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n8n-nodes-youtube-shorts-api
An n8n community node for the YouTube Shorts API on Apify. Give it channels or Short links and it returns YouTube Shorts analytics as structured JSON: views, likes, comment counts, exact publish dates, durations, hashtags and the creator's tags for every Short, plus the channel's subscribers and total views. Works for channels you do not own; no YouTube API key or quota.
Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to YouTube or Google. It reads the public Shorts tab and Short pages.
Install
In n8n: Settings → Community Nodes → Install, then enter:
n8n-nodes-youtube-shorts-api
Accept the risk prompt and restart if asked. Self-hosted n8n only.
Credentials
The node uses your Apify credential, either an API key or OAuth2.
- Get a free Apify account: https://apify.com?fpr=9n7kx3
- Copy your token from https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations
- In n8n, add an Apify API credential and paste the token.
Parameters
| Field | Type | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Channels | string list | empty | Handle with or without @ (siliconimist, @MrBeast), channel URL, or channel ID (UC...). Up to 20 per run. |
| Short Links | string list | empty | /shorts/ID, watch?v=ID or youtu.be/ID links. Up to 200 per run. Give at least one channel or one link. |
| Maximum Shorts per Channel | number | 10 | 1 to 500 per channel; runs stop at 1,000 Shorts |
| Sort By | options | Newest | Newest, Oldest, or Popular (the channel page's sort buttons) |
| Only Shorts Published After | string | empty | 2025-06-03 or a span such as 7 days, 2 weeks, 3 months. Forces Newest order and adds a small per-Short charge. |
| Output | options | Simplified | Simplified, Raw, or Selected Fields |
Output
One item per Short. A channel or link that cannot be read returns an item with error (for example CHANNEL_DOES_NOT_EXIST, CHANNEL_HAS_NO_SHORTS, DATE_FILTER_TOO_STRICT, VIDEO_UNAVAILABLE) and a readable note; those rows are not charged.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
id, url, title |
The Short |
date |
Publish time, ISO 8601 UTC (for example 2026-09-27T22:26:20.000Z) |
duration |
Length as HH:MM:SS |
viewCount, likes |
Exact counts at fetch time |
commentsCount, commentsTurnedOff |
Comment count (null when comments are off) |
hashtags |
Hashtags from the title and description, with the # sign |
tags |
The keywords the creator set in YouTube Studio; empty when none |
text, descriptionLinks, thumbnailUrl |
Description, its links, and the thumbnail |
channelName, channelUsername, channelId, channelUrl |
The channel |
numberOfSubscribers, channelTotalViews, channelTotalVideos |
Channel size |
channelDescription, channelDescriptionLinks, channelJoinedDate, channelLocation, isChannelVerified |
Channel About section |
isAgeRestricted, isMembersOnly, order, input |
Flags and provenance |
Set Output to Simplified for a small agent friendly object (id, url, title, date, duration, views, likes, comments, hashtags, tags, channel name and subscribers), Raw for every field, or Selected Fields to pick your own. Simplified is forced when the node runs as an AI Agent tool.
Example workflows
1. Weekly YouTube Shorts analytics sheet for competitors
Schedule Trigger (weekly) → YouTube Shorts (Channels: your competitors, Only Shorts Published After: 7 days) → Google Sheets (append). Each run adds a dated snapshot of views, likes and comments per Short.
2. Best hashtags for YouTube Shorts in your niche
Manual Trigger → YouTube Shorts (Channels: five top channels in the niche, Sort By: Popular, Maximum Shorts per Channel: 50) → Split Out (field: hashtags) → Summarize (count by hashtags) → Google Sheets.
3. Exact upload dates for a list of links
Google Sheets (read a column of Short URLs) → YouTube Shorts (Short Links: the column) → Google Sheets (write date, channelName and viewCount back).
4. AI Agent tool
Add the node as a tool to an AI Agent and ask: "Which of the last 20 Shorts from @siliconimist had the best engagement rate?" The agent gets the Simplified rows and does the arithmetic.
Pricing
The Actor is pay per result on Apify: you are billed for each Short returned, plus a small date-filter event per Short only when Only Shorts Published After is set. Error rows are free. See the Actor page for current rates.
Links
- Actor: https://apify.com/johnvc/youtube-shorts-api?fpr=9n7kx3
- Python and MCP examples: https://github.com/johnisanerd/Apify-YouTube-Shorts-API
- Transcripts for the same Shorts: https://apify.com/johnvc/YoutubeTranscripts?fpr=9n7kx3
- Apify n8n docs: https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/n8n
- n8n community nodes: https://docs.n8n.io/integrations/community-nodes/installation/
License
MIT
Last Updated: 2026.09.30