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YouTube Video Files API

Name: YouTube Video Files API
Brand: SocialCrawl
Availability: InStock

Scrape YouTube Video Files data with one API call. Returns the downloadable video stream files for a YouTube video — each with a direct media `url`, mime type, resolution (`width`/`height`), quality label, fps, bitrate, and approximate duration. The stream URLs are time-limited: fetch them immediately and do not cache.

Last updated August 2026Maintained by the SocialCrawl team

Start for free View Documentation

Returns the downloadable video streams for a video, each with a direct media URL, mime type, resolution, quality label, frame rate, bitrate, and duration.

Use it when you need the video file itself; video/audio returns audio-only streams and video/thumbnails returns still images.

Searching 48 platforms in parallel

TikTok·

Instagram·

YouTube·

Facebook·

X·

LinkedIn·

Reddit·

Threads·

Pinterest·

Twitch·

Truth Social·

Snapchat·

Kick·

Bluesky·

Kwai·

Rumble·

Spotify·

TikTok Shop·

Amazon Shop·

Google Shopping·

Trustpilot·

TripAdvisor·

Linktree·

Komi·

Pillar·

lnk.bio·

Facebook Ads·

Google Ads·

LinkedIn Ads·

Google Search·

Google News·

Google Finance·

Polymarket·

Tavily·

Hacker News·

GitHub·

Perplexity·

Naver·Utility·

Universal Search

TikTok·

Instagram·

YouTube·

Facebook·

X·

LinkedIn·

Reddit·

Threads·

Pinterest·

Twitch·

Truth Social·

Snapchat·

Kick·

Bluesky·

Kwai·

Rumble·

Spotify·

TikTok Shop·

Amazon Shop·

Google Shopping·

Trustpilot·

TripAdvisor·

Linktree·

Komi·

Pillar·

lnk.bio·

Facebook Ads·

Google Ads·

LinkedIn Ads·

Google Search·

Google News·

Google Finance·

Polymarket·

Tavily·

Hacker News·

GitHub·

Perplexity·

Naver·Utility·

Universal Search

TikTok·

Instagram·

YouTube·

Facebook·

X·

LinkedIn·

Reddit·

Threads·

Pinterest·

Twitch·

Truth Social·

Snapchat·

Kick·

Bluesky·

Kwai·

Rumble·

Spotify·

TikTok Shop·

Amazon Shop·

Google Shopping·

Trustpilot·

TripAdvisor·

Linktree·

Komi·

Pillar·

lnk.bio·

Facebook Ads·

Google Ads·

LinkedIn Ads·

Google Search·

Google News·

Google Finance·

Polymarket·

Tavily·

Hacker News·

GitHub·

Perplexity·

Naver·Utility·

Universal Search

TikTok·

Instagram·

YouTube·

Facebook·

X·

LinkedIn·

Reddit·

Threads·

Pinterest·

Twitch·

Truth Social·

Snapchat·

Kick·

Bluesky·

Kwai·

Rumble·

Spotify·

TikTok Shop·

Amazon Shop·

Google Shopping·

Trustpilot·

TripAdvisor·

Linktree·

Komi·

Pillar·

lnk.bio·

Facebook Ads·

Google Ads·

LinkedIn Ads·

Google Search·

Google News·

Google Finance·

Polymarket·

Tavily·

Hacker News·

GitHub·

Perplexity·

Naver·Utility·

Universal Search

YouTube API

What can you do with the Video Files API?

The Video Files endpoint gives you structured YouTube data with computed fields in a single request. No scraping infrastructure to build or maintain.

Example Request

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

import requests

response = requests.get(
    "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/youtube/video/files",
    params={
    'url': 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ',
    },
    headers={"x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY"},
)

data = response.json()

const response = await fetch(
  "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/youtube/video/files?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DdQw4w9WgXcQ",
  {
    headers: { "x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY" },
  },
);

const data = await response.json();

Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
url	Yes	Full URL of the YouTube video.

Example Response

What does the YouTube Video Files API return?

Every response follows one unified schema. Here is a real, unmodified response body, so you can see the exact fields you get back before spending a credit.

Example response

{
  "success": true,
  "platform": "youtube",
  "endpoint": "/v1/youtube/video/files",
  "data": {
    "items": [
      {
        "itag": 18,
        "url": "https://redirector.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?expire=1785184292&ei=w2tnarz2PPbW6dsPwu_g2AU&ip=2a00%3A20%3A6356%3Aee27%3Ac40e%3A37ff%3Afe67%3A799b&id=o-AAkRzPYYS4EQM2T5UzGR2vGGOLnplDc4Or1O0VlQTxZp&itag=18&source=youtube&requiressl=yes&xpc=EgVo2aDSNQ%3D%3D&cps=1227&met=1785162692%2C&mh=7c&mm=31%2C29&mn=sn-8vq54voxqx-cxgs%2Csn-i5h7lnls&ms=au%2Crdu&mv=m&mvi=4&pl=42&rms=au%2Cau&initcwndbps=1695000&bui=AZFlqhNYS5nzW1Q9QKVqO1QlZyCKHLwGqCj-bHT1JvjbZZq23nYJ-dA1dmUVRANDFxyBnapfSQat3of7&spc=SQ-umgWhLdUwCoxAUtHG0mXkHR50XuL-ExqPp3rUR_kP2fvcvnGDZqQ6Lw&vprv=1&svpuc=1&mime=video%2Fmp4&rqh=1&cnr=14&ratebypass=yes&dur=213.089&lmt=1766960953317159&mt=1785162307&fvip=5&fexp=51565115%2C51992867&c=ANDROID_VR&txp=5538534&sparams=expire%2Cei%2Cip%2Cid%2Citag%2Csource%2Crequiressl%2Cxpc%2Cbui%2Cspc%2Cvprv%2Csvpuc%2Cmime%2Crqh%2Ccnr%2Cratebypass%2Cdur%2Clmt&sig=AE0s2JYwRQIgIoKhc5MSKmhn70sJcWkPR2weB-ngtG6t3U7zlLoy7aoCIQCxvsHIFWXGp1XyUNtxrsxjq0lb7KioAetviND9NJllOw%3D%3D&lsparams=cps%2Cmet%2Cmh%2Cmm%2Cmn%2Cms%2Cmv%2Cmvi%2Cpl%2Crms%2Cinitcwndbps&lsig=APaTxxMwRQIgaBj9U6AfVvPnGIfxOr3Kpxeak104SHBD59XOvbu5xl8CIQD67nJBx2e69k9Kf9dQvPLrC6k1e7h5R7yzGUQ-m2J_jw%3D%3D&pot=Ms4E5vUlAt8BNMnmy6nhjQvj7XuatBQLoiPPZqg93dEufnEyY6-lMHm9fHa7gpxL9MPnxtyg1XktBD7VsKck36CIe5sFLIST1HoPInMPu9SwzQDG5Fstw0ELgaYLxl6X6Z6zkeAEZrIKhBFhmMRBUaFA0ZuaVAVC_TIltjffteEduSfCDfhmDkcOc_9A9QuS6wEeGB-vr4q4dFtWX1aaplSLcYYeojPw-Evrhn9DE6B8ukTPafBTugWGISvevH5nPDAbJNJWT9QAVFrvnZqJfG9LrbshYjouW4BR71pVJni-irA2uqrowHvRst3nxjmk0mAWrshOfacPuYaK4IGX94OARx9QS3Pp6V9D-TVfK0vjE5OZricSZDMfvO4pvey_EhAct4eYKAAyvPyvju9NX8iaQLN4ii_mOtxP4ln-S5uIwblZJ8cVIhL-KoWij_DzW5FRrkTkwUTLecBIP-GLcsElFeG9jxf4nel2jVIqXyTvJHp1xj_BEXVhB2LpFFptdVdfss3Rqd9d6cZ8wjWqCTORpMVP7gDxLPsYWwRYpgKNACHl9FcVur0OUSRlz5lZ5nuKhre55aYBDRVismnFUk6Mfoyr4v-YyAhulCEDmze1g7UAgNtrqKxFt_uqcrkY7xKZjxuCGt_rawLqIJIb9OlFqgzswlpOsdLXm4bCw6d8_ezbnfz_dJYwC0UXMZWIfhS6OMLxOFtQBlBEN6QStv0lIuyq9fLZEW76ED1zxnDEOdCnXS_F6goJpfAm0gzFlb86NABQf0kqhk_jqMpWv-M=",
        "mimeType": "video/mp4; codecs=\"avc1.42001E, mp4a.40.2\"",
        "bitrate": 444226,
        "width": 640,
        "height": 360,
        "lastModified": "1766960953317159",
        "quality": "medium",
        "fps": 25,
        "qualityLabel": "360p",
        "projectionType": "RECTANGULAR",
        "audioQuality": "AUDIO_QUALITY_LOW",
        "approxDurationMs": "213089",
        "audioSampleRate": "44100",
        "audioChannels": 2,
        "qualityOrdinal": "QUALITY_ORDINAL_360P",
        "parsedLastModified": "2025-12-28T22:29:13.317Z",
        "lengthSeconds": "213",
        "parsedContentLength": "0 Bytes"
      },
      {
        "itag": 313,
        "url": "https://redirector.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?expire=1785184292&ei=w2tnarz2PPbW6dsPwu_g2AU&ip=2a00%3A20%3A6356%3Aee27%3Ac40e%3A37ff%3Afe67%3A799b&id=o-AAkRzPYYS4EQM2T5UzGR2vGGOLnplDc4Or1O0VlQTxZp&itag=313&source=youtube&requiressl=yes&xpc=EgVo2aDSNQ%3D%3D&cps=1227&met=1785162692%2C&mh=7c&mm=31%2C29&mn=sn-8vq54voxqx-cxgs%2Csn-i5h7lnls&ms=au%2Crdu&mv=m&mvi=4&pl=42&rms=au%2Cau&initcwndbps=1695000&bui=AZFlqhPPGw7IpjB40XWdrOutZ1RpxCx1vGmxNlkghSGuOMtNmYtsafiBodOxWmajeatmhnLQ3LvDC6lj&spc=SQ-umi-oF9ACAo54etCE6k35XxseQOL-Ix5npGLdJemGwPn0tQ&vprv=1&svpuc=1&mime=video%2Fwebm&rqh=1&gir=yes&clen=358608461&dur=213.040&lmt=1766963492248817&mt=1785162307&fvip=5&keepalive=yes&fexp=51565115%2C51992867&c=ANDROID_VR&txp=5532534&sparams=expire%2Cei%2Cip%2Cid%2Citag%2Csource%2Crequiressl%2Cxpc%2Cbui%2Cspc%2Cvprv%2Csvpuc%2Cmime%2Crqh%2Cgir%2Cclen%2Cdur%2Clmt&sig=AE0s2JYwRgIhAJFKPXE_MNI7lwc4DZB0pAZcqFpgh8J_aJstLnp-1uxRAiEAmJxCeApVOA3X4Xp_Ev2GiKs7rIUbveAZ-ez8OVzfUlg%3D&lsparams=cps%2Cmet%2Cmh%2Cmm%2Cmn%2Cms%2Cmv%2Cmvi%2Cpl%2Crms%2Cinitcwndbps&lsig=APaTxxMwRQIgaBj9U6AfVvPnGIfxOr3Kpxeak104SHBD59XOvbu5xl8CIQD67nJBx2e69k9Kf9dQvPLrC6k1e7h5R7yzGUQ-m2J_jw%3D%3D&pot=Ms4E5vUlAt8BNMnmy6nhjQvj7XuatBQLoiPPZqg93dEufnEyY6-lMHm9fHa7gpxL9MPnxtyg1XktBD7VsKck36CIe5sFLIST1HoPInMPu9SwzQDG5Fstw0ELgaYLxl6X6Z6zkeAEZrIKhBFhmMRBUaFA0ZuaVAVC_TIltjffteEduSfCDfhmDkcOc_9A9QuS6wEeGB-vr4q4dFtWX1aaplSLcYYeojPw-Evrhn9DE6B8ukTPafBTugWGISvevH5nPDAbJNJWT9QAVFrvnZqJfG9LrbshYjouW4BR71pVJni-irA2uqrowHvRst3nxjmk0mAWrshOfacPuYaK4IGX94OARx9QS3Pp6V9D-TVfK0vjE5OZricSZDMfvO4pvey_EhAct4eYKAAyvPyvju9NX8iaQLN4ii_mOtxP4ln-S5uIwblZJ8cVIhL-KoWij_DzW5FRrkTkwUTLecBIP-GLcsElFeG9jxf4nel2jVIqXyTvJHp1xj_BEXVhB2LpFFptdVdfss3Rqd9d6cZ8wjWqCTORpMVP7gDxLPsYWwRYpgKNACHl9FcVur0OUSRlz5lZ5nuKhre55aYBDRVismnFUk6Mfoyr4v-YyAhulCEDmze1g7UAgNtrqKxFt_uqcrkY7xKZjxuCGt_rawLqIJIb9OlFqgzswlpOsdLXm4bCw6d8_ezbnfz_dJYwC0UXMZWIfhS6OMLxOFtQBlBEN6QStv0lIuyq9fLZEW76ED1zxnDEOdCnXS_F6goJpfAm0gzFlb86NABQf0kqhk_jqMpWv-M=",
        "mimeType": "video/webm; codecs=\"vp9\"",
        "bitrate": 18076636,
        "width": 3840,
        "height": 2160,
        "initRange": {
          "start": "0",
          "end": "220"
        },
        "indexRange": {
          "start": "221",
          "end": "893"
        },
        "lastModified": "1766963492248817",
        "contentLength": "358608461",
        "quality": "hd2160",
        "fps": 25,
        "qualityLabel": "2160p",
        "projectionType": "RECTANGULAR",
        "averageBitrate": 13466333,
        "colorInfo": {
          "primaries": "COLOR_PRIMARIES_BT709",
          "transferCharacteristics": "COLOR_TRANSFER_CHARACTERISTICS_BT709",
          "matrixCoefficients": "COLOR_MATRIX_COEFFICIENTS_BT709"
        },
        "approxDurationMs": "213040",
        "qualityOrdinal": "QUALITY_ORDINAL_2160P",
        "parsedLastModified": "2025-12-28T23:11:32.248Z",
        "lengthSeconds": "213",
        "parsedContentLength": "342 MiB"
      }
    ],
    "dropped": 0
  },
  "credits_used": 5,
  "credits_remaining": 9999,
  "request_id": "req_example000000",
  "cached": false,
  "pagination": {
    "next_cursor": null,
    "has_more": false,
    "page_size": 23
  }
}

Live sample illustrating the unified response shape. Field values reflect the record you query.

API Details

How does the YouTube Video Files API work?

Send a GET request with your API key and get back clean, structured JSON in our unified schema. Supported computed fields are populated when the source provides the required inputs.

Method

GET

Response

JSON

Why SocialCrawl

Why use SocialCrawl for YouTube Video Files data?

We handle the complexity of YouTube data extraction so you can focus on building. Unified schema, AI enrichment, and zero platform logic in your code.

One schema for every platform — write your integration once
When an endpoint supports a computed field and the required source inputs are available, normalized records can include fields such as engagement rate, reach, category, and language
No scraping infrastructure to build, no proxies to manage, no rate limits to fight
Current public YouTube data, with the endpoint's documented cache window and 0-credit hits; send Cache-Control: no-cache for a billed refresh

Developer First

How do you scrape social media data in seconds?

The fastest social media scraping API for developers. Scrape profiles, posts, comments, and analytics from 48 platforms covering 10B+ monthly active users.

One schema, every platform

Query 48 platforms with identical response structures. Write your integration once.

Computed fields, not just scraped

When an endpoint supports these metrics and the source provides the required inputs, the normalized record includes engagement_rate, estimated_reach, content_category, and language — ready to use.

See your data before you code

Visual Data Explorer — paste any URL, get rich result cards, sortable tables, CSV export.

import requests

response = requests.get(
    'https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/tiktok/profile',
    params={'handle': 'charlidamelio'},
    headers={'x-api-key': 'sc_YOUR_API_KEY'}
)
data = response.json()

[ .JSON ]

{
  "success": true,
  "platform": "tiktok",
  "data": {
    "author": {
      "username": "charlidamelio",
      "followers": 152400000
    },
    "engagement": {
      "likes": 12400000000,
      "engagement_rate": 0.087
    },
    "metadata": {
      "language": "en",
      "content_category": "lifestyle"
    }
  }
}

+ 48 platforms

FAQ

Have a question? We got answers

Find answers to frequently asked questions about SocialCrawl's API, pricing, and capabilities.

How do I download a YouTube video via API?

Send a GET to /v1/youtube/video/files with the video url. The response lists the downloadable video streams, each with a direct media URL, resolution, quality label, fps, bitrate, and duration.

Are the video stream URLs permanent?

No. Stream URLs are time-limited, so fetch the file right away and do not cache the URL, which stops working after it expires.

What details come back for each video stream?

Each stream includes its direct URL, width and height, quality label, fps, bitrate, and approximate duration, so you can choose the resolution you want.

How do I also get the audio track?

Use the sibling /v1/youtube/video/audio endpoint for downloadable audio streams. Together they cover the video and audio files for a given URL.

How much does the video files endpoint cost?

It is an advanced endpoint, and every new account starts with 100 free credits to test it without a card.

Ask AI about SocialCrawl

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More YouTube API endpoints

Every YouTube endpoint returns the same unified schema.

Channel Channel Videos Video Videos Channels Transcripts

API reference YouTube API guide

Ready to scrape YouTube Video Files data?

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