YouTube Channel API reference

Subscriber and video counts for a public YouTube channel. Takes a public URL, returns one object, 1 credit a call.

This named API keeps YouTube fields in YouTube's own vocabulary. For a higher-level product page, see YouTube Channel API.

Endpoint

GET /v1/youtube/channel
Authorization: Bearer sv_live_...

`POST` is also accepted with the same parameters in the request body. Send the key in the `Authorization` header, never in the query string.

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Notes
`url`	string	yes	Public YouTube URL matching this API's input.

Sample Request

This is a copyable request shape. Replace the sample values with the public YouTube target or parameters your workflow uses.

curl -G 'https://api.sourcevine.io/v1/youtube/channel' \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer sv_live_...' \
  --data-urlencode 'url=https://www.youtube.com/@YouTube'

Sample Response

A response this API returned, against the target above. Your values depend on the resource you ask about and when you ask.

{
  "data": {
    "url": "https://www.youtube.com/@YouTube",
    "cached": false,
    "handle": "YouTube",
    "verified": true,
    "avatarUrl": "https://yt3.googleusercontent.com/3s6evpqAiDU9tQR4sC2siJippbH2RWVPnwHgyl4V0th2iuQz0VDQZbUhQBGmsxLYo-mjG6TqZQ=s900-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj",
    "channelId": "UCBR8-60-B28hp2BmDPdntcQ",
    "fetchedAt": "2026-10-07T08:17:17Z",
    "viewCount": 1340275452,
    "videoCount": 1632,
    "channelName": "YouTube",
    "cacheAgeSeconds": null,
    "sourceTimestamp": null,
    "subscriberCount": 46400000
  },
  "success": true,
  "available": true
}

Fields

Field	Type	Notes
`url`	string	Canonical public profile or channel URL.
`channelId`	string	Platform identity.
`channelName`	string \| null	Display name as the platform publishes it.
`subscriberCount`	integer \| null	The platform's public audience count.
`videoCount`	integer \| null	Platform-specific profile metric.
`fetchedAt`	ISO datetime	When Sourcevine read the public page.
`sourceTimestamp`	ISO datetime \| null	The platform timestamp when it is available.
`cached`	boolean	True when this answer repeats an identical request made moments earlier.
`cacheAgeSeconds`	integer	Seconds since the reading was taken.

Availability States

Status	Charged	Client behavior
`available`	yes for live reads	Use data.
`not_found`	yes	Store the state and stop polling.
`private`	yes	Store the state and stop polling.
`unsupported`	no	Fix the URL or call the matching API.
`upstream_unavailable`	no	Retry later with backoff.

Unavailable resources return `success: true`, `available: false`, `availability`, and `data: null`. API or authentication failures return `success: false` with an `error` object.

Billing

A call costs 1 credit. A deleted, private or empty resource is charged like any lookup and says so. An unsupported URL or a read we could not complete is not charged. The `X-Credits-Charged` response header is the source of truth for what happened on that request.

Successful responses include `fetchedAt`, the time we read the platform.

What This API Does Not Return

No contact or bio fields: Bios, email addresses, phone numbers, postal addresses and messenger handles are outside the response contract.
No private data: Private accounts, restricted content and unavailable resources return typed availability instead of guessed data.
No identity matching: Sourcevine does not claim that two profiles on different platforms belong to the same person.

Last updated 1 September 2026