YouTube Shorts API for Shorts, Channels and Keywords

One call and its real response, trimmed

Sample a keyword search: GET /v1/keywords/{platform}. Price: 3 credits, the same when a Snapshot under 24 h old can answer.

Request

curl "https://www.shortsintel.com/v1/keywords/youtube?phrase=saas+marketing" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_live_YOUR_KEY"

Response

{
  "run": { "kind": "keyword_lookup", "status": "completed", "charge_credits": 3 },
  "result": {
    "phrase": "saas marketing",
    "platform": "youtube",
    "stats": {
      "sampled_videos": 15,
      "views_total": 165186,
      "views_median": 263,
      "views_max": 73228
    },
    "trend": { "since": null, "direction": null, "change_ratio": null },
    "top_videos": [
      {
        "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXxESN94Y6s",
        "creator": { "name": "Starter Story", "handle": "starterstory" },
        "snapshot": { "views": 73228 },
        "posted_at": "2026-10-11T18:19:38.759Z",
        "duration_seconds": 785
      },
      {
        "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB5YYnrCOPM",
        "creator": { "handle": "HenrySaaS" },
        "snapshot": { "views": 61567 },
        "duration_seconds": 3972
      },
      ...
    ]
  }
}

Real response from our own account, trimmed to two of the 10 top Videos, with ... marking the cut. Stats come from the sampled search page, and trend stays null until a second lookup. Captured 1 November 2026. Every field: Sample a keyword search reference.

What developers build on the YouTube Shorts API

• Find which Shorts on a channel beat its usual reach, using the outlier Score on each Short.
• Read the view counts of the top YouTube results for a phrase in one call, without a second request per Video.
• Get the transcript, hook and format of a Short or a long-form Video under 10 minutes for a script library.
• Watch a search phrase on YouTube every day with a Keyword Tracker and see when new Videos break in.
• Mine a Video's comments for the questions viewers keep asking.

Every YouTube Shorts API operation and its price

Questions

Is this the official YouTube Data API?

No. ShortsIntel is not affiliated with Google or YouTube, and it reads public YouTube pages directly or through third-party data providers. Google's YouTube Data API gives each project 100 search calls a day plus 10,000 quota units for everything else, its search results carry no view counts, and it will not return captions for a Video you do not own. ShortsIntel has no quota, returns view counts on search results where YouTube shows them (a missing count reads 0) and returns transcripts for public Videos. The YouTube Data API guide has the detail.

Does it cover long-form YouTube Videos?

Partly. Search and single Video lookups return long-form Videos too, but a channel lookup lists its Shorts only, and analysis stops at 10 minutes.

Do I need a Google account or API key?

No Google credentials at all. You create a ShortsIntel key in the Console and send it as a bearer token.

Is the YouTube API production ready?

It is versioned at /v1 with an OpenAPI document. Because it is unofficial, YouTube can change or block what it shows publicly. When YouTube blocks a read, the call answers 503 source_unavailable and nothing is charged, so a retry costs only the successful call. Each key allows 60 requests per minute, and each Customer 10 running Runs at once.

How fresh is YouTube data?

A call reads YouTube when you make it. A Video or Keyword lookup may be answered from a Snapshot under 24 hours old, and a channel lookup from one with a baseline under 7 days old, at the same price.

Do I need a card to call it?

No. New accounts get 1,000 credits free, valid for 90 days. A card comes in only at your first Top-up, from $10.

Can Claude or ChatGPT call these YouTube operations?

Yes, through the YouTube MCP server. The MCP tool on each card reaches the same operation at the same price.

More on this API

• YouTube MCPWhat the ShortsIntel MCP server lets an Assistant read on YouTube, where YouTube data stops, and how to connect it.
• YouTube Data API for agentsWhat the YouTube Data API gives an AI agent, where its quota and caption rules stop it, and when a data service fits better.
• YouTube Shorts researchResearch YouTube Shorts in a niche through an Assistant: run a Research, keep the Shorts, read hooks and viewer asks, and know where YouTube data stops.
• API referenceEvery /v1 operation with its parameters, schemas and error codes.

Start with the Starter Grant