# YouTube API

> Videos, Shorts, transcripts, comments and channel stats from any public YouTube channel.

- **Platform:** [YouTube](https://lurkapi.com/docs/youtube.md) (youtube.com)
- **Web page:** https://lurkapi.com/docs/youtube

## Overview

Read YouTube the way a signed-out viewer sees it: video details with exact view and like counts, transcripts, comment threads, channel stats and uploads, and search. Useful for creator research, content planning, competitor tracking and social listening. Counts YouTube only shows rounded (subscribers) are returned both as a number and as the text YouTube shows.

Source: youtube.com.

## Try it live

Pick an endpoint and run it: real data, no signup, 5 free requests a day.

Live playground: https://lurkapi.com/docs/youtube#try

## Endpoints

- [Video details](https://lurkapi.com/docs/youtube/video.md): A video's or Short's title, description, exact views and likes, publish date, length, tags, chapters and channel. (GET /v1/youtube/video · 1 credit)
- [Video transcript](https://lurkapi.com/docs/youtube/transcript.md): What's said in a video or Short: its captions as timed segments and as one block of text. (GET /v1/youtube/video/transcript · 1 credit)
- [Video comments](https://lurkapi.com/docs/youtube/comments.md): A video's comments, top or newest first, with likes, reply counts and who wrote them. (GET /v1/youtube/video/comments · 1 credit)
- [Comment replies](https://lurkapi.com/docs/youtube/comment-replies.md): The replies to one YouTube comment. (GET /v1/youtube/video/comment/replies · 1 credit)
- [Channel details](https://lurkapi.com/docs/youtube/channel.md): A channel's subscribers, total views, video count, join date, country, links and description. (GET /v1/youtube/channel · 1 credit)
- [Channel videos](https://lurkapi.com/docs/youtube/channel-videos.md): A channel's videos, newest or most popular first, with views, length and upload time. (GET /v1/youtube/channel-videos · 1 credit)
- [Channel Shorts](https://lurkapi.com/docs/youtube/channel-shorts.md): A channel's Shorts, newest or most popular first, with titles and view counts. (GET /v1/youtube/channel/shorts · 1 credit)
- [Search YouTube](https://lurkapi.com/docs/youtube/search.md): Search YouTube by keyword for videos, Shorts, channels and playlists, with date, length and type filters. (GET /v1/youtube/search · 1 credit)

## Call it

Every endpoint is a `GET` with your key in the `x-api-key` header. For example, [Video details](https://lurkapi.com/docs/youtube/video.md):

curl:

```bash
curl "https://api.lurkapi.com/v1/youtube/video?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DdQw4w9WgXcQ" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY"
```

[Get a free API key](https://lurkapi.com/login?next=/dashboard)

## Use it in Claude

Once LurkAPI is [connected to Claude](https://lurkapi.com/docs.md#claude), each endpoint is a tool Claude can call:

| Tool | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| `youtube_video` | [Video details](https://lurkapi.com/docs/youtube/video.md): A video's or Short's title, description, exact views and likes, publish date, length, tags, chapters and channel. |
| `youtube_transcript` | [Video transcript](https://lurkapi.com/docs/youtube/transcript.md): What's said in a video or Short: its captions as timed segments and as one block of text. |
| `youtube_comments` | [Video comments](https://lurkapi.com/docs/youtube/comments.md): A video's comments, top or newest first, with likes, reply counts and who wrote them. |
| `youtube_comment_replies` | [Comment replies](https://lurkapi.com/docs/youtube/comment-replies.md): The replies to one YouTube comment. |
| `youtube_channel` | [Channel details](https://lurkapi.com/docs/youtube/channel.md): A channel's subscribers, total views, video count, join date, country, links and description. |
| `youtube_channel_videos` | [Channel videos](https://lurkapi.com/docs/youtube/channel-videos.md): A channel's videos, newest or most popular first, with views, length and upload time. |
| `youtube_channel_shorts` | [Channel Shorts](https://lurkapi.com/docs/youtube/channel-shorts.md): A channel's Shorts, newest or most popular first, with titles and view counts. |
| `youtube_search` | [Search YouTube](https://lurkapi.com/docs/youtube/search.md): Search YouTube by keyword for videos, Shorts, channels and playlists, with date, length and type filters. |