# Channel videos

> A channel's videos, newest or most popular first, with views, length and upload time.

- **Request:** `GET https://api.lurkapi.com/v1/youtube/channel-videos`
- **Auth:** `x-api-key` header ([get a free key](https://lurkapi.com/login?next=/dashboard))
- **Cost:** 1 credit per call. Validation errors, `401`/`402`/`429` rejections and `5xx` failures are free; `not_found` is charged ([how charging works](https://lurkapi.com/docs.md#credits)).
- **MCP tool:** `youtube_channel_videos` on `https://api.lurkapi.com/mcp`
- **Freshness:** responses are cached for up to 1 hour
- **Try it live:** https://lurkapi.com/docs/youtube/channel-videos#try (no signup)
- **Platform:** [YouTube](https://lurkapi.com/docs/youtube.md) (youtube.com)
- **Web page:** https://lurkapi.com/docs/youtube/channel-videos

## When to use this

Use it to see what a creator publishes and what performs: about 30 videos per page from the channel's Videos tab, newest first, or most viewed first with `sort=popular`. Shorts are on their own tab (channel Shorts).

Views are rounded as the channel page shows them (82M views). For exact views, likes, comments and the full description, pass a video's `url` to the video endpoint.

**Pagination.** Pass the response's `continuationToken` back as `continuationToken` for the next page; it's null on the last page.

Unknown channels return 404 `not_found`; a channel without a Videos tab returns an empty list.

## Parameters

All parameters go in the query string.

| Name | Type | Required | Default | Allowed values | Description | Example |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `channelId` | string | no |  |  | Channel id, e.g. `UCX6OQ3DkcsbYNE6H8uQQuVA`. Pass this or `handle`. |  |
| `handle` | string | no |  |  | Channel handle, with or without the @, e.g. `MrBeast`. Pass this or `channelId`. | `MrBeast` |
| `sort` | string | no | `latest` | `latest`, `popular`, `oldest` | Order: `latest` (newest first), `popular` (most viewed) or `oldest`. |  |
| `continuationToken` | string | no |  |  | The `continuationToken` from the previous response, for the next page. The channel can be left out then. |  |

## Example request

Replace `YOUR_API_KEY` with your key, or set `LURKAPI_KEY` for the code. [Get a free key](https://lurkapi.com/login?next=/dashboard).

curl:

```bash
curl "https://api.lurkapi.com/v1/youtube/channel-videos?handle=MrBeast" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY"
```

JavaScript:

```js
const params = new URLSearchParams({
  handle: "MrBeast",
});
const res = await fetch(`https://api.lurkapi.com/v1/youtube/channel-videos?${params}`, {
  headers: { "x-api-key": process.env.LURKAPI_KEY },
});
const data = await res.json();
if (!data.success) throw new Error(`${data.code}: ${data.error}`);
console.log(data.videos);
```

Python:

```python
import os
import requests

res = requests.get(
    "https://api.lurkapi.com/v1/youtube/channel-videos",
    params={
        "handle": "MrBeast",
    },
    headers={"x-api-key": os.environ["LURKAPI_KEY"]},
    timeout=60,
)
data = res.json()
if not data["success"]:
    raise RuntimeError(f"{data['code']}: {data['error']}")
print(data["videos"])
```

## Example response

A real response from this endpoint, captured from the live API and trimmed to a couple of items. Strings over 96 characters (mostly signed media URLs) are cut short and end in `…`.

200 OK (application/json):

```json
{
  "success": true,
  "credits_remaining": 999994,
  "credits_charged": 1,
  "videos": [
    {
      "type": "video",
      "id": "v9QtM6qnG50",
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9QtM6qnG50",
      "title": "I Built A City To Save Kids From Illegal Labor",
      "thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/v9QtM6qnG50/hq720_custom_2.jpg?sqp=COi59NUG-oaymw…",
      "viewCountText": "82M views",
      "viewCountInt": 82000000,
      "publishedTimeText": "10 days ago",
      "publishedTime": "2026-09-20T14:32:03.216Z",
      "lengthText": "19:03",
      "lengthSeconds": 1143,
      "badges": []
    },
    {
      "type": "video",
      "id": "gTKS8SAwUzE",
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTKS8SAwUzE",
      "title": "I Survived The Most Extreme Places On Earth",
      "thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/gTKS8SAwUzE/hq720.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEcCNAFEJQDSFXyq4q…",
      "viewCountText": "117M views",
      "viewCountInt": 117000000,
      "publishedTimeText": "3 weeks ago",
      "publishedTime": "2026-09-09T14:32:03.216Z",
      "lengthText": "23:28",
      "lengthSeconds": 1408,
      "badges": []
    }
  ],
  "continuationToken": "4qmFsgLdCBIYVUNYNk9RM0RrY3NiWU5FNkg4dVFRdVZBGsAIOGdhbkJocWtCbnFoQmpxZUJn…"
}
```

## Response fields

Every field of a successful response. `[]` marks a list: `a[].b` is the `b` of each item in `a`. **nullable** fields can be `null`; **optional** fields can be missing.

| Field | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `success` | `true` | Always true here; errors have `success: false`. |
| `credits_remaining` | `number` | Your balance after this call. On anonymous playground calls: free tries left today. |
| `credits_charged` | `number` | Credits this call cost; 0 on free endpoints. On anonymous playground calls: tries used (1). |
| `videos` | `object[]` | One page of videos, in `sort` order. |
| `videos[].type` | `"video"` | Always `video`. |
| `videos[].id` | `string` | Video id, e.g. `v9QtM6qnG50`. |
| `videos[].url` | `string` | Watch link. Pass it to the video endpoint for likes, comments, the full description and exact views. |
| `videos[].title` | `string` | Video title. |
| `videos[].thumbnail` | `string`, nullable | Largest thumbnail URL. |
| `videos[].viewCountText` | `string`, nullable | Views as YouTube shows them, e.g. "82M views", or "1,204 watching" while live. |
| `videos[].viewCountInt` | `number`, nullable | viewCountText as a number, rounded whenever YouTube abbreviates it (82M views → 82000000). Use video details for exact views. |
| `videos[].publishedTimeText` | `string`, nullable | When it went up, as YouTube shows it, e.g. "10 days ago". null for live and upcoming videos. |
| `videos[].publishedTime` | `string`, nullable | publishedTimeText as an estimated ISO 8601 time, counted back from when we fetched the page. Only as precise as the text: "1 year ago" means sometime that year. |
| `videos[].lengthText` | `string`, nullable | Length as shown, e.g. "19:03". null for live and upcoming videos. |
| `videos[].lengthSeconds` | `number`, nullable | Length in seconds. |
| `videos[].badges` | `string[]` | Labels YouTube shows on the result, e.g. "4K", "CC", "New" or "LIVE". Often empty. |
| `continuationToken` | `string`, nullable | Pass as `continuationToken` for the next page. null on the last page. |

## Caching and freshness

Responses are cached for up to 1 hour, so a repeat call within that window can return the same data. It still costs 1 credit.

## Errors

Errors return `{ success: false, error, code, docs }` with the HTTP status below. Validation errors, `401`/`402`/`429` rejections and `5xx` failures are free; `not_found` is charged ([how charging works](https://lurkapi.com/docs.md#credits)). [All error codes](https://lurkapi.com/docs.md#errors).

| Status | Code | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 401 | `missing_api_key` | No API key. Send it in the `x-api-key` header. |
| 401 | `invalid_api_key` | The key is unknown or was revoked. |
| 402 | `insufficient_credits` | Not enough credits for this call. Buy a pack or wait for tomorrow's top-up. |
| 404 | `not_found` | The endpoint, or the thing you asked for (ad, post, subreddit), doesn't exist. Charged when the platform was checked. |
| 405 | `method_not_allowed` | Endpoints take GET with query params. |
| 429 | `rate_limited` | Too many calls at once. Wait for the `retry-after` seconds, then retry. |
| 500 | `internal_error` | Something broke on our side. Retry; 5xx errors are free. |
| 502 | `upstream_error` | The platform didn't give a usable answer. Retry; 5xx errors are free. |
| 503 | `upstream_busy` | All our connections to the platform are busy. Retry in a few seconds; 5xx errors are free. |
| 504 | `upstream_timeout` | The platform took over 30 seconds to answer. Retry; timeouts are free. |

## Use it in Claude

Once LurkAPI is [connected to Claude](https://lurkapi.com/docs.md#claude), this endpoint is the `youtube_channel_videos` tool. Ask in plain English, for example:

Ask Claude:

```text
Use LurkAPI's youtube_channel_videos with handle "MrBeast" and summarize what you find.
```

Claude calls `youtube_channel_videos` with arguments like these, and each call costs 1 credit:

Tool arguments:

```json
{
  "handle": "MrBeast"
}
```

Tool results skip nulls and empty lists to save tokens.

---

Previous: [Channel details](https://lurkapi.com/docs/youtube/channel.md) · Next: [Channel Shorts](https://lurkapi.com/docs/youtube/channel-shorts.md)