YouTube Videos API

API ID 13582

Fetch YouTube video and Shorts files asynchronously by URL, with optional metadata-only calls for faster, cheaper lookups.

1,067 ms avg response

API Documentation

Endpoints

Request

Queue a YouTube fetch job. Returns job id, image preview, and progress_url for status checks.

Continue polling every 3–5 seconds until progress is 1000, then use download_url.

Formats: video 360/480/720/1080/1440/2160; audio mp3/m4a/flac/opus/wav. Shorts yes, live streams no. Files are temporary signed URLs (~2h).

Endpoint ID: 30308
GET https://zylalabs.com/api/13582/youtube+videos+api/30308/downloader
INPUT PARAMETERS

Downloader — Endpoint Features

Object Description
url Required Target YouTube video or Shorts address.
format Required Resolution (360–2160) or audio type (mp3, m4a, flac, opus, wav).

Free test requests remaining: 3 of 3.


INPUT PARAMETERS

url
format
API EXAMPLE RESPONSE
JSON
{
    "success": true,
    "id": "fc366f6f3b09a5d8eb04aebe66c32f1d128e7f31",
    "image": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/f1HbBexbLtc/hqdefault.jpg",
    "progress_url": "https://yt-download.zylalabs.com/api/progress?id=fc366f6f3b09a5d8eb04aebe66c32f1d128e7f31"
}
Downloader — CODE SNIPPETS

curl --location --request GET 'https://zylalabs.com/api/13582/youtube+videos+api/30308/downloader?url=https://www.youtube.com/shorts/f1HbBexbLtc&format=720' --header 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY' 


    
Request

Inspect a YouTube URL and return lightweight metadata only—no media download.

Expect title, duration, channel, views, thumbnail, and ID. Cost-efficient versus Downloader for listing or preview screens. Live content may be limited.

Endpoint ID: 30310
GET https://zylalabs.com/api/13582/youtube+videos+api/30310/info
INPUT PARAMETERS

Info — Endpoint Features

Object Description
url Required YouTube URL whose metadata you want.

Free test requests remaining: 3 of 3.


INPUT PARAMETERS

url
API EXAMPLE RESPONSE
JSON
{"success":true,"video_id":"jNQXAC9IVRw","title":"Me at the zoo","duration":19,"channel":"jawed","views":406083673,"image":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jNQXAC9IVRw/hqdefault.jpg","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw"}
Info — CODE SNIPPETS

curl --location --request GET 'https://zylalabs.com/api/13582/youtube+videos+api/30310/info?url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw' --header 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY' 


    

API Access Key & Authentication

After signing up, every developer is assigned a personal API access key, a unique combination of letters and digits provided to access to our API endpoint. To authenticate with the YouTube Videos API simply include your bearer token in the Authorization header.

Headers
Header Description
Authorization Required Should be Bearer access_key. See "Your API Access Key" above when you are subscribed.

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Overview

Use the Fetch YouTube Videos API when your application must pull YouTube assets into storage pipelines, moderation queues, or offline players.

Workflow: call Downloader with url + format → receive job identifiers → poll the returned progress endpoint until completion → retrieve the file from download_url. Links are signed and expire after roughly two hours.

The companion Info endpoint focuses on structured metadata (title, duration, channel, views, image) so you can enrich catalogs without a media transfer.

Supported formats: video ladders 360 through 2160, plus audio requests labeled mp3/m4a/flac/opus/wav (delivery may be AAC/WebM). Regular uploads and Shorts work; live streams do not download.

YouTube Videos API FAQs

The API returns a JSON object containing a success status, a unique download ID, a thumbnail image URL, and a progress URL for tracking the download status.

The key fields in the response include "success" (boolean), "id" (string, unique download identifier), "image" (string, URL of the video thumbnail), and "progress_url" (string, URL to monitor download progress).

The response data is structured as a JSON object with key-value pairs. It includes a success indicator, the download ID, the thumbnail image URL, and a progress URL, making it easy to parse and utilize.

The primary parameter for the endpoint is the YouTube video URL. Users must provide a valid URL to initiate the download process.

Typical use cases include downloading educational videos for offline viewing, archiving content, or integrating video downloads into applications for user convenience.

Users can utilize the download ID to check the status of their download via the progress URL. Once processing is complete, they can use the ID to retrieve the downloadable file.

The API relies on direct interactions with YouTube's content delivery, ensuring that the video URLs provided are valid and that the download process reflects the current state of the video.

If the API returns a failure status, users should verify the provided video URL for correctness. For partial results, check the progress URL to monitor the download status until completion.

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