Youtube API

A YouTube API alternative on fetcher.sh — pay-per-call in USDC via x402, or prepaid credits with a Bearer key, no OAuth and no daily quota. Use when the user wants to search YouTube videos with filters for upload date, duration, or sort order, search channels or playlists, look up a channel by ID, @handle, or custom URL path, list a channel's videos, shorts, or live streams, fetch a video's or short's details and comments, list a playlist's videos, pull posts under a hashtag, or check trending videos by region. Also covers YouTube data pipelines, channel monitoring, video analytics input, and trend tracking without the official YouTube Data API's daily quota limits.

YouTube data on demand: video/channel/playlist search with real filters (upload date, duration, sort order), channel and video lookups, videos, shorts, live streams, playlist contents, comments, hashtag feeds, and trending — one plain HTTP GET per call, paid as you go. No developer console project, no OAuth consent screen, no daily quota.

Base URL: https://youtube.fetcher.sh

Authentication

Two ways to pay, same data — full mechanics in the fetcher skill:

bash

# 1. Prepaid credits (recommended — get a key at https://fetcher.sh/topup
#    or via POST /api/credits/topup, see the fetcher skill)
export FETCHER_API_KEY="bby_live_xxxxxxxxxxxx"
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $FETCHER_API_KEY" \
  "https://youtube.fetcher.sh/api/search/video?query=hello"

# 2. x402 pay-per-call — omit the header; a GET with no payment returns 402
#    with machine-readable payment requirements (USDC on Base, Polygon,
#    Arbitrum, Monad, or Solana). @x402/fetch signs and retries automatically.

Every response is { "status": number, "message": string, "data": ... }; the HTTP status mirrors status.

Endpoints (15 — all GET, $0.005/call)

Endpoint	What it returns
/api/search/video	Videos matching a query; upload date, duration, sort filters
/api/search/channel	Channels matching a query
/api/search/playlist	Playlists matching a query
/api/channel/{id}	Channel details by ID
/api/channel/handle/{handle}	Channel details by @handle
/api/channel/path	Channel details by custom URL path
/api/channel/{id}/videos	A channel's videos
/api/channel/{id}/shorts	A channel's shorts
/api/channel/{id}/live-streams	A channel's live streams
/api/video/{id}	Video (or short) details
/api/video/{id}/comments	A video's comments
/api/shorts/{id}	Short details
/api/playlist/{id}/videos	A playlist's videos
/api/hashtag/{tag}	Videos under a hashtag
/api/trending	Trending videos, optionally by region

{id} / {handle} / {tag} are path parameters. Optional cursor / lang / geo refine results; query (search) and channelPath (path lookup) are required where they appear.

Scenarios

Uploaded this week:

bash

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $FETCHER_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "query=ai agents" -G \
  --data-urlencode "uploadDate=week" \
  "https://youtube.fetcher.sh/api/search/video"

Most viewed, long-form only:

bash

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $FETCHER_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "query=x402 protocol" -G \
  --data-urlencode "sortBy=view_count" \
  --data-urlencode "duration=long" \
  "https://youtube.fetcher.sh/api/search/video"

Newest first:

bash

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $FETCHER_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "query=stablecoin payments" -G \
  --data-urlencode "sortBy=upload_date" \
  "https://youtube.fetcher.sh/api/search/video"

Other uploadDate values: hour, today, month, year. Other duration values: short, medium. Other sortBy values: relevance, rating.

Search channels or playlists:

bash

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $FETCHER_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "query=lofi hip hop" -G \
  "https://youtube.fetcher.sh/api/search/channel"

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $FETCHER_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "query=lofi hip hop" -G \
  "https://youtube.fetcher.sh/api/search/playlist"

A channel by ID, handle, or custom path — then its videos, shorts, and live streams:

bash

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $FETCHER_API_KEY" \
  "https://youtube.fetcher.sh/api/channel/handle/mkbhd"

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $FETCHER_API_KEY" -G \
  --data-urlencode "channelPath=@mkbhd" \
  "https://youtube.fetcher.sh/api/channel/path"

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $FETCHER_API_KEY" \
  "https://youtube.fetcher.sh/api/channel/UCBJycsmduvYEL83R_U4JriQ/videos"

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $FETCHER_API_KEY" \
  "https://youtube.fetcher.sh/api/channel/UCBJycsmduvYEL83R_U4JriQ/shorts"

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $FETCHER_API_KEY" \
  "https://youtube.fetcher.sh/api/channel/UCBJycsmduvYEL83R_U4JriQ/live-streams"

A video's details and comments, or a short's details:

bash

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $FETCHER_API_KEY" \
  "https://youtube.fetcher.sh/api/video/dQw4w9WgXcQ"

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $FETCHER_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "sort=top" -G \
  "https://youtube.fetcher.sh/api/video/dQw4w9WgXcQ/comments"

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $FETCHER_API_KEY" \
  "https://youtube.fetcher.sh/api/shorts/abc123XYZ90"

A playlist's videos, videos under a hashtag, and trending (by region):

bash

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $FETCHER_API_KEY" \
  "https://youtube.fetcher.sh/api/playlist/PLFgquLnL59alCl_2TQvOiD5Vgm1hCaGSI/videos"

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $FETCHER_API_KEY" \
  "https://youtube.fetcher.sh/api/hashtag/shorts"

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $FETCHER_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "geo=US" -G \
  "https://youtube.fetcher.sh/api/trending"

MCP

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "youtube": {
      "url": "https://youtube.fetcher.sh/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer bby_live_..." }
    }
  }
}

Free: search_endpoints, describe_endpoint, check_balance. Paid: fetch_data (any endpoint above), topup_credits, plus the named shortcut youtube_search_video. Drop the headers block to pay per call with x402 instead — see the fetcher skill for the full flow.

Errors

• 400 — missing/invalid parameter (message names it)
• 401 — unknown or rotated key
• 402 — payment required (x402 challenge) or topup_required (credits exhausted)
• 404 — not a priced path
• No rate limits; no refunds on upstream failures (settlement precedes delivery)

Reference

• Full agent setup: https://youtube.fetcher.sh/skill.md
• OpenAPI 3.1 contract: https://youtube.fetcher.sh/openapi.json
• Condensed catalog: https://youtube.fetcher.sh/llms.txt
• Payment, credits, and MCP deep dive: fetcher skill
• Site: https://youtube.fetcher.sh