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YouTube Channel

Authentication Type: API Key
Description: Get channel details, metrics, and latest videos for a YouTube channel. Returns subscriber count, view count, verification status, avatar/banner thumbnails, channel tabs, and a summary of the latest uploaded videos.

Authentication

To authenticate, provide a RapidAPI key for the youtube138 API.

Note: Sign up for a RapidAPI account and subscribe to the youtube138 API to obtain your key.

Channel Operations

Retrieve details and metrics for a YouTube channel.

Get Channel Details

Fetch details, metrics, and latest video summaries for a YouTube channel by channel ID or URL.

Operation Type: Query (Read)

Parameters:

  • channelId string (required): The YouTube channel ID (e.g., UCxxxxxx) or a channel URL containing /channel/<id> — the ID is automatically extracted from URLs in the format https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxxxxxx
  • hl string (optional, default: "en"): Language/locale code for the response (e.g., "en", "fr", "de")

Returns:

  • channelId string: The YouTube channel ID
  • title string: Channel name
  • description string: Channel description text
  • customUrl string | null: Channel custom URL handle (e.g., @channelname) if set
  • country string | null: Country code for the channel
  • subscribersCount number | null: Subscriber count
  • subscribersCountText string | null: Human-readable subscriber count (e.g., "1.2M subscribers")
  • videosCount number | null: Total number of uploaded videos
  • viewCount string | null: Total channel view count
  • joinedDate string | null: Date the channel joined YouTube (e.g., "Joined Jan 1, 2020")
  • isVerified boolean: Whether the channel has a verification badge
  • isFamilySafe boolean: Whether the channel is marked as family-safe
  • avatar array of objects: Channel avatar thumbnails — each with url, width, height
  • banner array of objects: Channel banner image thumbnails — each with url, width, height
  • tabs string[]: List of channel tab names visible on the channel page
  • latestVideos array of objects: Summary of the latest uploaded videos:
    • videoId string: YouTube video ID
    • title string: Video title
    • url string: Full YouTube watch URL (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=<videoId>)
    • thumbnails array: Video thumbnail images — each with url, width, height
    • viewCount string | null: View count text
    • publishedTimeText string | null: Relative publish time (e.g., "3 days ago")
    • lengthSeconds number | null: Video duration in seconds
    • isLive boolean: Whether the video is a live stream
    • isUpcoming boolean: Whether the video is an upcoming premiere
    • isPremium boolean: Whether the video requires YouTube Premium

Example Usage:

{
  "channelId": "UCVHFbw7woebKtKXqoVOXVhg",
  "hl": "en"
}

You can also pass a full channel URL:

{
  "channelId": "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVHFbw7woebKtKXqoVOXVhg",
  "hl": "en"
}

Common Use Cases

Channel Research:

  • Look up subscriber counts and total views for competitor or partner channels
  • Check channel verification status and country of origin
  • Retrieve channel avatars and banners for display in dashboards

Content Analysis:

  • Survey the latest video titles, durations, and view counts for trend monitoring
  • Identify live streams or upcoming premieres on a channel
  • Compare video publishing cadence across multiple channels

Enrichment Pipelines:

  • Enrich a list of channel IDs with metadata for reporting or CRM updates
  • Aggregate channel-level metrics alongside transcript or comment data