Scrape YouTube

What is this?

A lightning fast package to scrape YouTube search results. This was made and optimized for Discord Bots.
This package is updated often to fix minor problems or parsing issues. Please ensure you have the latest version before making an issue on GitHub.

Install

npm install scrape-youtube

Require

import youtube from 'scrape-youtube';
// const youtube = require('scrape-youtube').default;

Search

youtube.search('Short Change Hero').then(results => {
    // Unless you specify a type, it will only return 'video' results
    console.log(results.videos); 
});

Custom Types

Supported types are: video, live, movie, any and playlist

youtube.search('lofi hip hop beats to relax/study to', { type: 'live' }).then(results => {
  console.log(results.streams);
})

Example Response (Video)

This is the structure of a single video result. The search function will return up to 20 results per search.

{
  "id": "lkvScx3Po8I",
  "title": "The Heavy - Short Change Hero",
  "link": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkvScx3Po8I",
  "description": "... long description ...",   
  "thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lkvScx3Po8I/hqdefault.jpg",
  "channel": {
    "name": "Magloire Lamine",
    "link": "https://youtube.com/user/TENESANGO",
    "verified": false,
    "thumbnail": "https://yt3.ggpht.com/a/AATXAJz3kOe_LDvhRWpQLu1wHb5xU7HNOKvpKQnLQA=s88-c-k-c0xffffffff-no-rj-mo"
  },  
  "views": 7960221,
  "duration": 238,
  "uploaded": "6 years ago"
}

Example Response (Live Stream)

This is the structure of a single live stream result.

{
  "id": "5qap5aO4i9A",
  "title": "lofi hip hop radio - beats to relax/study to",
  "link": "https://youtu.be/5qap5aO4i9A",
  "thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/5qap5aO4i9A/hqdefault.jpg",
  "channel": {
    "name": "ChilledCow",
    "link": "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSJ4gkVC6NrvII8umztf0Ow",
    "verified": false,
    "thumbnail": "https://yt3.ggpht.com/a-/AOh14Gj1ME7zG6pJG6689WU13fYHmafnUGK7IMeWIg=s68-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj-mo"
  },
  "watching": 34576
}

Example Response (Playlist)

This is the structure of a single playlist result. Please note that the "videos" will only contain 1-2 items. This is what is available from the search results. If you wish to load an entire playlist, consider using ytdl-core.

{
  "id": "PLEPHBRITc9qNl4G4IaZPGsx0nueg6d_6N",
  "title": "Johann Sebastian Bach Adagios for relaxation",
  "link": "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEPHBRITc9qNl4G4IaZPGsx0nueg6d_6N",
  "thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/yoaNCEE4QLY/hqdefault.jpg",
  "channel": {
    "name": "Fredericia's Channel",
    "link": "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUDT_zh1GA8qfisSZXemt6Q",
    "verified": false,
    "thumbnail": "https://www.gstatic.com/youtube/img/originals/promo/ytr-logo-for-search_160x160.png"
  },
  "videoCount": 15,
  "videos": [
    {
      "id": "yoaNCEE4QLY",
      "title": "J S Bach Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring chamber orchestra version",
      "link": "https://youtu.be/yoaNCEE4QLY",
      "duration": 211,
      "thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/yoaNCEE4QLY/hqdefault.jpg"
    },
    {
      "id": "mGV_oiAcmaY",
      "title": "Bach Violin Concerto in D Minor",
      "link": "https://youtu.be/mGV_oiAcmaY",
      "duration": 381,
      "thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/mGV_oiAcmaY/hqdefault.jpg"
    }
  ]
}

Custom Filters

You can pass { sp: 'ABC' } as the second parameter to use custom filters like upload date, duration, features ect.
You will need to fetch the SP parameter yourself from youtube. Please see this image for an example.

Custom Request Options

You can pass { requestOptions: { } } as the second parameter to use custom headers, agents ect.
See http.request for more information. Example:

youtube.search('Poets of the fall', {
    requestOptions: {
        headers: { 'Accept-Language': 'de' }
    }
})

Debugging

In some cases advanced debugging might be required for fixing issues on GitHub.
When enabled each search will create 3 files, please compress/zip and include with your issue.
It's not recommended to use this unless requested specifically.

youtube.debug = true; // Enable regular debugging
youtube.debugger.enabled = true; // Enable debug dumps
youtube.debugger.setDirectory('path/to/somewhere'); // Directory to write the dumps  

Notes

• Multiple pages can not be loaded. YouTube changed how loading works so this is currently not available.
• If this package stops working please create an issue on GitHub so I can fix it as soon as possible.
• If this readme is lacking, Please feel free to create a PR fixing or adding any information you feel would help. I gladly accept any helpful pull requests or contributions.