YouTube Channel API

#What this API solves

The youtube/channel module focuses on channel-level intelligence: resolve channel IDs, pull core info & settings, list uploads/playlists with practical filters, inspect statistics, and run a lightweight, production-ready audit (best upload day/hour, median signals). Results help you schedule mixes, benchmark performance, and avoid embedding issues.

#Endpoints & when to use them

#POST /v1/youtube/channel/find-id — Find Channel ID

• Best for: Converting @handle / vanity to canonical channelId (UC…).
• Output: { "channel_id": "UC…" }.
• Tip: Cache this mapping; most other endpoints accept either value, but canonicalizing simplifies storage.

#POST /v1/youtube/channel/info — Channel Info

• Best for: Bio cards, topic categories, country routing.
• Output: { id, title, description, keywords, topicCats[], topicCatsRaw[], country }.
• Tip: Use topicCats to cluster channels (“Science and technology”, “Programming”).

#POST /v1/youtube/channel/videos — Latest Videos

• Best for: Build “latest” or “top this month” rails; seed audits.
• Filters: order (date | viewCount | …), period (today/week/month/year), or custom after/before (RFC-3339 or YYYY-MM-DD).
• Output: Array of { id, title, … } items.

#POST /v1/youtube/channel/playlists — Playlists

• Best for: Curatorial analysis (“which series drive views?”).
• Output: { playlists: [{ id, title, description, video_count, published_at }] }.
• Tip: Sort by videos to find evergreen series; filter by dates to compare seasons.

#POST /v1/youtube/channel/statistics — Statistics

• Best for: High-level counters for badges and sanity checks.
• Output: { subscribers, views, videos, hiddenSubs }.

#POST /v1/youtube/channel/settings — Channel Settings

• Best for: Localization defaults (language/country) and side-rail curation (featured channels).
• Output: { defaultLang, country, showRelatedChannels, featuredChannels[] }.

#POST /v1/youtube/channel/region-restrictions — Region Restrictions

• Best for: Compliance/UX gating at the channel level (e.g., kids content).
• Output: { madeForKids: boolean }.

#POST /v1/youtube/channel/search — Search Channels

• Best for: Discovery workflows; onboarding new sources.
• Filters: order, period, or custom after/before.
• Output: { results: [{ id, title, …}] }.

#POST /v1/youtube/channel/audit — Channel Audit

• Best for: Quickly infer optimal upload windows, typical lengths, and top performers over a period.
• Output: { bestUploadDay, bestUploadHourUTC, avgVideoLengthSec, topVideos[], language, country, category, categoryRaw }.
• Tip: Pass after/before to focus on a season or rebrand window.

#POST /v1/youtube/channel/subscribe-link-generator — Subscribe Link

• Best for: One-click subscribe CTA in your UI.
• Output: { url: "…?sub_confirmation=1" }.

#POST /v1/youtube/channel/thumbnail — Channel Thumbnail

• Best for: Channel cards, “featured creators” strips.
• Output: { url } (high-res avatar).

#Quick start

# 1) Resolve channel ID from @handle
curl -X POST "https://api.yeb.to/v1/youtube/channel/find-id" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-API-Key: <YOUR_API_KEY>" \
  -d '{ "query": "@GoogleDevelopers" }'

# 2) Latest videos this month, sorted by views
curl -X POST "https://api.yeb.to/v1/youtube/channel/videos" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-API-Key: <YOUR_API_KEY>" \
  -d '{ "channel":"UC_x5XG1OV2P6uZZ5FSM9Ttw", "order":"viewCount", "period":"month", "limit":25 }'

# 3) Playlists after a given date
curl -X POST "https://api.yeb.to/v1/youtube/channel/playlists" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-API-Key: <YOUR_API_KEY>" \
  -d '{ "channel":"GoogleDevelopers", "order":"videos", "after":"2024-11-01", "limit":25 }'

# 4) Channel audit across a custom window
curl -X POST "https://api.yeb.to/v1/youtube/channel/audit" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-API-Key: <YOUR_API_KEY>" \
  -d '{ "channel":"GoogleDevelopers", "after":"2025-01-01", "before":"2025-06-30" }'

#Parameters that actually matter

#Reading & acting on responses

#Audit — interpretation

{
  "bestUploadDay": "Wednesday",
  "bestUploadHourUTC": "17",
  "avgVideoLengthSec": 412,
  "topVideos": [{ "id":"3fumBcKC6RE","title":"…","views":5200000,"len_s":372 }],
  "language": "en",
  "country": "US",
  "category": "Science and technology"
}

• Schedule: Publish near bestUploadHourUTC for the target market; A/B test ±2h.
• Format: Use avgVideoLengthSec to pick default mix lengths per channel.
• Editorial: Promote a topVideos[0] rerun in your weekly hub.

#Info — interpretation

{
  "id":"UC_x5XG1OV2P6uZZ5FSM9Ttw",
  "title":"Google Developers",
  "topicCats":["Science and technology","Computer programming"],
  "country":"US"
}

• Drive category pages from topicCats; geotarget copy by country.

#Videos — interpretation

[
  { "id":"dQw4w9WgXcQ", "title":"…" },
  { "id":"kJQP7kiw5Fk", "title":"Despacito" }
]

• Pipe IDs to your youtube/video/* endpoints (engagement, restrictions, audit, etc.).

#Playlists — interpretation

{
  "playlists":[
    { "id":"PL590…", "title":"Google I/O 2025 – full sessions", "video_count":27, "published_at":"2025-05-14T12:03:44Z" }
  ]
}

• Sort by video_count to detect successful series; feature them prominently.

#Statistics — interpretation

{ "subscribers":2500000, "views":150000000, "videos":320, "hiddenSubs":false }

• Use for creator badges and sanity checks; don’t re-poll too often (cache daily).

#Practical recipes

• Weekly mix planning: Pull videos for the last week, rank by engagement (via video API), schedule near bestUploadHourUTC.
• Channel onboarding: find-id → info/settings → statistics snapshot → seed playlists.
• Seasonal check: Run audit with after/before around a rebrand to compare cadence/length shifts.

#YouTube identifiers you’ll use

#Errors & troubleshooting

• 400 "Missing "action" parameter" — Internal routing error; ensure endpoint path sets an action.
• 400 "Missing "channel" parameter" — Provide channel for all except find-id/search.
• 404 "Unable to resolve channel ID" — Vanity not found; try find-id or pass UC… directly.
• 422 "Invalid "order"" — Use documented values (e.g., date, viewCount).
• 422 "Invalid "after" or "before" date" — Use RFC-3339 or YYYY-MM-DD; ensure after <= before.
• 404 "Channel has no recent videos" — For audit, widen date range or increase activity window.

#API Changelog (youtube/channel)

Use the Playgrounds attached to each endpoint block on this page to experiment with your own channel / @handle.