sentiment

Set to true to add AI emotion analysis (+$0.001/page)

Response fields

posts

Array of matching videos

title

Video title

url

Direct link to the video

date

Publication date and time

author

Channel name

source

Platform name (YouTube or YouTube Shorts)

domain

youtube.com

snippet

Video description text

views

Number of views (null when unavailable)

video_length

Video duration (e.g., 14:45). null for Shorts.

video_id

YouTube video ID

channel_id

YouTube channel ID

is_live

Whether the video is live content

type

Video type (e.g., NORMAL)

keywords

Video keywords/tags

thumbnail

URL to the highest resolution thumbnail

sentiment

Emotion analysis: emotions, dominant_emotion, emotional_intensity, polarity (when get_sentiment=true)

pages

Number of pages fetched

count

Total results returned

Example Request

curl "https://apidirect.io/v1/youtube/posts?query=tutorial&pages=2&upload_date=this_week" \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"

import requests

response = requests.get(
    "https://apidirect.io/v1/youtube/posts",
    headers={"X-API-Key": "YOUR_API_KEY"},
    params={
        "query": "tutorial",
        "pages": 2,
        "upload_date": "this_week"
    }
)
print(response.json())

Example Response

{
  "posts": [
    {
      "title": "Tutorial Video Title",
      "url": "https://youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
      "date": "2024-01-15 14:30:00",
      "author": "Channel Name",
      "source": "YouTube",
      "domain": "youtube.com",
      "snippet": "Video description...",
      "views": 86979,
      "video_length": "14:45",
      "video_id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
      "channel_id": "UCeMcDx6-rOq_RlKSPehk2tQ",
      "is_live": null,
      "type": "NORMAL",
      "keywords": [],
      "thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dQw4w9WgXcQ/hq720.jpg",
      "sentiment": {
        "emotions": {
          "joy": 40,
          "trust": 55,
          "fear": 0,
          "surprise": 10,
          "sadness": 0,
          "disgust": 0,
          "anger": 0,
          "anticipation": 30
        },
        "dominant_emotion": "trust",
        "emotional_intensity": 5,
        "polarity": "positive"
      }
    }
  ],
  "pages": 2,
  "count": 20
}

Frequently asked questions

Can I get video transcripts or captions?

Currently, the API returns video metadata including title, description, channel, view count, and thumbnail. Video transcripts and captions are not included in the response.

What does the upload_date filter do?

The upload_date parameter filters results to videos uploaded within a specific time period: last_hour, today, this_week, this_month, or this_year.

Can I search for videos from a specific channel?

The API searches by keyword across all of YouTube. To focus on a specific channel, include the channel name in your search query.

What video metadata is included?

Each video includes view count, duration, video ID, channel ID, thumbnail URL, video type, keywords, and live status. Views may be null for some videos where this data is unavailable.

How does pricing work?

You only pay for successful requests. The YouTube Videos API costs $0.005 per page. There are no monthly fees or commitments. You get 50 free requests per endpoint every month.

Do I need a credit card to start?

No. You can sign up and use the free tier (50 requests/endpoint/month) without adding a payment method. You only need to add a card when you want to exceed the free tier.

Are there rate limits?

Yes, there's a concurrency limit of 3 simultaneous requests per endpoint per user. If you need more, just get in touch.