YouTube Channel Info NodeJS Documentation

This library is designed to receive channel data from YouTube without accessing the official API. This method has several advantages:

• No API key is required, which you should put next to your code;
• No restrictions on key usage (1 million quota)

But there are also disadvantages:

• Data acquisition time increases by many times;
• Any change to the YouTube DOM entails non-working methods of this library.

You must consider this before you use YouTube Channel Info

Installation

npm i yt-channel-info --save

Usage

// If using require
const ytch = require('yt-channel-info')

// If using import
import ytch from 'yt-channel-info'

API

getChannelInfo(channelId, [channelIdType])

Returns information about a given channel ID. The optional argument 'channelIdType' can be provided to get faster results and less network requests if the type of channel id is known.

• 0 = Default value used by the module. It will try all url types in the order channel -> user -> name
• 1 = A channel id that is used with https://www.youtube.com/channel/channelId urls
• 2 = A user id that is used with https://www.youtube.com/user/channelId urls
• 3 = A name id that is used with https://www.youtube.com/c/channelId urls

const channelId = 'UCXuqSBlHAE6Xw-yeJA0Tunw'

ytch.getChannelInfo(channelId, channelIdType).then((response) => {
   console.log(response)
}).catch((err) => {
   console.log(err)
})


// Response object
{
   author: String,
   authorId: String,
   authorUrl: String,
   authorBanners: Array[Object], // Will return null if none exist
   authorThumbnails: Array[Object], // Will return null if none exist
   subscriberText: String,
   subscriberCount: Integer,
   description: String,
   isFamilyFriendly: Boolean,
   relatedChannels: {
      items: Array[Object],
      continuation: String // Will return null if there are 12 or fewer related channels.  Used with getRelatedChannelsMore()
   },
   allowedRegions: Array[String],
   isVerified: Boolean,
   tags: Array[String], // Will return null if none exist
   channelIdType: Number, 
}

getChannelVideos(channelId, [sortBy], [channelIdType])

Grabs videos from a given channel ID.

• newest - Grabs videos from a channel sorted by newest / most recently uploaded (Default option if none given)

• oldest - Grabs videos from a channel sorted by oldest videos

• popular - Grabs videos from a channel sorted by the most popular (Highest amount of views)

• channelIdType defined as for getChannelInfo()

const channelId = 'UCXuqSBlHAE6Xw-yeJA0Tunw'
const sortBy = 'newest'

ytch.getChannelVideos(channelId, sortBy, channelIdType).then((response) => {
  console.log(response)
}).catch((err) => {
  console.log(err)
})

// Response object
{
  items: Array[Object],
  continuation: String, // Will return null if no more results can be found.  Used with getChannelVideosMore()
  channelIdType: Number,
}

getChannelVideosMore(continuation)

Grabs more videos within a channel. Uses the continuation string returned from getChannelVideos() or from past calls to getChannelVideosMore().

const continuation = '4qmFsgK9ARIYVUNYdXFTQmxIQUU2WHcteWVKQTBUdW53GqABRWdsd2JHRjViR2x6ZEhNZ0FYcG1VVlZzVUdFeGF6VlNiVkoyV1ZjNWJHVnNUbGhTUmxwWVZrVm9kR1ZHYTNoVU1EVnJUVWR3ZFdNd05VVmFSVVo0Vm10NGRsVnJWa2haYkd4dVUyNXZlbEpxUW5WT1YxRjNXbGhyTkZKcVVqVmhibEpXVkVVNWNtSkdUbnBaYXpWWVUxZDNNMVpSdUFFQQ%3D%3D'

ytch.getChannelInfoMore(continuation).then((response) => {
 console.log(response)
}).catch((err) => {
 console.log(err)
})

// Response object
{
 items: Array[Object],
 continuation: String // Will return null if no more results can be found.  Used with getChannelVideosMore()
}

getChannelPlaylistInfo(channelId, [sortBy], [channelIdType])

Grabs playlist information of a given channel ID.

• last - Grabs playlists from a channel sorted by the most recently updated playlist (Default option if none given)

• newest - Grabs playlists from a channel sorted by the creation date (newest first)

• channelIdType defined as for getChannelInfo()

const channelId = 'UCXuqSBlHAE6Xw-yeJA0Tunw'
const sortBy = 'last'

ytch.getChannelPlaylistInfo(channelId, sortBy, channelIdType).then((response) => {
   console.log(response)
}).catch((err) => {
   console.log(err)
})

 // Response object
 {
   items: Array[Object],
   continuation: String // Will return null if no more results can be found.  Used with getChannelPlaylistsMore()
   channelIdType: Number,
 }

getChannelPlaylistsMore(continuation)

Grabs more playlists within a channel. Uses the continuation string returned from getChannelPlaylists() or from past calls to getChannelPlaylistsMore().

const continuation = '4qmFsgK9ARIYVUNYdXFTQmxIQUU2WHcteWVKQTBUdW53GqABRWdsd2JHRjViR2x6ZEhNZ0FYcG1VVlZzVUdFeGF6VlNiVkoyV1ZjNWJHVnNUbGhTUmxwWVZrVm9kR1ZHYTNoVU1EVnJUVWR3ZFdNd05VVmFSVVo0Vm10NGRsVnJWa2haYkd4dVUyNXZlbEpxUW5WT1YxRjNXbGhyTkZKcVVqVmhibEpXVkVVNWNtSkdUbnBaYXpWWVUxZDNNMVpSdUFFQQ%3D%3D'

ytch.getChannelPlaylistsMore(continuation).then((response) => {
 console.log(response)
}).catch((err) => {
 console.log(err)
})

// Response object
{
 items: Array[Object],
 continuation: String // Will return null if no more results can be found.  Used with getChannelPlaylistsMore()
}

searchChannel(channelId, query)

Searchs for videos and playlists of a given channelId based on the given query

const channelId = 'UCXuqSBlHAE6Xw-yeJA0Tunw'
const query = 'linux'

ytch.searchChannel(channelId, query).then((response) => {
console.log(response)
}).catch((err) => {
console.log(err)
})

// Response object
{
items: Array[Object],
continuation: String // Will return null if no more results can be found.  Used with searchChannelMore()
}

searchChannelMore(continuation)

Grabs more search results within a channel. Uses the continuation string returned from searchChannel() or from past calls to searchChannelMore().

const continuation = '4qmFsgK9ARIYVUNYdXFTQmxIQUU2WHcteWVKQTBUdW53GqABRWdsd2JHRjViR2x6ZEhNZ0FYcG1VVlZzVUdFeGF6VlNiVkoyV1ZjNWJHVnNUbGhTUmxwWVZrVm9kR1ZHYTNoVU1EVnJUVWR3ZFdNd05VVmFSVVo0Vm10NGRsVnJWa2haYkd4dVUyNXZlbEpxUW5WT1YxRjNXbGhyTkZKcVVqVmhibEpXVkVVNWNtSkdUbnBaYXpWWVUxZDNNMVpSdUFFQQ%3D%3D'

ytch.searchChannelMore(continuation).then((response) => {
 console.log(response)
}).catch((err) => {
 console.log(err)
})

// Response object
{
 items: Array[Object],
 continuation: String // Will return null if no more results can be found.  Used with searchChannelMore()
}

getRelatedChannelsMore(continuation)

Grabs more related channels within a channel. Uses the relatedChannelsContinuation string returned from getChannelInfo() or from past calls to getRelatedChannelsMore().

const continuation = '4qmFsgKlARIYVUNtOUs2cmJ5OThXOEppZ0xvWk9oNkZRGlhFZ2hqYUdGdWJtVnNjeGdESUFBd0FUZ0I2Z01vUTJkQlUwZG9iMWxXVlU1M1pXdHNVR1ZzUW5saE1IaGhXWHBhWm1SV1NsSldWazQyVG5wa1VnJTNEJTNEmgIuYnJvd3NlLWZlZWRVQ205SzZyYnk5OFc4SmlnTG9aT2g2RlFjaGFubmVsczE1Ng%3D%3D'

ytch.getRelatedChannelsMore(continuation).then((response) => {
 console.log(response)
}).catch((err) => {
 console.log(err)
})

// Response object
{
 items: Array[Object],
 continuation: String // Will return null if no more results can be found.  Used with getRelatedChannelsMore()
}

getChannelCommunityPosts(channelId, [channelIdType])

Searches for all posts on the community page of a given channelId based on the given query.

• channelIdType defined as for getChannelInfo()

const channelId = 'UCXuqSBlHAE6Xw-yeJA0Tunw'

ytch.getChannelCommunityPosts(channelId, authorURL='http://www.youtube.com/c/cChannelId').then((response) => {
   console.log(response)
}).catch((err) => {
   console.log(err)
})

 // Response object
 {
   items: Array[Object], // Described below
   continuation: String, // Will return null if no more results can be found.  Used with searchChannelMore()
   innerTubeApi: String,
   channelIdType: Number,
 }

getChannelCommunityPostsMore(continuation, innerTubeApi)

Grabs more search results within a channel community page. Uses the continuation and innerTubeApi strings returned from getChannelCommunityPosts() or from past calls to getChannelCommunityPostsMore().

const continuation = '4qmFsgK9ARIYVUNYdXFTQmxIQUU2WHcteWVKQTBUdW53GqABRWdsd2JHRjViR2x6ZEhNZ0FYcG1VVlZzVUdFeGF6VlNiVkoyV1ZjNWJHVnNUbGhTUmxwWVZrVm9kR1ZHYTNoVU1EVnJUVWR3ZFdNd05VVmFSVVo0Vm10NGRsVnJWa2haYkd4dVUyNXZlbEpxUW5WT1YxRjNXbGhyTkZKcVVqVmhibEpXVkVVNWNtSkdUbnBaYXpWWVUxZDNNMVpSdUFFQQ%3D%3D'
const innerTubeApi = 'JNDJSGJHASJ44DSHGDNLGMHA6FSFas5faF5'

ytch.getChannelCommunityPostsMore(continuation, innerTubeApi).then((response) => {
 console.log(response)
}).catch((err) => {
 console.log(err)
})

// Response object
{
 items: Array[Object], // Described below
 continuation: String, // Will return null if no more results can be found.  Used with searchChannelMore()
 innerTubeApi: String
}

Community Posts Format

The objects in the array of community posts all follow a basic structure but vary drastically in the postContent field of the object.

postData = {
postText: String,
postId: String, 
author: String,
authorThumbnails: Array[Object], // Array of objects with links to images
publishedText: String,
voteCount: String,
postContent: Object, // null if the post only consists of text
commentCount: String
}

// If the post contains an image
imagePostContent = {
type: 'image',
content: Array[Object] // Array of objects with links to images
}

pollPostContent = {
type: 'poll',
content: {
  choices: Array[String],
  totalVotes: String }
}

videoPostContent = {
type: 'video',
content: {
  videoId: String,
  title: String,
  description: String,
  publishedText: String,
  lengthText: String,
  viewCountText: String,
  ownerBadges: Object, // Object indicating possible badges {verified: false, officialArtist: false}
  author: String,
  thumbnails: Array[Object] // Array of objects with links to images
}
}

playlistPostContent = {
type: 'playlist',
content: {
  playlistId: String,
  title: String,
  playlistVideoRenderer: Array[Object], // An array of minimized videoPostContent data
  videoCountText: String,
  ownerBadges: Array[Object],
  author: String,
  thumbnails: Array[Object] // Array of objects with links to images
}
}

Tests

Tests and code standards are still in the process of being created. Check back later for information on how tests should be performed.

Contribution

PRs are welcome. Testing and coding guidlines are still in the works so I will try to get those created at a later point. Try to keep similar code syntax to the rest of the code.

Credits

This is a fork of the youtube-grabber-js module created by OlegRom4ig

View the original project on NPM or GitLab

License

You have explicit permission to use this project as stated in the terms of the ISC license.