YouTube Search

Search YouTube videos, Shorts, channels or playlists by keyword through REST or MCP. Apply supported sort and date filters; fetch one cursor page per request.

CostAt least 10 credits / call

Try online

POST · https://api.nexscope.ai/youtube/searchMCP · social_youtube_search

What this API does

Search YouTube videos, Shorts, channels or playlists by keyword through REST or MCP. Apply supported sort and date filters; fetch one cursor page per request. The request accepts keyword, uploadDate, sortBy, type, duration. Its documented result includes fetchedAt, hasMore, channel.handle, channel.id, channel.name, channel.url, description, id.

YouTube Search API use cases

Find videos for a content brief

A content researcher submits a keyword and supported filters to find YouTube videos, Shorts or other matching items. Returned titles, links and item types help shortlist content for manual review.

Compare formats in search results

An editorial analyst compares VIDEO, SHORT, CHANNEL, PLAYLIST and LIVE results for the same research topic. The analyst checks each item type and treats statistics that do not apply as unavailable.

Review another page of results

A researcher submits the returned nextCursor unchanged to review another page for the same query. Each page is a separate request; the collected items are search observations rather than complete coverage.

YouTube Search API FAQ

What does the YouTube Search API return?

Search YouTube videos, Shorts, channels or playlists by keyword through REST or MCP. Apply supported sort and date filters; fetch one cursor page per request. The documented output includes fetchedAt, hasMore, channel.handle, channel.id, channel.name, channel.url, description, id. It corresponds to the supplied keyword, uploadDate, sortBy, type, duration. Optional fields can be absent; a missing value should not be interpreted as a measured zero. Example values illustrate the response shape, rather than live account results.

How many credits does the YouTube Search API cost?

The current documented cost is At least 10 credits / call. This is the same cost shown at the top of this page. If a range or estimate is displayed, the final charge depends on the request. Review your available credits and the pricing page before calling the API, and check API usage records for the actual charge.

How do I call the YouTube Search API from my app or an MCP client?

Send a POST request to https://api.nexscope.ai/youtube/search with your API key as a Bearer token and the JSON inputs shown in API integration. In a compatible MCP client such as Claude or Cursor, connect Nexscope and call social_youtube_search. Use the MCP arguments shown in the MCP guide, or switch Online test to MCP to review its request before adding it to your app.

View plans and credits Connect this API with MCP

Try this API

Endpoint

https://api.nexscope.ai/youtube/search

MCP method

social_youtube_search

Step 1 of 3 · Authenticate

Authentication

All run endpoints require a user API key. Send it as a bearer token in the Authorization header.

Authorization: Bearer nk-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Missing or invalid API keys return an authentication error. Manage keys from .

Step 2 of 3 · Send a request

POSThttps://api.nexscope.ai/youtube/search

Run an API

Send a JSON request body using the parameters described below.

Example request

Replace YOUR_API_KEY, then run this command in your terminal.

curl -X POST 'https://api.nexscope.ai/youtube/search' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
  "keyword": "coffee"
}'

Code example

{
  "keyword": "coffee"
}

Step 3 of 3 · Inspect the result

Check the response

Read code for the request status and data for the result. Open the parameter and response reference for the full field definitions.

HTTP status codes

Code	Description
200	Default HTTP response for both success and many business errors. Only outer JSON code 0 indicates success or asynchronous acceptance; inspect data for the result.
429	Execution admission rate limit; honor Retry-After when present.
503	Execution admission is temporarily unavailable; honor Retry-After when present.
Opt-in	X-Nexscope-Http-Status: semantic maps controller-handled business errors to HTTP status on run and task routes. Pre-authentication failures, such as a missing API key (code 11209), may still return HTTP 200 before this mapping. Always check the outer JSON code; malformed requests and infrastructure failures may also return non-200 HTTP responses.

View parameters & response Try online

All categories/ Social Data

POSThttps://api.nexscope.ai/youtube/search

Run this API

Send a JSON request to execute this API and receive the documented response payload.

Open tester

Endpoint

Method	`POST`
Path	`https://api.nexscope.ai/youtube/search`
Auth	`Bearer API key`
Content-Type	`application/json`

Request parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
`keyword`	`string`	required	keyword Example: coffee
`uploadDate`	`string`	optional	uploadDate
`sortBy`	`string`	optional	sortBy
`type`	`string`	optional	type
`duration`	`string`	optional	Duration of the video. Only applies to videos (not shorts).
`region`	`string`	optional	2 letter country code of the country to put the proxy in.
`includeExtras`	`string`	optional	This will get you the like + comment count and the description. To get the full details of the video, use the /v1/youtube/video endpoint. This will slow down the response slightly.
`cursor`	`string`	optional	Opaque single-page cursor, at most 65536 UTF-8 bytes.

Social data contract

Use your Nexscope API key. No supplier credentials are required. Requests reject unknown fields, including pageSize. URLs require HTTPS and an exact supported platform host and resource path. Documented YouTube video URLs may use youtu.be; other short links are unsupported. Check the request schema for supported fields and defaults.

Each request fetches one page. Continue manually with the returned nextCursor, or nextPage for Instagram Reels (pages 1–11). Cursors are opaque, unchanged strings up to 65536 UTF-8 bytes. No automatic pagination, retry, media download or transcription is performed. Repeated requests may purchase data again.

Resource status is independent of HTTP and billing: AVAILABLE, PARTIAL, PRIVATE, RESTRICTED, NOT_FOUND, NO_TRANSCRIPT or UNKNOWN can accompany code 0. Unknown values remain null; arrays remain empty arrays. fetchedAt is the response observation time; sourceFetchedAt is null without source evidence.

usage.billingStatus is NOT_CHARGED, SETTLED or UNKNOWN; chargedCredits is null when unconfirmed. Unknown charges never mean free. Completed lookups have a minimum charge of 10 credits, including cached, no-caption and unavailable-resource results; check API usage records for the actual charge. Parameter errors and unpublished APIs use the standard error envelope; upstream failures use code 13007, rate limits 429 and timeouts 408. Always check code and msg.

YouTube search may mix VIDEO, SHORT, CHANNEL, PLAYLIST, LIVE and UNKNOWN items. Statistics that do not apply to a type remain null.

Response example

Platform response envelope. code 0 indicates success or acceptance; data contains the business result.

{
  "code": 0,
  "cost": "-1",
  "data": {
    "fetchedAt": "2026-10-28T00:00:00Z",
    "hasMore": false,
    "items": [],
    "nextCursor": null,
    "platform": "youtube",
    "resourceStatus": "NOT_FOUND",
    "sourceFetchedAt": null,
    "usage": {
      "billingStatus": "UNKNOWN",
      "chargedCredits": null
    }
  },
  "msg": null,
  "time": "2026-01-01 00:00:00",
  "traceId": null,
  "ts": "0"
}

Response fields

Name	Type	Required	Description
`code`	`integer`	required	0 means accepted or successful; nonzero is a platform error.
`cost`	`string`	required	Elapsed milliseconds, never credits; -1 outside web requests.
`data`	`any`	required	Data value used by this API operation.
`msg`	`string \| null`	required	Msg value used by this API operation.
`time`	`string`	required	Server local time: yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.
`traceId`	`string \| null`	required	Trace id value used by this API operation.
`ts`	`string`	required	Epoch milliseconds.

Any of option 1 — requires platform, resourceStatus, fetchedAt, sourceFetchedAt, usage, items, nextCursor, hasMore

Name	Type	Required	Description
`data`	`object`	required	Data value used by this API operation.
`data.fetchedAt`	`string`	required	Fetched at value used by this API operation. Format: date-time
`data.hasMore`	`boolean`	required	Has more value used by this API operation.
`data.items`	`array`	required	Items value used by this API operation.
`data.items[]`	`object`	required	Item in data items.
`data.items[].channel`	`any`	required	Channel value used by this API operation.
`data.items[].description`	`any`	required	Description value used by this API operation.
`data.items[].id`	`any`	required	Id value used by this API operation.
`data.items[].publishedAt`	`any`	required	Published at value used by this API operation.
`data.items[].thumbnailUrl`	`any`	required	Thumbnail url value used by this API operation.
`data.items[].title`	`any`	required	Title value used by this API operation.
`data.items[].type`	`string`	required	Type value used by this API operation. Allowed: VIDEO, SHORT, CHANNEL, PLAYLIST, LIVE, UNKNOWN
`data.items[].url`	`any`	required	Url value used by this API operation.
`data.items[].viewCount`	`any`	required	View count value used by this API operation.
`data.nextCursor`	`any`	required	Next cursor value used by this API operation.
`data.platform`	`string`	required	Platform value used by this API operation. Allowed: instagram, youtube, reddit, pinterest
`data.resourceStatus`	`string`	required	Resource status value used by this API operation. Allowed: AVAILABLE, PARTIAL, PRIVATE, RESTRICTED, NOT_FOUND, NO_TRANSCRIPT, UNKNOWN
`data.sourceFetchedAt`	`any`	required	Source fetched at value used by this API operation.
`data.usage`	`object`	required	Usage value used by this API operation.
`data.usage.billingStatus`	`string`	required	Billing status value used by this API operation. Allowed: NOT_CHARGED, SETTLED, UNKNOWN
`data.usage.chargedCredits`	`any`	required	Charged credits value used by this API operation.

Any of option 1 — requires id, handle, name, url

Name	Type	Required	Description
`data.items[].channel`	`object`	required	Channel value used by this API operation.
`data.items[].channel.handle`	`any`	required	Handle value used by this API operation.
`data.items[].channel.id`	`any`	required	Id value used by this API operation.
`data.items[].channel.name`	`any`	required	Name value used by this API operation.
`data.items[].channel.url`	`any`	required	Url value used by this API operation.

Any of option 1

Name	Type	Required	Description
`data.items[].channel.handle`	`string`	required	Handle value used by this API operation.

Any of option 2

Name	Type	Required	Description
`data.items[].channel.handle`	`null`	required	Handle value used by this API operation.

Any of option 1

Name	Type	Required	Description
`data.items[].channel.id`	`string`	required	Id value used by this API operation.

Any of option 2

Name	Type	Required	Description
`data.items[].channel.id`	`null`	required	Id value used by this API operation.

Any of option 1

Name	Type	Required	Description
`data.items[].channel.name`	`string`	required	Name value used by this API operation.

Any of option 2

Name	Type	Required	Description
`data.items[].channel.name`	`null`	required	Name value used by this API operation.

Any of option 1

Name	Type	Required	Description
`data.items[].channel.url`	`string`	required	Url value used by this API operation.

Any of option 2

Name	Type	Required	Description
`data.items[].channel.url`	`null`	required	Url value used by this API operation.

Any of option 2

Name	Type	Required	Description
`data.items[].channel`	`null`	required	Channel value used by this API operation.

Any of option 1

Name	Type	Required	Description
`data.items[].description`	`string`	required	Description value used by this API operation.

Any of option 2

Name	Type	Required	Description
`data.items[].description`	`null`	required	Description value used by this API operation.

Any of option 1

Name	Type	Required	Description
`data.items[].id`	`string`	required	Id value used by this API operation.

Any of option 2

Name	Type	Required	Description
`data.items[].id`	`null`	required	Id value used by this API operation.

Any of option 1

Name	Type	Required	Description
`data.items[].publishedAt`	`string`	required	Published at value used by this API operation.

Any of option 2

Name	Type	Required	Description
`data.items[].publishedAt`	`null`	required	Published at value used by this API operation.

Any of option 1

Name	Type	Required	Description
`data.items[].thumbnailUrl`	`string`	required	Thumbnail url value used by this API operation.

Any of option 2

Name	Type	Required	Description
`data.items[].thumbnailUrl`	`null`	required	Thumbnail url value used by this API operation.

Any of option 1

Name	Type	Required	Description
`data.items[].title`	`string`	required	Title value used by this API operation.

Any of option 2

Name	Type	Required	Description
`data.items[].title`	`null`	required	Title value used by this API operation.

Any of option 1

Name	Type	Required	Description
`data.items[].url`	`string`	required	Url value used by this API operation.

Any of option 2

Name	Type	Required	Description
`data.items[].url`	`null`	required	Url value used by this API operation.

Any of option 1

Name	Type	Required	Description
`data.items[].viewCount`	`number`	required	View count value used by this API operation. Minimum: 0

Any of option 2

Name	Type	Required	Description
`data.items[].viewCount`	`null`	required	View count value used by this API operation.

Any of option 1

Name	Type	Required	Description
`data.nextCursor`	`string`	required	Next cursor value used by this API operation.

Any of option 2

Name	Type	Required	Description
`data.nextCursor`	`null`	required	Next cursor value used by this API operation.

Any of option 1

Name	Type	Required	Description
`data.sourceFetchedAt`	`string`	required	Source fetched at value used by this API operation. Format: date-time

Any of option 2

Name	Type	Required	Description
`data.sourceFetchedAt`	`null`	required	Source fetched at value used by this API operation.

Any of option 1

Name	Type	Required	Description
`data.usage.chargedCredits`	`number`	required	Charged credits value used by this API operation. Minimum: 0

Any of option 2

Name	Type	Required	Description
`data.usage.chargedCredits`	`null`	required	Charged credits value used by this API operation.

Any of option 2

Name	Type	Required	Description
`data`	`null`	required	Data value used by this API operation.

Responses

Code	Description
200	Default HTTP response for both success and many business errors. Only outer JSON code 0 indicates success or asynchronous acceptance; inspect data for the result.
429	Execution admission rate limit; honor Retry-After when present.
503	Execution admission is temporarily unavailable; honor Retry-After when present.
Opt-in	X-Nexscope-Http-Status: semantic maps controller-handled business errors to HTTP status on run and task routes. Pre-authentication failures, such as a missing API key (code 11209), may still return HTTP 200 before this mapping. Always check the outer JSON code; malformed requests and infrastructure failures may also return non-200 HTTP responses.

Data source, freshness, and limitations

Source, freshness, coverage, rate limits, and estimation notes are not specified in this API definition unless they appear in the request or response field documentation above. Do not assume official marketplace data or real-time freshness when it is not explicitly documented.

Step 1 of 2 · Connect your MCP client

MCP

V2 recommended

Connect remote agents through the standard MCP 2025-11-25 Streamable HTTP endpoint. Use OAuth 2.1 Authorization Code with PKCE, or an API key for compatibility.

POST https://api.nexscope.ai/mcp
MCP-Protocol-Version: 2025-11-25
Content-Type: application/json

Authentication

OAuth clients request the mcp:tools scope. The endpoint's 401 response advertises protected-resource metadata for authorization discovery.

Step 2 of 2 · Call the tool

Call a tool

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": "tool-call-1",
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "social_youtube_search",
    "arguments": {
      "keyword": "coffee"
    }
  }
}

Legacy MCP v1

Existing API-key clients can continue using the compatibility endpoint. New integrations should use MCP v2.

GET / POST /mcp/legacy

What can you do with this API?

Data explained and practical use cases

AI Guide

Question

What data can YouTube Search provide, and how might I use it?

AI answer

Searches YouTube by keyword query and returns matching videos, channels, playlists, shorts, shelves, and live streams. Each video result includes title, URL, thumbnail, view count (views), publish date, duration, channel info, and badges. Supports filtering by upload date, sorting by relevance or popularity, and paginating with continuationToken. Set is_paid_promotions=true to search YouTube videos with the paid product placement / sponsorship disclosure.

Data category	Documented fields	How to use them
Request	`keyword`, `cursor`, `uploadDate`, `sortBy`	Provide the required identifiers, filters, or paging inputs listed in the API document.
Response	`data.fetchedAt`, `data.hasMore`, `data.items[].channel.handle`, `data.items[].channel.id`, `data.items[].channel.name`	Inspect returned values and source references; availability depends on the request and upstream source.

Review YouTube Search.
- Prompt example: “Retrieve YouTube Search for [search phrase]. Summarize only the information actually returned and preserve source links when available. Report private, restricted, missing or partial results explicitly; missing values are not zero.”
Collect a Bounded Set of Results.
- Prompt example: “Retrieve YouTube Search for [search phrase] across at most two pages within my approved credit budget. Use only the continuation information actually returned, with the same query and filters. Stop at the documented page limit, an absent continuation, an end indicator or a repeated page. Keep source references and report that the collection is bounded, not exhaustive.”
Focus the Review on a Selected Period.
- Prompt example: “Retrieve YouTube Search for [search phrase] for [a period supported by this tool]. Use the documented date meaning, format and limits, and show that scope with the results. Keep required date pairs together. Do not treat a search-index window as an exact publication-time filter or infer a complete historical archive.”
Prioritize Results for Review.
- Prompt example: “Retrieve YouTube Search for [search phrase] using [my preferred documented sort order]. Preserve the source order and identify pinned or promoted items if the response labels them. Do not infer a platform-wide ranking from this returned sample.”

These are suggested workflows, not completed lookups. Report missing, restricted, or partial data explicitly; verify the live response before making a decision.

Online test

Execute the current API with your API key and JSON payload. Online tests use this site's configured API environment; the Endpoint and copyable examples use the public integration address.

One request fetches one page. Copy nextCursor into cursor, or nextPage into page (1–11 for Reels), then run manually. Repeated requests may purchase data again. Completed lookups have a minimum charge of 10 credits, including cached, no-caption, private, restricted and not-found results. Resource status and actual billing status are independent; null credits are unknown, never free. Check usage.billingStatus, usage.chargedCredits and API usage records for the actual charge.

Try it

Send a real request with the same contract shown in the reference.

Endpoint

/youtube/search

MCP method

social_youtube_search

API key*

JSON payload*

cURL

curl -X POST \
  https://api.nexscope.ai/youtube/search \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer nk-..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "keyword": "coffee" }'

Request estimate: Estimating…Usage based. The final charge depends on actual usage. Estimating does not run the API or charge credits.API usage records

Response

No response yet. Run the request to see the response here.

Related APIs

YouTube Channel

Look up a YouTube channel using its ID, handle or URL through REST or MCP. Read available channel identity, description and account counts with resource status.

YouTube Channel Community Posts

Read a YouTube channel's community posts with text, images, attached videos and likes when available. Continue with a returned continuationToken.

YouTube Channel Lives

Read live and past streams from a YouTube channel's Live tab, with titles, URLs and available metrics. Continue with a returned continuationToken.

YouTube Channel Playlists

Read a YouTube channel's playlists by handle or channel ID, with titles, thumbnails and video counts. Continue with a returned continuationToken.