API reference
YouTube Channel Shorts API
A channel's Shorts shelf: title, URL, views, likes and comments per short. Paged by cursor.
Endpoint
/v1/youtube/shortslive · proven1 creditParameters
Query parameters
Useful optional inputs
sort— Choose the documented source ordering before paging through results.Ordering keeps the normal endpoint price and does not guarantee exhaustive results.
fit— Use fit=goal with a task description to replace confidently irrelevant records with recall stubs and reduce agent context.No fit surcharge; full evidence is retained for 24 hours when stored, and the response size target is soft.
dry_run— Read a free estimate before fetching sources or scheduling paid work.Zero credits; cache status and availability are snapshots rather than guarantees.
| Name | Required | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
handle | yes | Channel handle without the @ (or pass channelId). | starterstory |
channelId | no | Channel id — alternative to handle. | — |
sort | no | newest or popular. Accepted values: newest, popular. Case, spaces, hyphens and underscores are interchangeable. | — |
cursor | no | continuationToken from the previous page. | — |
dry_run | no | Read a zero-credit estimate without fetching sources, running AI, or reserving credits. Cache status is a snapshot, not a guarantee at execution. Accepted values: 1, 0, true, false. Case, spaces, hyphens and underscores are interchangeable. | 1 |
judgments | no | Add bounded AI labels to eligible returned records (default on). off preserves the original data shape. Unclassified records remain present; labels depend on evidence, time, capacity and the existing request budget. No label surcharge. Accepted values: on, off. Case, spaces, hyphens and underscores are interchangeable. | on |
label | no | Set none to disable labels; default enables the endpoint’s label set. Equivalent to judgments=off. Accepted values: default, none. Case, spaces, hyphens and underscores are interchangeable. | none |
label_evidence | no | Include exact supporting sentences and zero-based sentence indexes when a label has validated evidence. No extra charge or change to decisions. Accepted values: 1, 0, true, false. Case, spaces, hyphens and underscores are interchangeable. | 1 |
exclude | no | Optionally remove confidently labelled engagement bait. Uncertain and unclassified records stay; removed IDs and an owner-bound recall reference are returned. Accepted values: engagement_bait. Case, spaces, hyphens and underscores are interchangeable. | engagement_bait |
fit | no | Use goal to replace confidently irrelevant records with recall stubs. Keeps first, last, relevant and uncertain records; preserves order. Full evidence is stored for 24 hours when available. Accepted values: goal. Case, spaces, hyphens and underscores are interchangeable. | goal |
goal | no | Required with fit=goal: describe the task in at most 600 characters. Supplied text is task context, never permission to act on posts. | Find concrete product complaints |
tokens | no | Optional soft response target for fit=goal, 256–32000. Safety and evidence retention take priority, so the returned result may exceed it. | 4000 |
Examples
Make the request
curl "https://www.monocrawl.com/v1/youtube/shorts?handle=starterstory" \ -H "x-api-key: mn_your_key_here"
TypeScript
const key = process.env.MONOCRAWL_API_KEY;
if (!key) throw new Error('Set MONOCRAWL_API_KEY on your server.');
const res = await fetch(
"https://www.monocrawl.com/v1/youtube/shorts?handle=starterstory",
{ headers: { "x-api-key": key } },
);
const body = await res.json();
if (!body.success) {
// one error shape for every endpoint — see /docs/errors
throw new Error(`${body.error.type}: ${body.error.message}`);
}
console.log(body.data, "credits left:", body.credits_remaining);Python
import os
import requests
res = requests.get(
"https://www.monocrawl.com/v1/youtube/shorts?handle=starterstory",
headers={"x-api-key": os.environ["MONOCRAWL_API_KEY"]},
timeout=60,
)
body = res.json()
if not body["success"]:
# one error shape for every endpoint — see /docs/errors
raise RuntimeError(f"{body['error']['type']}: {body['error']['message']}")
print(body["data"], "credits left:", body["credits_remaining"])Response
Response fields and example
This example is illustrative, not a captured live response. Variable-cost operations may settle a charge different from the list price below. A successful response puts the platform payload in data and reports the exact credits used, remaining balance, request id and cache status beside it.
{
"success": true,
"platform": "youtube",
"endpoint": "/v1/youtube/shorts",
"data": {
"cursor": null,
"dropped": 0,
"items": [
{
"caption_tracks": [],
"channel": {},
"comments_count": 0,
"description": "example",
"duration_ms": 0,
"genre": "example",
"id": "example",
"keywords": [],
"likes": 0,
"platform": "example",
"published": "example",
"published_at": "2026-09-01T12:00:00Z",
"thumbnail": "example",
"title": "example",
"url": "https://example.com/example",
"views": 0
}
]
},
"credits_used": 1,
"credits_remaining": 99,
"request_id": "req_…",
"cached": false
}The example is illustrative and shows a documented subset of data. The fields below are optional across supported sources; nullable fields can also be absent. Preserve unknown values and accept additional fields.
Schema basis: observed response shapes, not an exhaustive field specification. See schema coverage and validation limits.
Download the data JSON Schema. Validate response.data, not the whole envelope. A valid shape does not establish that every field or source record was returned.
| Field inside data | Type | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
cursor | string | null | Opaque next-page token; pass it back unchanged. Null does not prove complete history. |
dropped | number | null | Optional dropped supplied by this operation. Null means unknown. |
items | array | null | Returned records. Source coverage and completeness vary. |
items[].caption_tracks | array | null | Source array was empty in the reviewed captures; item fields remain unspecified. |
items[].channel | object | null | Optional channel supplied by this operation. Null means unknown. |
items[].comments_count | number | null | Optional comments count supplied by this operation. Null means unknown. |
items[].description | string | null | Source description; null or absent means not supplied. |
items[].duration_ms | number | null | Optional duration ms supplied by this operation. Null means unknown. |
items[].genre | string | null | Optional genre supplied by this operation. Null means unknown. |
items[].id | string | null | Source identifier. Preserve the supplied type and exact value. |
items[].keywords | array | null | Source array was empty in the reviewed captures; item fields remain unspecified. |
items[].likes | number | null | Optional likes supplied by this operation. Null means unknown. |
items[].platform | string | null | Optional platform supplied by this operation. Null means unknown. |
items[].published | string | null | Optional published supplied by this operation. Null means unknown. |
items[].published_at | string | null | Source publication time when available. |
items[].thumbnail | string | null | Optional thumbnail supplied by this operation. Null means unknown. |
items[].title | string | null | Source title when supplied. |
items[].url | string | null | Original source URL when supplied. |
items[].views | number | null | Optional views supplied by this operation. Null means unknown. |
Optional fields reviewed from preserved successful responses. Additive fields and source variations remain allowed; validate the fields your workflow requires.
The example is invented and illustrates types only; zero and empty values are not claims about a real result.
Failures use the typed error envelope. A confirmed uncharged or refunded failure reports zero; a pending reconciliation can report an unknown charge. Read credits_used and error.details.billing_status, and keep request_id for recovery. Response contract · Error reference